View source for USS Texas (BB-35)

{{Short description|Dreadnought battleship of the United States Navy}}
{{Other ships|USS Texas}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = USS Texas-2.jpg
| Ship caption = USS ''Texas'' (BB-35), off New York City c. 1919
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country = United States
| Ship flag = {{USN flag|1946}}
| Ship name = ''Texas''
| Ship namesake = [[Texas|State of Texas]]
| Ship ordered = {{Date and age|24 June 1910}}
| Ship awarded = 
| Ship builder = [[Newport News Shipbuilding]]
| Ship laid down = {{Date and age|17 April 1911}}
| Ship launched = {{Date and age|18 May 1912}}
| Ship commissioned = {{Date and age|12 March 1914}}
| Ship decommissioned = {{Date and age|21 April 1948}}
| Ship struck = {{Date and age|30 April 1948}}
| Ship fate = [[Museum ship]]
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship class = {{sclass|New York|battleship}}
| Ship displacement = * {{cvt|27000|LT|t|lk=on|0}} (standard)
* {{cvt|28367|LT|t|0}} (full load)
| Ship length = * {{cvt|573|ft|lk=on}} ([[length overall|overall]])
* {{cvt|565|ft|0}} ([[Waterline length|waterline]])
| Ship beam = {{cvt|95|ft|2.5|in}}
| Ship draft = * {{cvt|28|ft|6|in}} (mean)
* {{cvt|29|ft|7|in}} (max)
| Ship power = * 14 × [[Babcock & Wilcox]] [[water-tube boiler]]s
* {{cvt|28100|shp|lk=on|0}}
| Ship propulsion = * 2 × [[triple-expansion steam engine]]s
* 2 × [[Propeller|screw]] propellers
| Ship speed = {{cvt|21|kn|km/h|lk=on}}
| Ship range = {{cvt|7060|nmi|lk=on|0}} at {{cvt|10|kn|km/h}}
| Ship complement = 1,042 officers and men
| Ship armament = * 10 × [[14"/45 caliber gun|{{cvt|14|in|0}}/45 caliber guns]]
* 21 × [[5"/51 caliber gun|{{cvt|5|in|0}}/51 caliber guns]]
* 4 × [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss#US service|3-pounder {{cvt|47|mm|2}}/40]] caliber [[Saluting gun#Heavy arms: gun salutes|saluting guns]]
* 2 × [[QF 1-pounder pom-pom#United States|1-pounder {{cvt|37|mm|2}}]] guns
* 4 × [[Bliss-Leavitt Mark 3 torpedo|{{cvt|21|in|0}}]] [[torpedo tube]]s (submerged)
| Ship armor = *[[Belt armor|Belt]]: {{cvt|6|–|12|in|0|}}
*[[Bulkhead (partition)|Bulkhead]]s: {{cvt|10|to|11|in|0}}
*[[Barbette]]s: {{cvt|5|–|12|in|0}}
*[[Gun turret|Turrets]]: {{cvt|14|in|0}} (face)
*[[Deck (ship)|Deck]]s: {{cvt|1.5|–|3|in|0}}
*[[Conning tower]]: 12 in
| Ship aircraft = 
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = (1945)
| Ship complement = 1810 officers and men<ref name="1944GeneralPlans">{{cite web|url=http://www.hnsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/bb35.pdf|title=BB35 Booklet of General Plans, Revised 18 July 1944|date=1944|publisher=Historical Naval Ship Association|access-date=25 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713160630/http://www.hnsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/bb35.pdf|archive-date=13 July 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
| Ship sensors = *2 × SG surface search radars<ref name="1944GeneralPlans"/>
*1 × SK air search radar<ref name="1944GeneralPlans"/>
*2 × Mk 3 fire control radar
*2 × Mk 10 fire control radar
| Ship EW = 
| Ship armament = *10 × 14 in/45 caliber guns
*6 × 5 in/51 caliber guns
*10 × 3 in/50 caliber gun
*10 × quad 40 mm Bofors AA guns
*44 × single 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns
| Ship armor = *[[Gun turret|Turrets]]: {{cvt|1.75|in|0}} added to turret tops
| Ship aircraft = 2 × [[OS2U Kingfisher]]
| Ship aircraft facilities = 1 × [[Aircraft catapult|catapult]]
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = USS Texas
| nrhp_type = nhl
| location = [[Galveston, Texas|Galveston]], Texas in [[Dry dock|drydock]] for repairs.
| coordinates = {{coord|29|18|53|N|94|47|44|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Texas#USA
| added = 8 December 1976<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a }}</ref>
| refnum = 76002039
| embed = yes
| image_size = 300
| map_width = 300
| designated_nrhp_type = 8 December 1976<ref name="nhlsum" />
}}
|}

'''USS ''Texas'' (BB-35)''' is a [[museum ship]] in Galveston and former [[United States Navy]] {{sclass|New York|battleship}}. She was launched on 18 May 1912 and commissioned on 12 March 1914.{{sfn|Friedman|1986|p=420}}{{sfn|Gardiner|Gray|1985|p=115}}

''Texas'' served in Mexican waters following the "[[Tampico Affair|Tampico Incident]]" but saw no action there, and made numerous sorties into the North Sea during [[World War I]] without engaging the enemy, though she did fire for the first time when shooting medium-caliber guns at supposed submarines (no evidence exists that suggests these were anything more than waves). From September 1927 to September 1931, ''Texas'' became the flagship of the [[United States Fleet]], one of only four ships to be designated U.S. Fleet flagships from 1922 to 1941.<ref group="A">The other three flagships were [[USS Maryland (BB-46)]] from 1922-23, USS Seattle (CA-11) (former [[USS Washington (ACR-11)]]) from 1923-27, and [[USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)]] from 1931-41.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Battleship Texas BB35 history 1927 to 1931 |url=https://battleshiptexas.info/html/History/1927-1931.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408200932/https://battleshiptexas.info/html/History/1927-1931.html |archive-date=8 April 2024 |access-date=8 April 2024 |website=battleshiptexas.info}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Commanders-in-Chief Plaque USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/artifacts/ship-and-shore/plaques/c-o--plaques/COPlaqueUSSPennsylvania.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527225121/https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/artifacts/ship-and-shore/plaques/c-o--plaques/COPlaqueUSSPennsylvania.html |archive-date=27 May 2024 |access-date=8 April 2024 |website=public1.nhhcaws.local |language=en-US}}</ref> In [[World War II]], ''Texas'' [[Battle of the Atlantic|escorted war convoys]] across the Atlantic and later shelled Vichy French forces in the [[Operation Torch|North African Landings]] and German-held beaches in the [[Operation Overlord|Normandy Landings]] before being transferred to the [[Pacific Theatre of World War II|Pacific Theater]] late in 1944 to provide [[naval gunfire support]] during the [[Battle of Iwo Jima|Battles of Iwo Jima]] and [[Battle of Okinawa|Okinawa]]. She was the only Allied battleship that took part in all four of these amphibious landings. ''Texas'' was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] in 1948, having earned a total of five [[battle star]]s for service in World War II.

''Texas'' was also a technological testbed: the first U.S. battleship to mount [[anti-aircraft]] guns, the first U.S. warship to [[fire-control system|control gunfire with directors and range-keepers]], the first U.S. battleship to launch an aircraft,<ref name="HNSVG"/><ref name="DANFS"/> and one of the first U.S. Navy warships to receive production [[radar]]. She was the first battleship in the world to be outfitted with 14-inch guns.<ref group="A">Japan's [[Kongō-class battlecruiser|''Kongō''-class]] warships were outfitted with 14-inch guns. [[Japanese battleship Kongō|''Kongō'']] was commissioned with 14-inch guns before ''Texas'' but she and her sister ships were battlecruisers, not battleships. Battlecruisers had much weaker armor than battleships. The ''Kongō''-class battlecruisers were not converted into battleships until the 1930s.</ref>

''Texas'' was the first U.S. battleship to become a permanent museum ship; she was turned over to the state of Texas on 21 April 1948 as a permanent museum in Houston.<ref group="A">The first steel battleship to become a permanent museum ship was ''Mikasa''; the first U.S. battleship to become a museum ship was {{USS|Oregon|BB-3|2}}. However, ''Oregon'' was placed on loan to the state of Oregon, and at the outbreak of World War II, she was offered back into service and later sunk and scrapped. As a result, ''Texas'' is the first permanent U.S. battleship museum ship.</ref><ref name="HNSVG">{{cite web|title=USS ''Texas'' (BB-35)|url=http://www.hnsa.org/ships/texas.htm|work=Historic Naval Ships Visitors Guide|publisher= Historic Naval Ships Association |access-date=29 December 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060905041123/http://www.hnsa.org/ships/texas.htm|archive-date=5 September 2006}}</ref> In 1976 she became the first battleship to be declared a U.S. [[National Historic Landmark]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/maritime/ref/landmarks/vessels.htm |title=National Park Service: Maritime National Historic Landmarks: Large Vessels: U.S.S. Texas (Battleship) |date=21 March 2016 |access-date=4 February 2023}}</ref> and is the only remaining World War I era [[dreadnought]] battleship. She is also one of the seven remaining ships and the only remaining [[capital ship]] to have served in both World Wars.<ref name="nrhpinv2"/><ref group="A">The other six surviving vessels that hold the distinction of serving in both world wars are {{ship||Medea|yacht|2}}, which served both the [[French Navy]] and [[Royal Navy]], the British monitor {{HMS|M33}}, the British light cruiser {{HMS|Caroline|1914|6}}, the Greek armored cruiser {{ship|Greek cruiser|Georgios Averof||2}}, the Bulgarian torpedo boat {{ship|Bulgarian torpedo boat|Drazki||2}} and the former [[CSS Acadia|HMCS ''Acadia'']], a Canadian hydrographic research ship and auxiliary patrol vessel.</ref> ''Texas'' is owned by the people of Texas and is officially under the jurisdiction of the [[Texas Parks and Wildlife Department]]. Everyday operations and maintenance of ''Texas'' have been handled by the non-profit organization Battleship Texas Foundation since August 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_p4504_0126.pdf |title=Historical Overview of the Battleship Texas |publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife |access-date=21 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=13 August 2020 |title=Battleship Texas Foundation begins preparations to move ship for restoration in the fall |url=https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/battleship-texas-foundation-begins-preparations-to-move-ship-for-restoration/285-b28e40b3-b1a0-4c34-83cd-c66817d54698 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240623170652/https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/battleship-texas-foundation-begins-preparations-to-move-ship-for-restoration/285-b28e40b3-b1a0-4c34-83cd-c66817d54698 |archive-date=23 June 2024 |access-date=21 March 2023 |work=KHOU 11}}</ref> At the end of August 2022 she was moved to a dry dock in [[Galveston, Texas]], to undergo a $60 million repair project. On completion, her new permanent home will be Galveston. As of March 2024, the repair project is still underway, but she has moved out of dry dock.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 November 2022 |title=Battleship Updates |url=https://battleshiptexas.org/battleship-updates/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240926222723/https://battleshiptexas.org/8-24-24-battleship-texas-update/ |archive-date=26 September 2024 |access-date=4 February 2023 |website=Battleship Texas Foundation}}</ref><ref>https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/FY24-Operating-Budget.pdf . Page 139. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240816215120/https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/FY24-Operating-Budget.pdf Archived] from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.</ref>

