Courtesy Photo | USS Texas at Norfolk - Circa 1907: A 1907 postcard featuring USS Texas shown alongside...... read more read more
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The old Norfolk Navy Yard (NNY) can claim many first accomplishments and one of our finest was the construction of the Navy’s prototype first battleship, USS Texas (BB-35).
A new age in ship construction had arrived on the shores of the Elizabeth River with the passing of wood and sail to iron and steam when this shipyard converted the steam-frigate USS Merrimack into CSS Virginia three decades prior. As revolutionary as this radical change in naval construction was, the construction of USS Texas marked the beginnings of the modern United States Navy with even more advanced design changes.
Texas was authorized August 3, 1886, laid down June 1, 1889, and commissioned August 15, 1895.
The site of this amazing feat of construction was actually on the former site of Ship-House "B" just north of our Hammerhead Crane by utilizing the granite building ways incline first laid down in the early 1820s.
Both Texas and its sister ship constructed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard; USS Maine were actually prototypes of the future battleship class thus they are not represented by the traditional "BB" hull designations. Each ship was slightly different in design to prove different construction techniques. Plans were actually from a British shipbuilder who won a $15,000 prize after competing amongst other naval architects.
The main battery consisted of two 12" breach loading rifle guns set in turrets, placed "in echelon", which is to say that they are not on centerline with the ship. Texas had its forward gun on the port side and its stern gun on the starboard side both in the amidships area. This design was reversed for Maine but again this was the age of experimentation. Protection came from her belted armor design some 12" thick running a length of 114 feet down each side and six feet wide showing only two feet above the waterline.
If you visit the Naval Museum in Portsmouth, Virginia, you can see a part of this actual armor belt outside the front door along with an anchor from USS Texas. Texas served her country well in the Spanish American War, obtaining vengeance for the sinking of Maine in Cuba, which is another story. Texas participated on June 16, 1898 with the bombardment of Guantanamo Bay and on July 3, 1898 as part of the Flying Squadron at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. After the war, Texas operated out of the NNY as the flagship of the Atlantic Coast Squadron until 1908.
It was then moved to Charleston, South Carolina as the receiving station from 1908-1911. The second-class battleship Texas was renamed San Marcos on 16 February 1911 to allow for the future BB-35 to claim the name Texas, but the old girl still had more than a bit of service to give to her country, going out with style and honor.
113 years ago, in March 1911 the ship was towed into the Chesapeake Bay near Tangier Sound to be used as a target ship for USS New Hampshire (BB-25). The end result was a deliberate sinking in the shallow waters all the while providing useful visible evidence of the effectiveness of the Navy’s new long-range guns.
In the end, Texas gave its very life for the good of our country, because – "history matters."
| Date Taken: | 03.18.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.28.2024 13:59 |
| Story ID: | 467273 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 140 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Shipyard Trivia: The Sinking of USS Texas 113 Years Ago, by Marcus Robbins, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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