==Construction==
The United States Congress authorized the construction of ''Texas'', the second Navy ship to be named after that state, on 24 June 1910.{{sfn|Friedman|1986|p=93}}{{sfn|Wiper|Flowers|2006}}<!--see also https://books.google.com/books?id=xzRHAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA246--> Bids for ''Texas'' were accepted from 27 September to 1 December with the winning bid of $5,830,000—excluding the price of armor and armament—submitted by [[Newport News Shipbuilding]].{{sfn|Friedman|1986|p=420}}<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=827mAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1|title=The Latest United States Battleship|journal=International Marine Engineering|date=January 1914|volume=19|number=1|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QYBNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1|title=USS Texas: Description and Official Trials|last=Gregory|first=Henderson|journal=Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers|volume=26|number=1|date=February 1914|doi=10.1111/j.1559-3584.1914.tb04731.x }}</ref> The contract was signed on 17 December and the plans were delivered to the building yard seven days later.{{sfn|Gardiner|Gray|1985|p=115}}{{sfn|Friedman|1986|p=93}}{{sfn|Ferguson|2007}} ''Texas''{{'s}} [[Keel laying|keel was laid down]] on 17 April 1911 at [[Newport News, Virginia]]. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 18 May 1912, sponsored by Miss Claudia Lyon, daughter of [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] Cecil Lyon, Republican national committeeman from Texas.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1912/05/11/104896360.pdf|title=Social Feud Mars Launching of Texas|journal=New York Times|date=11 May 1912}}</ref> The ship was [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 12 March 1914 with [[Captain (U.S. Navy)|Captain]] [[Albert W. Grant]] in command.{{sfn|Wiper|Flowers|2006}}{{sfn|Ferguson|2007}}{{sfn|Pater|1968}}<ref name="Powers133">{{harvnb|Powers|1993|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sPWIsucIbAcC&pg=PA133 133]}}</ref>

''Texas''{{'}}s main battery consisted of ten [[14"/45 caliber gun|{{convert|14|in|adj=on|0}}/45 caliber Mark 1 guns]],{{sfn|Friedman|1986|p=436}} which could fire {{cvt|1400|lb|0|lk=on}} [[Armor-piercing shot and shell|armor-piercing]]{{sfn|Egan|Lott|Sumrall|1976|p=45}} shells to a range of {{cvt|13|mi|nmi km|0}}. Her secondary battery consisted of twenty-one [[5"/51 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|adj=on|0}}/51-caliber guns]].{{sfn|Breyer|1973|p=205}} She also mounted four {{convert|21|in|adj=on|0}} [[torpedo tube]]s for the [[Bliss-Leavitt Mark 8 torpedo]], one each on the port-side bow and stern and starboard bow and stern. The torpedo rooms held 12 [[torpedo]]es total, plus 12 [[naval mine|naval defense mines]].{{sfn|Friedman|1986|p=436}} ''Texas'' and her sister {{USS|New York|BB-34|2}} were the only battleships to store and hoist their 14-inch ammunition in cast-iron cups, nose-down.{{sfn|Gardiner|Gray|1985|p=115}}{{sfn|Wiper|Flowers|2006}}{{sfn|Egan|Lott|Sumrall|1976|p=44}}

==Service history==
[[File:USS Texas (BB-35).jpg|thumb|left|''Texas'' in World War I (after July 1916 and before October 1917): The two large steel towers are her [[lattice mast]]s, which were replaced with a tripod version during her modernization overhaul in 1925–1926]]

On 24 March 1914, ''Texas'' departed [[Norfolk Navy Yard]] and set a course for New York City, making an overnight stop at [[Tompkinsville, New York]], on the night of 26 March. Entering [[New York Navy Yard]] on the next day, she spent the next three weeks there undergoing the installation of [[Fire-control system|fire-control equipment]].<ref name="DANFS">{{cite DANFS |title=Texas |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/texas-ii.html |access-date=28 December 2006}}</ref>

During his stay in New York, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] ordered a number of ships of the [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]] to Mexican waters in response to tension created when a detail of Mexican federal troops detained an American [[gunboat]] crew at [[Tampico, Tamaulipas|Tampico]]. The problem was quickly resolved locally, but [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Henry T. Mayo]] sought further redress by demanding an official disavowal of the act by the [[Victoriano Huerta|Huerta]] regime and a [[21-gun salute]] to the [[American flag]].<ref name="DANFS" />

President Wilson saw in the incident an opportunity to put pressure on a government he felt was undemocratic. On 20 April, Wilson placed the matter before the [[United States Congress]] and sent orders to Rear Admiral [[Frank Friday Fletcher]], commanding the naval force off the Mexican coast, instructing him to land a force at [[Veracruz (city)|Veracruz]] and to seize the customs house there in retaliation for what is now known as the "[[Tampico Affair|Tampico Incident]]". That action was carried out on 21–22 April.<ref name="DANFS" />

Due to the intensity of the situation, ''Texas'' put to sea on 13 May and headed directly to operational duty without benefit of the usual [[shakedown cruise]] and post-shakedown repair period. After a five-day stop at [[Hampton Roads]] from 14 to 19 May, she joined Rear Admiral Fletcher's force off Veracruz on 26 May. She remained in Mexican waters for just over two months, supporting the American forces ashore. On 8 August, she left Veracruz and set a course for [[Nipe Bay]], [[Cuba]], and from there steamed to New York, where she entered the Navy Yard on 21 August.<ref name="DANFS" />

The battleship remained there until 6 September, when she returned to sea, joined the Atlantic Fleet, and settled into a schedule of normal fleet operations. In October, she returned to the Mexican coast. Later that month, ''Texas'' became station ship at [[Tuxpan, Veracruz|Tuxpan]], a duty that lasted until 4 November, when she steamed for [[Galveston, Texas]]. While at Galveston on 7 November, Texas Governor [[Oscar Branch Colquitt|Oscar Colquitt]] presented the ship's silver service to Captain Grant. The Young Men's Business League of [[Waco, Texas]], raised the $10,000 to purchase the silver.{{sfn|Ferguson|2007}}

''Texas'' sailed for Tampico on 14 November and thereafter to Veracruz, where she remained for a month.{{sfn|Ferguson|2007}} The ship left Mexico on 20 December and set a course for New York. The battleship entered New York Navy Yard on 28 December and remained there undergoing repairs until 16 February 1915.<ref name="DANFS" /> On 25 May, ''Texas'', along with battleships {{USS|South Carolina|BB-26|2}}, {{USS|Louisiana|BB-19|2}}, and {{USS|Michigan|BB-27|2}}, rescued 230 passengers from the damaged [[Holland America Line]] passenger ship {{SS|Ryndam||2}}, which had been rammed by [[Norway|Norwegian]]-flagged fruit steamer ''Joseph J. Cuneo''.{{sfn|Ferguson|2007}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/05/27/100155786.pdf |title=Ryndam rammed at sea |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=27 May 1915 |access-date=17 April 2008 |page=1}}</ref> In gratitude, Holland America Line presented ''Texas'' with a model of a 17th-century warship, which is displayed with the wardroom silver as of 2014. In 1916, ''Texas'' became the first U.S. battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns with the addition of two [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|adj=on|0}}/50-caliber guns]] on platforms atop the boat cranes, and the first to control gunfire with directors and rangefinders, analog forerunners of today's computers.<ref name="HNSVG" />{{sfn|Friedman|1986|p=177}}<ref>{{cite web
|last=DiGiulian
|first=Tony
|title=United States of America; 3"/50 (7.62 cm) Marks 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22
|url=http://navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_3-50_mk10-22.htm
|publisher=NavWeaps.com
|date=31 May 2008 |access-date=24 May 2009
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604102025/http://navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_3-50_mk10-22.htm
|archive-date=4 June 2009 |url-status=live
}}</ref><ref group="A">{{HMS|Benbow|1913|6}} was the first battleship to fit anti-aircraft guns, in 1914.</ref>

===World War I ===
[[File:Popular science monthly (1872) (14596330249).jpg|thumb|left|[[3"/50 caliber gun|3"/50 caliber]] antiaircraft gun on platform atop a boat crane on ''Texas'', installed in 1916 and said to be the first AA gun installation on a U.S. battleship]]
Upon her return to active duty with the fleet, ''Texas'' resumed a schedule alternating between training operations along the [[New England]] coast and off the [[Virginia Capes]] and winter fleet tactical and gunnery drills in the [[West Indies]]. That routine lasted just over two years until the [[World War I#Entry of the United States|February-to-March crisis]] over [[unrestricted submarine warfare]] catapulted the U.S. into World War I in April 1917. The 6 April declaration of war found ''Texas'' riding at anchor in the mouth of the [[York River (Virginia)|York River]] with the other Atlantic Fleet battleships. She remained in the Virginia Capes–Hampton Roads vicinity until mid-August, conducting exercises and training Naval Armed Guard gun crews for service onboard merchant ships.<ref name="DANFS" /> One of the gun crews trained aboard ''Texas'' was assigned to the merchant vessel {{SS|Mongolia|1903|2}} at the beginning of the war. On 19 April, the crew of ''Mongolia'' sighted a surfaced German [[U-boat]] and the gun crew trained aboard ''Texas'' opened fire on the U-boat, averting an attack on ''Mongolia'' and firing the first American shots of World War I.<ref name="Powers-P11-12">{{harvnb|Powers|1993|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sPWIsucIbAcC&pg=PA11 11–12]}}</ref>

In August, she steamed to New York for repairs, arriving at Base 10<ref group="A">This was most likely a facility in the New York area for offloading ammunition prior to a repair period, probably associated with the [[Picatinny Arsenal|Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot]] in New Jersey.</ref> on 19 August and entering the New York Navy Yard soon thereafter. She completed repairs on 26 September and got underway for [[Port Jefferson, New York|Port Jefferson]] that same day.<ref name="DANFS" /> During the mid-watch on 27 September, she ran hard aground on [[Block Island]]. Captain [[Victor Blue]] and his navigator, confused about shore lights and more concerned about the minefield at the opening of [[Long Island Sound]], made the turn at the wrong time and ran the ship aground on the island from the [[Bow (ship)|bow]] all the way [[aft]] beyond midships.{{sfn|Jones|1998|p=40}} For three days, her crew lightened ship to no avail. On 30 September, tugs came to her assistance, and she finally backed clear. Hull damage dictated a return to the yard, and extensive repairs precluded her departure with [[United States Battleship Division Nine (World War I)|Battleship Division 9]] for the [[United Kingdom|British Isles]] in November.{{sfn|Wiper|Flowers|2006}} The secondary battery was reduced to eighteen 5-inch guns in October 1917.<ref name="commons.wikimedia.org">{{cite web
|title=Armament Page, Log Book, Battleship Texas
|date=September 1917
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Removal_5in_Guns_1917_1918.jpg
|access-date=17 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107194813/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Removal_5in_Guns_1917_1918.jpg
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> Captain Blue, a protege of Navy Secretary [[Josephus Daniels]], was never [[court-martial]]ed and remained in command of ''Texas''. The Navy Department held his [[navigator]] entirely responsible for the accident.{{sfn|Jones|1998|p=40}}

By December, she had completed repairs and moved south to conduct [[military simulation]]s out of the York River. Mid-January 1918 found the battleship back at New York preparing for the voyage across the Atlantic, including the removal of two more 5-inch guns, reducing the total number aboard to 16.<ref name="commons.wikimedia.org" /> She departed New York on 30 January 1918, arrived at [[Scapa Flow]] in the [[Orkney Islands]] off the coast of Scotland on 11 February, and rejoined Battleship Division 9, by then known as the [[6th Battle Squadron]] of Britain's [[Grand Fleet]].<ref name="DANFS" />

''Texas''{{'}}s service with the Grand Fleet consisted entirely of convoy missions and occasional forays to reinforce the British squadron on blockade duty in the [[North Sea]] whenever German heavy units threatened. The fleet alternated between bases at Scapa Flow and at the [[Firth of Forth]] in Scotland. ''Texas'' began her mission five days after her arrival at Scapa Flow, when she sortied with the entire fleet to reinforce the [[4th Battle Squadron]], then on duty in the North Sea. She returned to Scapa Flow the next day and remained until 8 March, when she put to sea on a convoy escort mission from which she returned on 13 March. ''Texas'' and her division mates entered the Firth of Forth on 12 April, but got underway again on the 17th to escort a convoy. The American battleships returned to base on 20 April. Four days later, ''Texas'' again stood out to sea to support the Second Battle Squadron the day after the German [[High Seas Fleet]] had sortied from [[Jade Bight|Jade Bay]] toward the Norwegian coast to threaten an Allied convoy. Forward units caught sight of the retiring Germans on 25 April, but at such an extreme range, bringing the German fleet into engagement with the Grand Fleet was not possible. The Germans returned to their base that day, and the Grand Fleet, including ''Texas'', did likewise on the next.<ref name="DANFS" />

''Texas'' and her division mates passed a relatively inactive May in the Firth of Forth. On 9 June, she got underway with the other warships of the 6th Battle Squadron and headed back to the anchorage at Scapa Flow, arriving there the following day. From 30 June to 2 July, ''Texas'' and her colleagues acted as escort for American minelayers adding to the [[North Sea Mine Barrage]]. After a two-day return to Scapa Flow, ''Texas'' put to sea with the Grand Fleet to conduct two days of tactical exercises and war games. At the conclusion of those drills on 8 July, the fleet entered the Firth of Forth. For the remainder of World War I, ''Texas'' and the other battleships of Division&nbsp;9 continued to operate with the Grand Fleet as the 6th Battle Squadron. With the German Fleet increasingly tied to its bases in the estuaries of the [[Jade (river)|Jade]] and the [[Ems (river)|Ems]] rivers, the American and British ships settled into a routine schedule of operations with little-to-no hint of combat operations. That state of affairs lasted until the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|Armistice]] ended hostilities on 11 November 1918. At 03:35 on 21 November, she got underway to accompany the Grand Fleet to meet the surrendering German Fleet.<ref>
{{cite web
|title=Deck Log, Battleship Texas
|date=21 November 1918
|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Intern_German_Fleet_1918.jpg
|access-date=17 September 2012
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> The two fleets rendezvoused about {{convert|40|nmi|mi km|abbr=on}} east of the [[Isle of May]] and proceeded to the Firth of Forth. Afterward, the American contingent moved to [[Portland Harbour]], England, arriving there on 4 December.<ref name="DANFS" />

===Inter-war period===
[[File:USS Texas no-blister.jpg|thumb|USS ''Texas'' with the starboard torpedo blister removed, revealing the original hull and narrower profile when built; the torpedo blisters were added during the 1926 modernization.]]

On 12 December 1918, ''Texas'' put to sea with [[Battleship Division]]s 9 and 6 to meet President Woodrow Wilson embarked in {{SS|George Washington||2}} on his way to the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]]. The rendezvous took place around 07:30 the following morning and provided an escort for the President into [[Brest, France|Brest]], France, where the ships arrived at 12:30 that afternoon.<ref name="DANFS" /> On the afternoon of 14 December, ''Texas'' and the other American battleships departed Brest to return to the United States.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Log Book, Battleship Texas
|date=14 December 1918
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:14_Dec_1918_Lv_France.jpg
|access-date=17 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107194825/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:14_Dec_1918_Lv_France.jpg
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> The warships arrived off [[Ambrose light station]] on Christmas Day, 1918, and entered New York the next day.<ref name="DANFS" />

Following overhaul, ''Texas'' resumed duty with the Atlantic Fleet early in 1919. On 10 March, she became the first American battleship to launch an airplane when [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] [[Edward Orrick McDonnell|Edward O. McDonnell]] flew a British-built [[Sopwith Camel]] off the warship at Guantanamo Bay.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} Later in 1919 ''Texas''{{'}}s captain, [[Nathan C. Twining]], successfully employed naval aircraft to spot the fall of shells during a main battery exercise.{{sfn|Love|1992|p=537}} The results were that aircraft-borne gunfire spotters were significantly more accurate than shipboard spotters. In testimony to the [[General Board of the United States Navy|Navy General Board]], Lieutenant Commander [[Kenneth Whiting]] attested that the increase in gunfire effectiveness with air spotting was likely to be as great as 200%.{{sfn|Hone|Hone|2006|p=81}} As a result of these first experiments, the Navy would add floatplanes to all of the fleet's battleships and newer cruisers.{{sfn|Hone|Hone|2006|pp= 94–95}} In May 1919, ''Texas'' served as a plane guard and navigational aid for the successful attempt by Navy [[Curtiss NC]] [[flying boat]] ''[[NC-4]]'' to become the first airplane to cross the Atlantic.<ref name="HNSVG" /> On 26 July 1919 ''Texas'' entered the Pacific Ocean as part of the newly formed [[United States Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]] and she would spend the next five and half years as a part of Pacific Fleet.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Quarterly Cruise Report, Battleship Texas
|date=30 September 1919
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1919ArPacific.gif
|access-date=17 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107194832/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1919ArPacific.gif
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> On 17 July the following year, she was designated ''BB-35'' under the Navy's newly adopted alpha-numeric system of [[hull classification symbol]]s.<ref name="DANFS" />

''Texas'' left the Pacific on 16 January 1924<ref>
{{cite web
|title=Quarterly Cruise Report, Battleship Texas, period ending 31 March 1924
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1924LvPacific.gif
|access-date=17 September 2012
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107194842/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A1924LvPacific.gif
|archive-date=7 November 2012
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> and returned to the east coast for overhaul and to participate in a training cruise to European waters with [[United States Naval Academy|Naval Academy]] [[Midshipman|Midshipmen]] embarked.<ref name="DANFS" /> While operating in the Atlantic, on 25 November 1924, she sank the incomplete battleship {{USS|Washington|BB-47|2}} in compliance with the [[Washington Naval Treaty|Naval Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922]],{{sfn|Wiper|Flowers|2006}} and later that fall, conducted maneuvers as a unit of the [[Scouting Fleet]]. On 31 July 1925,<ref>{{cite web
|title=Quarterly Cruise Reports, Battleship Texas, periods ending September 1925 through December 1926
|date=30 September 1925
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Modernization1925-1926.jpg
|access-date=17 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107194849/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Modernization1925-1926.jpg
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> she entered Norfolk Navy Yard for a major modernization overhaul. The overhaul, which replaced both [[lattice mast|cage masts]] with [[tripod mast]]s, replaced her 14 [[Babcock & Wilcox]] [[coal-fired]] [[boilers]] with 6 Bureau Express oil-fired boilers,<ref name="HNSVG" /> added [[anti-torpedo bulge]]s and upgraded her fire-control equipment, was completed on 23 November 1926. Also, her AA armament was increased to eight 3-inch guns, and the torpedo tubes were removed. Six of the 5-inch guns were relocated to new main deck [[Casemate#Single casemates (1889 onwards)|casemates]] at this time.<ref name="DANFS" />
Following completion of her overhaul, ''Texas'' was designated the [[flagship]] of the [[United States Fleet]] and resumed duty along the [[East Coast of the United States|eastern seaboard]]. She kept at that task until late 1927, when she did a brief tour of duty in the Pacific from late September-early December.<ref name="DANFS" /> In 1927, ''Texas'' set another first with the showing of [[sound film|"talking" pictures]] for crew entertainment.<ref name="HNSVG" /> Near the end of the year, ''Texas'' returned to the Atlantic and resumed normal duty with the Scouting Fleet. In January 1928, she transported President [[Calvin Coolidge]] to [[Havana]], Cuba, for the [[Pan-American Conference]] and then continued on via the Panama Canal and the [[West Coast of the United States|west coast]] to maneuvers with the fleet near Hawaii.<ref name="DANFS" />
[[File:USS Texas 1932xmas.jpg|thumb|left|Naval ships have their own post office and postmaster aboard. Christmas Postmark from ''Texas'' during interwar period.]]
She returned to New York early in 1929 for her annual overhaul and had completed it by March when she began another brief tour of duty in the Pacific. She returned to the Atlantic in June and resumed normal duty with the Scouting Fleet. In April 1930, she took time from her operating schedule to escort {{SS|Leviathan||2}} into New York when that ship carried the returning U.S. delegation to the [[London Naval Treaty|London Naval Conference]]. In January 1931, she left the yard at New York as flagship of the United States Fleet and headed via the Panama Canal to [[San Diego]], California, and then on to Los Angeles (port of San Pedro) which became her home port for the next six years and three months.<ref>{{cite web
 |title        = Quarterly Employment Report, Battleship Texas, periods 31 March 1934 through 30 June 1937, San Diego
 |url          = http://www.bb35library.usstexasbb35.com/movements/movements-bylocation/state-ca-sandiego.htm
 |access-date   = 17 September 2012
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110717180710/http://www.bb35library.usstexasbb35.com/movements/movements-bylocation/state-ca-sandiego.htm
 |archive-date = 17 July 2011
|url-status=dead
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |title        = Quarterly Employment Report, Battleship Texas, periods 31 March 1934 through 30 June 1937, Los Angeles
 |url          = http://www.bb35library.usstexasbb35.com/movements/movements-bylocation/state-ca-losangeles.htm
 |access-date   = 17 September 2012
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20111008013200/http://www.bb35library.usstexasbb35.com/movements/movements-bylocation/state-ca-losangeles.htm
 |archive-date = 8 October 2011
|url-status=dead
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref> There would be a temporary redeployment back to the Atlantic from April to October 1934.<ref>
{{cite web
|title=Quarterly Employment Report, Battleship Texas, period 30 June through 31 December 1934
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1934_Atlantic.gif
|access-date=17 September 2012
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107195133/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A1934_Atlantic.gif
|archive-date=7 November 2012
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> During this Pacific period, she served first as flagship for the entire Fleet and, later, as flagship for Battleship Division 1.<ref name="DANFS" />

In the summer of 1937, she once more was reassigned to the east coast, as the flagship of the Training Detachment, United States Fleet. Late in 1938 or early in 1939, the warship became flagship of the newly organized Atlantic Squadron, built around Battleship Division 5. Through both organizational assignments, her labors were directed primarily to training missions, Midshipman cruises, Naval Reserve drills, and training members of the [[Fleet Marine Force]]. Also in 1937, eight [[1.1"/75 caliber gun|{{convert|1.1|in|adj=on}}]] AA guns in two quadruple mounts were added to improve the light AA armament. In December 1938, ''Texas'' received for testing the first shipborne radar designed and made by a commercial company, [[RCA]], for the U.S. Navy, the 385&nbsp;[[Hertz|MHz]] CXZ.<ref>{{cite web
 |title        = How Radar Came Into Being
 |publisher    = RCA
 |year         = 1947
 |url          = http://www.bb35library.usstexasbb35.com/OperatingSystems/RADARUNITS/cxz/CxzText.gif
 |access-date   = 17 September 2012
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20111008013206/http://www.bb35library.usstexasbb35.com/OperatingSystems/RADARUNITS/cxz/CxzText.gif
 |archive-date = 8 October 2011
|url-status=dead
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref> In 1941, ''Texas'' was one of fourteen ships to receive the RCA [[CXAM radar|CXAM-1 radar]].<ref name="RADAR">{{cite magazine |last=Macintyre |first=Donald, CAPT RN |title=Shipborne Radar |magazine=[[Proceedings (magazine)|Proceedings]] |date=September 1967}}</ref>

===World War II===

====Early operations====
Soon after war broke out in Europe in September 1939, ''Texas'' began operating on the [[Neutrality Patrol]], an American attempt to keep the war out of the [[Western Hemisphere]]. Later, as the United States moved toward more active support of the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] cause, the warship began convoying ships carrying [[Lend-Lease]] materiel to the United Kingdom. In February 1941, the [[1st Marine Division (United States)|U.S. 1st Marine Division]] was activated aboard ''Texas''. On 1 February, [[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]] [[Ernest King|Ernest J. King]] hoisted his flag as Commander-in-Chief of the re-formed Atlantic Fleet aboard ''Texas''.<ref name="DANFS" /> That same year, while on Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic, ''Texas'' was stalked unsuccessfully by the German submarine {{ship|German submarine|U-203||2}}.<ref name="HNSVG" />

On Sunday, 7 December 1941, the day of the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], the battleship was at [[Casco Bay, Maine]], undergoing a rest and relaxation period following three months of watch duty at [[Naval Station Argentia]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]]. After 10 days at Casco Bay, she returned to Argentia and remained there until late January 1942, when she got underway to escort a convoy to England. After delivering her charges, the battleship patrolled waters near [[Iceland]] until March when she returned home.<ref name="DANFS" /> At various times in 1942, the secondary battery was reduced to six 5-inch guns and the light AA battery was increased, adding two extra 1.1-inch/75-caliber quad mounts (these would be replaced by 10 quad mount [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|{{cvt|40|mm}} Bofors]] in June 1943) and adding fourteen [[20 mm Oerlikon|{{cvt|20|mm}} Oerlikon]] cannons (increased to 44 by 1944), the attack on Pearl Harbor having demonstrated the need for this.{{sfn|Breyer|1973|p=205}} For the next six months, she continued convoy-escort missions to various destinations. On one occasion, she escorted [[Guadalcanal]]-bound Marines as far as [[Panama]]; on another, the warship screened service troops to [[Freetown]], [[Sierra Leone]], on the west coast of Africa. More frequently, she made voyages to and from the United Kingdom escorting both cargo- and troop-carrying ships.<ref name="DANFS" />

====Operation Torch====
{{main|Operation Torch}}
On 23 October 1942, ''Texas'' embarked upon her first major combat operation when she sortied with Task Group 34.8 (TG 34.8), the Northern Attack Group for [[Operation Torch]], the invasion of North Africa. The objective assigned to this group was [[Kenitra|Port Lyautey]] in [[French protectorate in Morocco|French Morocco]]. The warships arrived off the assault beaches near the village of [[Mehdya, Morocco|Mehedia]] early in the morning of 8 November and began preparations for the [[Battle of Port Lyautey|invasion]]. ''Texas'' transmitted [[Lieutenant general (United States)|Lt. General]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]'s first "Voice of Freedom" broadcast, asking the French not to oppose Allied landings on North Africa. When the troops went ashore, ''Texas'' did not go into action immediately to support them. At that point in the war, the doctrine of amphibious warfare was still embryonic. Many Army officers did not recognize the value of prelanding bombardments. Instead, the Army insisted upon attempting a landing by surprise. ''Texas'' entered the battle early in the afternoon when the Army requested her to fire upon a [[Vichy France|Vichy French Army]] [[ammunition dump]] near Port Lyautey.<ref name="DANFS" /> One more gunfire mission was provided on the 10th before the cease fire on 11 November.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Action Report, Battleship Texas
|date=19 November 1942
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N._Africa_Nov_1942_gun_firing.jpg
|access-date=17 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107195923/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N._Africa_Nov_1942_gun_firing.jpg
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> Thus, unlike in later operations, she expended only 273 rounds of [[14-inch/50-caliber gun|14-inch shells]] and six rounds of [[5-inch/38-caliber gun|5-inch shells.]] During her short stay, some of her crewmen went ashore to assist in salvaging some of the ships that had been sunk in the harbor.<ref name="DANFS" /> ''Texas'' was one of only three U.S. battleships ({{USS|Massachusetts|BB-59|2}} and ''New York'') that took part in Operation Torch.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1942/operation-torch.html |title=Operation Torch: Invasion of North Africa |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |access-date=9 March 2023}}</ref> On 16 November, ''Texas'' departed [[North Africa]] for the East Coast of the United States in a [[task force]] along with {{USS|Savannah|CL-42|2}}, {{USS|Sangamon|CVE-26|2}}, {{USS|Kennebec|AO-36|2}}, four transports, and seven [[destroyer]]s.<ref name="DANFS" />

The young news reporter [[Walter Cronkite]] was on board ''Texas'' starting in [[Norfolk, Virginia]], through her service off the coast of North Africa, and thence back to the US. On the return trip, Cronkite was flown off ''Texas'' in one of her [[Vought OS2U Kingfisher|OS2U Kingfisher]] aircraft when Norfolk was within flying distance. He was granted permission to be flown the rest of the distance to Norfolk so that he could outpace a rival correspondent on ''Massachusetts'' to return to the U.S. and to issue the first uncensored news reports to be published about Operation Torch.{{sfn|Cronkite|1996|p=89–90}} Cronkite's experiences aboard ''Texas'' launched his career as a [[war correspondent]].<ref name="HNSVG" />

====Operation Overlord====
{{main|Operation Overlord}}
Throughout 1943, ''Texas'' carried out the familiar role of convoy escort. With New York as her home port, she made numerous transatlantic voyages to such places as [[Casablanca]] and [[Gibraltar]], as well as frequent visits to ports in the UK. That routine continued into 1944 but ended on 22 April of that year when, at the European end of one such mission, she remained at the [[River Clyde|Clyde estuary]] in Scotland and began training for the invasion of [[Normandy]].<ref name="DANFS" />

=====Rehearsal=====
[[File:USS Texas-5.jpg|thumb|''Texas'' off [[Norfolk, Virginia]], 15 March 1943]]

During the next twelve days, ''Texas'' carried out many 14-inch gun-firing exercises with British battleships {{HMS|Ramillies|07|6}} and {{HMS|Rodney|29|2}}. The firing was done in conjunction with [[Royal Air Force]] airplanes as spotters. On 29 April, ''Texas'', {{USS|Nevada|BB-36|2}}, and {{USS|Arkansas|BB-33|2}} relocated to [[Belfast Lough]], [[Northern Ireland]]. There, final preparations were made, including the removal of the airplane catapult and the ship's OS2U Kingfisher observation planes. The three pilots who flew ''Texas''{{'}}s Kingfishers during this period were temporarily transferred to a newly formed squadron, [[VOS-7]], that was composed of the pilots who flew observation and scouting planes from the cruisers {{USS|Augusta|CA-31|2}}, {{USS|Quincy|CA-71|2}}, and {{USS|Tuscaloosa|CA-37|2}} and the battleships ''Arkansas'', ''Nevada'', and ''Texas''. VOS-7 received training in defensive fighter tactics, aerobatics, navigation, formation flying and spotting procedures in Royal Air Force [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfires]]; they flew spotting missions in the Spitfires because of the threat from German fighters. The pilots of VOS-7 would fly spotting missions for the U.S. warships off [[Omaha Beach|Omaha]] and [[Utah Beach]]es during D-Day.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://spitfiresite.com/history/articles/2008/01/spitfires-in-us-navy.htm
|title=VCS-7
|access-date=17 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326061526/http://www.spitfiresite.com/history/articles/2008/01/spitfires-in-us-navy.htm
|archive-date=26 March 2010
|url-status=live
}}</ref> Also, during this time additional radio equipment was added, including a device to detect and jam [[Kehl-Strasbourg radio control link|radio-guided]] missiles.<ref group="A">Anti-ship missiles such as the [[Fritz X]] were among the first instances of short-range guided missiles during the Second World War. The [[Luftwaffe]] used them to some effect against Allied shipping, and sank or damaged some large warships successfully before the Allies devised countermeasures, principally radio jamming.</ref> Final exercises were carried out to the south in Dundrum Bay and Belfast Lough. During the final preparations, General Eisenhower came aboard on 19 May to speak to the crew. On 31 May, the ship was sealed and a briefing given to the crew about the upcoming invasion. For the invasion, ''Texas'' was designated Bombardment Force Flagship for Omaha Beach, in the Western Taskforce. Her firing area of Omaha was the western half, supporting the [[29th Infantry Division (United States)|U.S. 29th Infantry Division]] and the U.S. [[2nd Ranger Battalion]] at [[Pointe du Hoc]], and the U.S. [[5th Ranger Battalion]], which had been diverted to Western Omaha to support the troops at Pointe du Hoc.<ref name="DDay">{{cite web |last=Moore |first=Charles |title=Battleship Texas (BB-35) |url=http://users3.ev1.net/~cfmoore/history/1944normandy.html |publisher=Charles Moore |access-date=29 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923092736/http://users3.ev1.net/~cfmoore/history/1944normandy.html |archive-date=23 September 2006}}</ref>

The [[List of ships in Omaha Bombardment Group|Omaha Beach bombardment force]] consisted of two sections with ''Texas'' and the British light cruiser {{HMS|Glasgow|C21|6}} responsible for the western half with ''Arkansas'', and the French light cruisers {{Ship|French cruiser|Georges Leygues||2}} and {{Ship|French cruiser|Montcalm|1935|2}} responsible for the east. Also assigned to Omaha Beach were the American destroyers {{USS|Frankford|DD-497|2}}, {{USS|McCook|DD-496|2}}, {{USS|Carmick|DD-493|2}}, {{USS|Doyle|DD-494|2}}, {{USS|Emmons|DD-457|2}}, {{USS|Baldwin|DD-624|2}}, {{USS|Harding|DD-625|2}}, {{USS|Satterlee|DD-626|2}}, {{USS|Thompson|DD-627|2}}, and the British destroyers {{HMS|Tanatside|L69|6}}, {{HMS|Talybont|L18|2}} and {{HMS|Melbreak|L73|2}}.<ref name="DDay" /> ''Texas'' was one of only three U.S. battleships (''Arkansas'' and ''Nevada'') that took part in Operation Neptune (D-Day).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/explore/photography/wwii/wwii-europe/operation-overlord/invasion-normandy/us-navy-ships.html |title=U.S. Navy Ships |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |access-date=9 March 2023}}</ref>

At 02:09 on 3 June, ''Texas'' and the rest of the Western Taskforce sailed from Belfast Lough for Normandy. In sight, on a parallel course was a group of British ships, including the battleships {{HMS|Warspite|03|2}} and ''Ramillies''. At 07:10 on 4 June, the taskforce had to reverse course due to unacceptable weather in Normandy. Later that evening, off Lundy Island, the taskforce reversed course and headed for and joined the invasion fleet gathering at Area Z.{{clarify |reason=Where was Area Z? |date=September 2012}} The invasion fleet then headed south toward Normandy and navigated the German [[minefield]], through which [[minesweeper]]s had cleared channels; not a single Omaha Beach vessel was lost.<ref name="DDay" />

=====D-Day=====
{{main|Normandy landings}}
[[File:80-G-46961 Rear Admiral Carleton F. Bryant, USN.jpg|thumb|right|Rear admiral [[Carleton F. Bryant]] (left) and Captain [https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/research-guides/modern-biographical-files-ndl/modern-bios-b/baker-charles-adams.html Charles A. Baker], Commanding Officer of USS ''Texas'' aboard with a German 240mm (9.4) dud shell that hit the ship during the bombardment of Battery Hamburg, east of [[Cherbourg]], [[France]], on 25 June 1944.]]
At 03:00 on 6 June 1944, ''Texas'' and the British cruiser ''Glasgow'' entered the Omaha Western fire support lane and arrived at her initial firing position {{Convert|12000|yd}} offshore near Pointe du Hoc at 04:41, as part of a combined total US-British flotilla of 702 ships, including seven battleships and five [[heavy cruiser]]s.<ref name="DDay" />{{sfn|Ryan|1959|p=90}}{{refn|As for the other battleships, {{USS|Arkansas|BB-33|2}} took the eastern side of Omaha, ''Nevada'' took [[Utah Beach|Utah]], {{HMS|Ramillies|07|2}} took [[Sword Beach|Sword]], {{HMS|Warspite|03|2}} also took Sword but later moved to [[Gold Beach|Gold]], and {{HMS|Rodney|29|2}} took [[Juno Beach|Juno]]. The final battleship was {{HMS|Nelson|28|2}}; however, she did not partake in initial bombardment, as she was held back until the 10th for follow-up escort and Channel patrols in addition to being a reserve. See: [[List of Allied warships in the Normandy Landings]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsNormandy.htm
|title=Normandy Landings, Operation "OVERLORD"; 6 June 1944
|publisher=naval-history.net
|work=Campaign Summaries of World War 2
|access-date=19 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228095157/http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsNormandy.htm
|archive-date=28 December 2008
|url-status=live
}}</ref>|name=A|group=A}}<!--end #tag:ref-->{{sfn|Sterne|2014|p=26–27}}
The initial bombardment commenced at 05:50, against the site of six {{convert|15|cm|in|adj=on|0}} guns, atop Pointe du Hoc.<ref name="DANFS" /> When ''Texas'' ceased firing at the Pointe at 06:24, 255 14-inch shells had been fired in 34 minutes—an average rate of fire of 7.5 shells per minute, which was the longest sustained period of firing for ''Texas'' in World War II.<ref name="DDay" /> While shells from the main guns were hitting Pointe du Hoc, the 5-inch guns were firing on the area leading up to Exit D-1, the route to get inland from western Omaha. At 06:26, ''Texas'' shifted her main battery gunfire to the western edge of Omaha Beach, around the town of [[Vierville, Manche|Vierville]]. Meanwhile, her secondary battery went to work on another target on the western end of "Omaha" beach, a ravine laced with strong points to defend an exit road. Later, under control of airborne spotters, she moved her major-caliber fire inland to interdict enemy reinforcement activities and to destroy batteries and other strong points farther inland.<ref name="DANFS" />

By noon, the assault on Omaha Beach was in danger of collapsing due to stronger than anticipated German resistance and the inability of the Allies to get needed [[Tank|armor]] and [[artillery]] units on the beach. In an effort to help the infantry fighting to take Omaha, some of the destroyers providing gunfire support closed near the shoreline, almost grounding themselves to fire on the Germans. ''Texas'' also closed to the shoreline; at 12:23, ''Texas'' closed to only {{cvt|3000|yd}} from the water's edge, firing her main guns with very little elevation to clear the western exit D-1, in front of Vierville. Among other things, she fired upon [[sniper]]s and machine gun nests hidden in a [[defile (geography)|defile]] just off the beach. At the conclusion of that mission, the battleship attacked an enemy anti-aircraft battery located west of Vierville.<ref name="DDay" />

On 7 June, the battleship received word that the [[United States Army Rangers|Ranger]] battalion at Pointe Du Hoc was still isolated from the rest of the invasion force with low [[ammunition]] and mounting casualties; in response, ''Texas'' obtained and filled two [[LCVP (United States)|LCVPs]]<ref>{{cite web
|title=Action Report, Battleship Texas
|date=23 June 1944
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LCVP_Rangers_7_June_1944.jpg
|access-date=17 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107195929/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LCVP_Rangers_7_June_1944.jpg
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> with provisions and ammunition for the Rangers.{{sfn|Sterne|2014|p=26–27}}{{rp|131}} Upon their return, the LCVPs brought thirty-five wounded Rangers to ''Texas'' for treatment of whom one died on the operating table. Along with the Rangers, a deceased Coast Guardsman and twenty-seven [[POW|prisoners]] (twenty Germans, four Italians, and three French) were brought to the ship. The prisoners were fed, segregated, and not formally interrogated aboard ''Texas'', due to the ship bombarding targets or standing by to bombard, before being loaded aboard an [[Landing Ship, Tank|LST]] for transfer to England.<ref>{{cite web
|title=USS ''Texas'' Action Report for period 3–17 June 1944 (Operation Neptune/Overlord)
|date=28 June 1944
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D-Day_After_Action_Report_Page_5.jpg
|access-date=17 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107210943/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D-Day_After_Action_Report_Page_5.jpg
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> Later in the day, her main battery rained shells on the enemy-held towns of [[Formigny]]<ref>{{cite web
|title=Summary of Bombardments, Action Report, Battleship Texas
|date=26 June 1944
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DDayFireTables.gif
|access-date=17 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107195934/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DDayFireTables.gif
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> and [[Trévières]] to break up German troop concentrations. That evening, she bombarded a German mortar battery that had been shelling the beach. Not long after midnight, German planes attacked the ships offshore, and one of them swooped in low on ''Texas''{{'}}s starboard quarter. Her anti-aircraft batteries opened up immediately but failed to hit the intruder. On the morning of 8 June, her guns fired on [[Isigny-sur-Mer|Isigny]], then on a shore battery, and finally on Trévières once more.<ref name="DANFS" />

After that, she retired to [[Plymouth]] to rearm, returning to the French coast on 11 June. From then until 15 June, she supported the army in its advance inland. By 15 June, the troops had advanced to the edge of ''Texas''{{'}}s gun range; her last fire support mission was so far inland that to get the needed range, the starboard torpedo blister was flooded with water to provide a list of two degrees which gave the guns enough elevation to complete the fire mission. With combat operations beyond the range of her guns on 16 June, ''Texas'' left Normandy for England on 18 June.<ref name="DDay" /><ref>{{cite web
|title=War Diary, Battleship Texas
|date=June 1944
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leave_Normandy_for_England_18_June_1944.jpg
|access-date=17 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107195938/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leave_Normandy_for_England_18_June_1944.jpg
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref>

====Battle of Cherbourg====
{{main|Bombardment of Cherbourg}}
[[File:USS Texas-11.jpg|thumb|A heavy German coast artillery shell falls between ''Texas'' (in the background) and {{USS|Arkansas|BB-33|2}} while the two battleships were engaging Battery Hamburg during the battle of [[Cherbourg-Octeville|Cherbourg, France]], 25 June 1944]]

On the morning of 25 June ''Texas'', in company with ''Arkansas'', ''Nevada'', four cruisers and eleven destroyers, closed in on the vital port of [[Cherbourg-Octeville|Cherbourg]] to suppress the fortifications and batteries surrounding the town while the U.S. Army's [[VII Corps (United States)|VII Corps]] attacked the city from the rear. While en route to Cherbourg, the bombardment plan was changed and Task Group 129.2 (TG 129.2), built around ''Arkansas'' and ''Texas'', was ordered to move {{cvt|6|mi}}{{clarify |reason=Nautical or statute miles? |date=September 2012}} to the east of Cherbourg and engage the guns of Battery Hamburg, a large shore battery composed of four {{convert|24|cm|0|abbr=on}} guns.<ref name="Navweaps" />{{sfn|Morison|2001|p=496}}{{sfn|McManus|2004|p=496}} At 12:08, ''Arkansas'' was the first to fire at the German positions, while the German gunners waited for ''Arkansas'' and ''Texas'' to be well in range to return fire. At 12:33, ''Texas'' was straddled by three German shells; five minutes later ''Texas'' returned fire with a continuous stream of two-gun [[salvo]]s. The battleship continued her firing runs in spite of shell geysers blossoming about her and difficulty spotting the targets because of smoke; however, the enemy gunners were just as stubborn and skilled. At 13:16, a German 24-cm shell skidded across the top of her [[conning tower]], sheared the top of the fire control periscope off (the periscope remains fell back into the conning tower and wounded the fire control officer, Lt. Cmdr. Richard B Derickson Jr. and three others), hit the main support column of the navigation bridge and exploded.<ref name="Navweaps">{{cite web|last=DiGiulian |first=Tony |title=German 24cm.40 (9.4") SK L/40 |url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNGER_945-40_skc94.htm |publisher=Tony DiGiulian |access-date=12 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502201048/http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNGER_945-40_skc94.htm |archive-date= 2 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{sfn|Harrison|1951|p=519}}{{sfn|Kaufmann|2002|p=432}} The explosion caused the deck of the pilot house above to be blown upwards approximately {{cvt|4|ft|m}}, wrecked the interior of the pilot house, and wounded seven. Of the eleven total casualties from the German shell hit, only one man succumbed to his wounds—the helmsman on duty, Christen Christensen.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Cherbourg Action Report, Battleship Texas, 25 June 1944, Enclosure C
|date=25 June 1944
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cherbourg_Casualties.gif
|access-date=18 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107195946/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cherbourg_Casualties.gif
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> ''Texas''{{'}}s commanding officer, Captain Baker, escaped unhurt and quickly had the bridge cleared. The warship herself continued to deliver her 14-inch shells in two-gun salvos and, in spite of damage and casualties, scored a direct hit that penetrated one of the heavily reinforced gun emplacements to destroy the gun inside at 13:35.{{sfn|Morison|2001|p=496}}

At 14:47, an unexploded 24&nbsp;cm shell was reported.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Cherbourg Action Report, Battleship Texas
|date=25 June 1944
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cherbourg_Unexploded_Shell.gif
|access-date=18 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107195954/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cherbourg_Unexploded_Shell.gif
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> The shell crashed through the port bow directly below the [[Wardroom]] and entered the stateroom of [[Warrant officer|Warrant Officer]] M.A. Clark, but failed to explode. The unexploded shell was later disarmed by a Navy bomb disposal officer in [[Portsmouth]] and is currently displayed aboard the ship. Throughout the three-hour duel, the Germans straddled and near-missed ''Texas'' over sixty-five times, but she continued her mission firing 206 fourteen-inch shells at Battery Hamburg until ordered to retire at 15:01.{{sfn|Morison|2001|p=496}}{{sfn|McManus|2004|p=496}}

====Operation Dragoon====
{{main|Operation Dragoon}}
After ''Texas'' underwent repairs at Plymouth from damage sustained at Cherbourg, she drilled in preparation for the invasion of southern France. On 16 July, she departed Belfast Lough and headed for the Mediterranean. After stops at Gibraltar and [[Oran]], [[Algeria]], the battleship arrived in [[Taranto]], [[Italy]] on 27 July.<ref>{{cite web
|title=War Diary, Battleship Texas, July 1944 and August 1944
|date=27 July 1944
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taranto_Italy_Invasion_S._France_Aug_1944.jpg
|access-date=18 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107200008/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taranto_Italy_Invasion_S._France_Aug_1944.jpg
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> Departing Taranto on 11 August, ''Texas'' rendezvoused with three French destroyers off [[Bizerte]], [[Tunisia]], and set a course for the [[French Riviera]]. She arrived off [[Saint-Tropez]] during the night of 14 August and was joined early the next morning by battleship ''Nevada'' and cruiser {{USS|Philadelphia|CL-41|2}}<ref name="Powers31">{{harvnb|Powers|1993|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sPWIsucIbAcC&pg=PA31 31]}}</ref> At 04:44 on 15 August, she moved into position for the pre-landing bombardment and, at 0651, opened up on her first target, a battery of five 15&nbsp;cm guns.<ref name="Powers31" /> The beaches had been fortified and heavy resistance was expected. Due to very poor visibility that morning, ''Texas'' relied on her SG radar equipment to determine her position and track for both navigation and gunnery purposes. No landmarks were visible during the firing and for the greater part of the forenoon.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.hnsa.org/doc/cic/cic-44-12.pdf |chapter=PPI View of Southern France |title=C.I.C. – Combat Information Center |date=December 1944 |publisher=Office of the Chief of Naval Operations |access-date=22 May 2009 |page=35 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217214359/http://hnsa.org/doc/cic/cic-44-12.pdf |archive-date=17 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The heavy opposition that was expected never materialized, so the landing forces moved inland rapidly. As fire support from ''Texas''{{'}}s guns was no longer required, she departed the southern coast of France on the early morning of 17 August.<ref>{{cite web
|title=War Diary, Battleship Texas
|date=August 1944
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S,France_lv_17_Aug.jpg
|access-date=18 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107200018/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S,France_lv_17_Aug.jpg
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> After a stop at [[Palermo]], [[Sicily]], she left the Mediterranean and headed for New York where she arrived on 14 September 1944.<ref name="DANFS" />

====Operations Detachment and Iceberg====
{{main|Battle of Iwo Jima}}
{{main|Battle of Okinawa}}
At New York, ''Texas'' underwent a 36-day repair period during which the barrels on her main battery were replaced. She replaced all ten of her 14-inch main gun barrels for the third and final time in her career during this refit. In an incredible stroke of luck she was reunited with 9 out of 10 of her original gun barrels that served on ''Texas'' from 1914 to 1923. These nine guns served with {{USS|Pennsylvania|BB-38|2}} prior to being refurbished, relined, and reinstalled on ''Texas'' in late 1944. These original guns have remained on ''Texas'' ever since.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXLueUOnJN8 |title=Battleship Texas, Getting 3,500 Shots Out Of A 250 Shot Barrel! |date=23 September 2022 |website=YouTube |time=0:55 |access-date=13 March 2023}}</ref> After a brief refresher cruise, she departed Maine in November and set a course, via the Panama Canal, for the Pacific. She made a stop at [[Long Beach, California]], and then continued on to [[Oahu]]. She spent Christmas at [[Naval Station Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] and then conducted maneuvers in the [[Hawaiian Islands]] for about a month at the end of which she steamed to [[Ulithi Atoll]]. She departed Ulithi on 10 February 1945, stopped in the [[Mariana Islands]] for two days of invasion rehearsals, and then she set a course for [[Iwo Jima]]. She arrived off Iwo Jima on 16 February, three days before the [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious landings]] began. She spent just three days pounding the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese defenses]] on Iwo Jima in preparation for the landing of three Marine Corps Divisions.<ref name="DANFS" /> After the Marines stormed the beaches on 19 February, ''Texas'' switched to providing naval gunfire support for them. "On-call fire" in response to requests from Marine units continued through 21 February.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Action Report, Battleship Texas
|date=12 March 1945
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shells_fired_Iwo_Jima.jpg
|access-date=18 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107200144/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shells_fired_Iwo_Jima.jpg
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref>

Though the island of Iwo Jima was not declared to be captured until 16 March, ''Texas'' departed from the [[Volcano Islands]] on 7 March,<ref>{{cite web
|title=Action Report, Battleship Texas
|date=12 March 1945
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iwo_Jima_lv_7_Mar_1945.jpg
|access-date=18 September 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107200211/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iwo_Jima_lv_7_Mar_1945.jpg
|archive-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=live
}}{{third-party inline|date=September 2012}}</ref> and returned to Ulithi Atoll to prepare for the invasion of [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] ([[Operation Iceberg]]). She departed from Ulithi with Task Force 54, the gunfire support unit, on 21 March, and arrived in the [[Ryukyu Islands]] on the 26th. ''Texas'' moved in close to Okinawa and began her prelanding bombardment that same day. For the next six days, she fired multiple salvos from her main guns to prepare the way for several [[United States Army|Army]] and Marine divisions to make their amphibious landings on 1 April.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

Each evening, ''Texas'' retired from her [[bombardment]] position close to Okinawa, but returned the next morning to resume her bombardments. The enemy ashore, preparing for a [[defense-in-depth]] strategy as at Iwo Jima, made no answer. Only air units provided a response, as several [[kamikaze]] raids were sent to harass the bombardment group. ''Texas'' escaped damage during those attacks. On 1 April, after six days of aerial and naval bombardment, the ground troops went ashore, and for almost two months, ''Texas'' remained in Okinawan waters providing gunfire support for the troops and fending off the enemy aerial assault. In performing the latter mission, she claimed one kamikaze kill on her own and claimed three assists.<ref name="DANFS" /> ''Texas'' was at [[general quarters]] for over 50 days straight at Okinawa due to the threat of kamikazes. This meant that the crew were at their battle stations at all times for seven weeks and ate only crackers and [[K-rations]] for meals and their only resting time was a quick shower and change of clothes every 3 days. ''Texas'' was never damaged as a result and it is believed that this was the only U.S. ship that stayed at general quarters for such duration at any point during World War II. She fired 2,019 fourteen-inch shells, 2,643 5-inch shells, 490 3-inch shells, 3,100 rounds of 40&nbsp;mm ammunition, and 2,205 rounds of 20&nbsp;mm ammunition during the Okinawa campaign.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/uss-texas-battle-okinawa |title=Come On Texas! Surviving the Battle for Okinawa |publisher=The National WWII Museum |date=26 March 2020 |access-date=9 March 2023}}</ref> On 14 May she departed Okinawa for the [[Philippines]].<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web|title=Action Report: Okinawa 21 March – 14 May 1945|url=http://battleshiptexas.info/images/Documents/ActionReports/Okinawa.html|date=26 May 1945|access-date=26 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811204930/http://battleshiptexas.info/images/Documents/ActionReports/Okinawa.html|archive-date=11 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

====End of the war====
On 17 May,<ref name="ReferenceB" /> ''Texas'' arrived at [[Leyte (island)|Leyte]] in the Philippines and remained there until after the Japanese capitulation on 15 August. She returned to Okinawa toward the end of August and stayed in the Ryukyu Islands until 23 September. On that day, she set a course for the United States with homeward bound troops embarked as part of [[Operation Magic Carpet]]. The battleship delivered her passengers to [[San Pedro, Los Angeles|San Pedro]], California on 15 October, and celebrated [[Navy Day#United States|Navy Day]] there on 27 October before resuming her mission to bring American troops home. She made two round-trip voyages between California and Oahu in November and a third in late December.<ref name="DANFS" /> On 21 January 1946, ''Texas'' departed San Pedro and steamed via the Panama Canal to Norfolk where she arrived on 13 February, and soon began preparations for inactivation. On 18 June, she was placed officially in reserve at [[Baltimore]], Maryland.{{sfn|Ferguson|2007}}

==Museum ship==
[[File:Battleship Texas, Laporte, Texas 1212201548 (8308971646).jpg|thumb|Battleship ''Texas'' in 2012]]

===Battleship ''Texas'' Commission===
On 17 April 1947, the Battleship ''Texas'' Commission was established by the Texas Legislature to care for the ship. The $225,000 necessary to pay for towing her from Baltimore to San Jacinto was the Commission's first task.{{sfn|Ferguson|2007}} On 17 March 1948, ''Texas'' began her journey to her new anchorage along the busy [[Houston Ship Channel]] near the [[San Jacinto Monument]], at [[San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site|San Jacinto State Park]], arriving on 20 April, where she was turned over to the State of Texas the next day to serve as a permanent memorial.{{sfn|Wiper|Flowers|2006}}<ref name="TXSite" /> ''Texas'' sat just across from the monument at Battleground Park in the waters of the Port of Houston where she was ceremoniously decommissioned  on the 21st, nine days later on 30 April 1948 her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]].<ref name="DANFS" /> ''Texas''  was the first permanent battleship memorial museum in the US.<ref name="TXSite">{{cite web |title=Battleship Texas State Historic Site |url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/battleship_texas/ |publisher=[[Texas Parks and Wildlife Department]] |access-date=30 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070101064604/http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/battleship_texas/ |archive-date=1 January 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> {{USS|Oregon|BB-3}} was displayed as a floating museum in Portland, Oregon from 1925 to 1941 but was scrapped in 1956. When the battleship was presented to the State of Texas, she was commissioned as the flagship of the [[Texas Navy]].<ref name="TXSite" /><ref name=NG>{{cite magazine |author=Stanley Walker |author-link=Stanley Walker (editor) |date=February 1961 |title=The Fabulous State of Texas|magazine=[[National Geographic]] |volume=119 |issue=2}}</ref>{{rp|181}}

The funding produced by the Battleship ''Texas'' Commission was not up to the task of maintaining the ship. Consequently, years of neglect resulted in cracks and gaps in coated surfaces, water intrusion, and steel deterioration. Paint in interior spaces began to crack, then flake, exposing metal surfaces underneath, which began to rust. At the same time, pipes open to the sea ultimately failed, flooding various voids and bunkers.<ref name="UHJournal2">
{{cite journal
|last=Fischer
|first=Donald H.
|date=Spring 2007
|title=The Future of the Battleship ''Texas''
|journal=Houston History
|volume=4
|issue=2
|pages=72–74
|publisher=[[University of Houston]]. Center for Public History
|location=Houston, Texas
|oclc=163568525
|url=http://www.history.uh.edu/public_history/houston_history_project/houston_review/issues_volume_04_2.html
|access-date=11 January 2008
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819235936/http://www.history.uh.edu/public_history/houston_history_project/houston_review/issues_volume_04_2.html
|archive-date=19 August 2008
}}
</ref>
By 1968, the wooden main deck of the ship was so rotted that rainwater was leaking through the deck into the interior of the ship and pooling in various compartments. The Commission found that replacing the decayed deck timbers would be prohibitively expensive. The solution at the time was to remove the wooden deck and replace it with concrete. The concrete eventually cracked, and again, rainwater began to leak through the main deck into spaces below. In 1971, three local charitable institutions, the Brown Foundation, the [[Moody Foundation]], and the [[Houston Endowment Inc.|Houston Endowment]], together contributed $50,000 to the ship to enable the Commission to sandblast and paint the hull.{{sfn|Ferguson|2007}} By this time, newspaper articles reported that ''Texas'' was "under attack" from neglect and insufficient funding.<ref>
{{cite news
|first=Stan
|last=Redding
|title=The USS Texas is under attack and she can't fight back
|work=[[Houston Chronicle]]
|location=Houston, Texas
|date=26 June 1972}}
</ref>
Nevertheless, ''Texas'' was designated a [[List of Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks|National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark]] by the [[American Society of Mechanical Engineers]] in 1975, and a National Historic Landmark by the [[National Park Service]] in 1976.<ref name="nrhpinv2">
{{cite web
|url={{NHLS url|id=76002039}}
|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: U.S.S. Texas / The Battleship Texas
|date=April 1976
|first=George R.
|last=Adams
|publisher=[[National Park Service]]
|access-date=18 September 2012}} and<br />
{{cite web
|url={{NHLS url|id=76002039|photos=y}}
|title=Accompanying photo, exterior, from 1976 |publisher=[[National Park Service]]
|access-date=18 September 2012}}</ref>{{sfn|Ferguson|2007}}<ref name="nhlsum">
{{cite web
|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1682&ResourceType=Structure
|title=USS Texas
|access-date=17 April 2008
|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing
|publisher=[[National Park Service]]
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091113001852/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1682&ResourceType=Structure
|archive-date=13 November 2009
}}
</ref>

===Transfer to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department===
By 1983, concerns with the leadership of the Battleship ''Texas'' Commission led to the decision by the State Legislature to turn over control of the ship to the [[Texas Parks and Wildlife Department]] (TPWD).<ref name="UHJournal2" /> The legislature abolished the commission effective 31 August 1983, and TPWD assumed operational control the next day. One of the first actions by TPWD was to hire a firm of naval architects to survey the ship in order to assess the deterioration and make recommendations as to what actions should be taken to preserve the ship. The survey revealed that the ship's watertight integrity was badly compromised, the hull was open to the sea in many places, and many compartments were full of standing rain water. The architects determined that the ship needed to go to dry dock for major repairs to the hull and to keep rain water from coming through the porous concrete deck.{{sfn|Ferguson|2007}} As part of this plan, serious consideration was given to protecting sensitive fabrics and restoring the interior of the ship.<ref name="UHJournal2" /> After a five-year-long fund-raising campaign, $15 million was collected to dry dock the ship and complete necessary repairs.<ref name="UHJournal1">
{{cite journal
|last=Salyers
|first=Abbie
|date=Spring 2007
|title=Leaving ''Texas'' High and Dry: The Preservation of the Battleship Texas
|journal=Houston History
|volume=4
|issue=2
|pages=66–68
|publisher=[[University of Houston]]. Center for Public History
|location=Houston, Texas
|oclc=163568525
|url=http://www.history.uh.edu/public_history/houston_history_project/houston_review/issues_volume_04_2.html
|access-date=11 January 2008
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819235936/http://www.history.uh.edu/public_history/houston_history_project/houston_review/issues_volume_04_2.html
|archive-date=19 August 2008
}}
</ref>

===1988–1990 dry dock period===
On 13 December 1988, ''Texas'' was pulled from her berth with great difficulty over the course of six hours by six large tugboats to begin the {{Convert|56|mi|nmi km|adj=on}} trip from her berth to [[Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division|Todd Shipyards]] in Galveston, Texas. Once under tow in the Houston Ship Channel she started taking on water, with a serious breach just forward of the engine rooms. The crew had three {{convert|4|in|adj=on}} pumps and two {{convert|2|in|adj=on}} pumps in continuous service to combat the flooding. During the nine-plus hour transit, the ship's draft increased by {{cvt|18|to|20|in}} in the stern.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

''Texas'' entered the yard's floating drydock at approximately 22:30 on 13 December, at high tide with only {{cvt|6|in}} to spare between her hull and the blocks she would sit on.<ref name="Historic Structures">
{{cite report
|last=Moss
|first=Sue Winton
|date=June 1993
|title=Historic Structures Report Battleship TEXAS-A Report for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Antiquities Permit HS44
|page=21
|publisher=Preservation Planning and Consulting
|location=Austin, Texas
|url=http://www.hnsa.org/handbook/bbtxreport/index.htm
|access-date=28 August 2009
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403222416/http://www.hnsa.org/handbook/bbtxreport/index.htm
|archive-date=3 April 2009
}}
</ref> She underwent a 14-month refit that sought to restore the ship to her 1945 condition. While under refit, yard workers sand-blasted paint from not only the hull but also the superstructure and replaced many tons of rusted metal from the hull. Inside the ship, welders and fabricators replaced weakened structural beams and numerous rusted-out deck plates. Topside, workers removed the concrete from the main deck in preparation for a new pinewood deck to be installed later in the refit.<ref name="Long">
{{cite news
|title=Painted Lady Going Home to Berth
|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]
|author-link=Steven Long
|last=Long
|first=Steven
|date=28 May 1990
|page=D1
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite AV media
|title=Rebirth of the Texas, video of the dry dock period (Dec 1988 to July 1990)
|people=Ray Miller, narrator
|publisher=Houston television station Channel 11
|year=1992
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite news
|title=Battleship Texas back at 'Home'
|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]
|first=Bill
|last=Disessa
|date=27 July 1990
|page=A1
}}</ref> In total, more than {{cvt|375000|lb}} of steel (amounting to about 15% of the ship's hull) were replaced and more than 40,000 rivets were seal-welded on the underwater hull.<ref name="Historic Structures" /><ref name="Powers-Pxii">{{harvnb|Powers|1993|p=xii}}</ref>

On 24 February 1990, tugboats moved ''Texas'' from dry dock to Brown & Root's offshore fabrication facility on Green's Bayou for further repairs, and installation of the four mooring attachments on the starboard side of the vessel. Special diamond bit cutting blades had to be used to cut the 4" thick hull steel which was made in Germany and hardened in carbonized beds to reach over 425 HB hardness values according to original blueprints.  It was here that the wood deck was also installed and four of the ten mounts of [[Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun#Naval|quad 40&nbsp;mm guns]] were installed.<ref name="Long" /><ref name="ReferenceA">
{{cite news
|title=USS Texas returning to berth
|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]
|first=Bill
|last=Diessa
|date=20 July 1990
}}</ref> On 26 July, the ship was returned to her berth at San Jacinto where the final six mounts of 40&nbsp;mm guns were installed.<ref name="ReferenceA" /><ref>
{{cite news
|title=Guns awaiting return of restored battleship
|newspaper=[[Houston Post]]
|date=21 July 1990
|page=A2
}}</ref> The original ten quad 40&nbsp;mm guns of ''Texas'' were removed in 1948 due to the guns still being actively used by the Navy for many decades after World War II. In an amazing coincidence ''Missouri'' and other battleships of her class were recalled to active service and due to modernization had to remove all of their 40&nbsp;mm guns in 1986. ''Texas'' took advantage of this situation to not only get a full complement of ten of the best light anti-aircraft gun mounts of World War II but also then to proceed to repaint and reinterpret the ''Texas'' to how she looked in the Pacific theater in 1945 with a [[World War II ship camouflage measures of the United States Navy|Measure 21]] dark blue paint scheme and no longer the [[World War II ship camouflage measures of the United States Navy|Measure 22]] scheme she had worn at Normandy nor the haze gray paint scheme that she later wore in the Atlantic theater and then from 1948 to 1990 before her first dry dock refit. Six to eight of the ten 40&nbsp;mm quad gun mounts that ''Texas'' received were on ''Missouri'' until the 1980s. The four [[1.1-inch/75-caliber gun|old inferior gun mounts]] that the Navy gave to ''Texas'' in 1948 were removed.<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da_fniy7EEg |title=Texas Drydock Report 1988 |date=9 September 2022 |website=YouTube |time=10:00 |access-date=13 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |url=https://archive.hnsa.org/handbook/bbtxreport/index.htm |title=Historic Structures Report Battleship Texas |date=June 1993 |last=Winton Moss |first=Sue |publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife Department | access-date=13 March 2023}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}}</ref> Repairs complete, the ship officially reopened to the public on 8 September 1990.{{sfn|Ferguson|2007}} Upon returning to her slip at San Jacinto, members of the ship's staff and volunteers worked to restore the interior spaces.<ref name="UHJournal2" />

===Dry berth project===
[[File:Monument in Texas.jpg|thumb|Battleship ''Texas'']]
In 2004, after many years of working with many of the stakeholders at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site evaluating a wide range of alternative plans to address the ship's problems, TPWD adopted a Master Plan that called for placing ''Texas'' into a permanent dry berth. The Texas Legislature was approached to secure appropriate funding. The Legislature allowed the voters of Texas to express their opinion and on 6 November 2007 Texas voters [[Texas constitutional amendment election, 2007|approved]] $25 million in funds to dry-berth the ship to prevent further deterioration from the corrosive waters of the ship channel.<ref name="Dry-Berth Project Rationale">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.battleshiptexas.org/aboutUs/futureGoals/dryBerth.cfm
|title=Dry-Berth Project Rationale
|publisher=Battleship TEXAS Foundation
|access-date=31 August 2010
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407191120/http://www.battleshiptexas.org/aboutUs/futureGoals/dryBerth.cfm
|archive-date=7 April 2010 }}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.proposition4.org/projects.php
|title=Proposition 4 Proposed Projects by Region
|publisher=Proposition4.org
|access-date=19 January 2009
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709041918/http://www.proposition4.org/projects.php
|archive-date=9 July 2008 }}
</ref><!--Still could use a link to the actual election results-->

One of the provisions of the bond legislation was the Battleship Texas Foundation (BTF), a non-profit support organization, raise $4 million in private funds to supplement the $25 million in bond funds. This would provide a total of $29 million to accomplish the goal.<ref name="Dry-Berth Project Rationale" />

BTF contracted a maritime engineering firm which determined that the ship's keel and main supporting internal structure would be sufficiently strong to support the ship in a dry berth, while another maritime engineering firm was also contracted to study the full range of dry berth alternatives. With these and other studies complete, TPWD presented a progress report to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) in late July 2008.<ref name="Dry-Berth Project Rationale" />

In March 2009 the LBB released the funds for the dry berthing project to commence.<ref>{{cite press release
|url=https://house.texas.gov/news/press-releases/print/?id=2611
|title=Rep. Wayne Smith, Rep. Ken Legler Announce LBB Approval of Bonds to Dry Berth the Battleship Texas
|publisher=Texas House of Representatives
|date=18 March 2009 |access-date=16 July 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220111123/http://www.house.state.tx.us/news/press-releases/print/?id=2611
|archive-date=20 February 2011 |url-status=live
}}</ref> After a lengthy selection process and fee negotiations, TPWD signed a contract with [[AECOM]], on 26 October 2010, to design and develop the plans for ''Texas''{{'}}s dry-berth. The contract called for AECOM to have its preliminary design completed by spring 2011, with the bidding process for the construction of the dry berth and temporary mooring of ''Texas'' to begin in mid-2014, and construction completed by  summer 2017.<ref>{{cite press release
|url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20101029b
|title=Battleship Texas Dry Berth Design Contract Signed
|publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
|date=29 October 2010 |access-date=1 November 2010
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220052100/http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20101029b
|archive-date=20 February 2011 |url-status=live
}}</ref> However, by February 2019, funds had not yet been secured to commence construction, with efforts instead dedicated to repairs to the ship.<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/Get-a-glimpse-of-areas-of-Battleship-Texas-13588609.php
|title=Get a glimpse of areas of Battleship Texas that have reopened after repairs
|newspaper=Houston Chronicle
|last=Bolton
|first=Jennifer
|date=4 February 2019
|access-date=28 February 2019
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228004148/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/Get-a-glimpse-of-areas-of-Battleship-Texas-13588609.php
|archive-date=28 February 2019
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

On 28 May 2019, it was reported that ''Texas'' would be undergoing $35 million worth of repairs and then be moved further up the Texas coast, largely due to a decline in visitors at its current location. Later that year, ''Texas'' was closed to the public so necessary preparations could be made for the upcoming restoration process.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://abc13.com/society/deteriorating-battleship-texas-leaving-la-porte-for-good-/5320537 |title=Battleship Texas leaving San Jacinto Battleground for good over decline in visits |access-date=29 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528233401/https://abc13.com/society/deteriorating-battleship-texas-leaving-la-porte-for-good-/5320537/ |archive-date=28 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Leaks===

In June 2010, a leak on the starboard side of the ship caused ''Texas'' to sink two to three feet in her mooring. The leak was precipitated by a burned out pump, which allowed the ship to take on more water than usual. Consequently, a seam separation was pulled below the waterline creating a second leak. Once the leak was discovered, the broken pump was replaced. 105,000 [[Gallon|U.S. gal]] (400,000 [[liter|L]]; 87,000 [[Gallon#Imperial gallon|imp gal]]) of water had to be pumped from the ship.<ref>{{cite press release
|url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20100615c
|title=Emergency Pumping Prevents Sinking of Battleship Texas
|publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
|date=15 June 2010 |access-date=11 January 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220080344/http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20100615c
|archive-date=20 February 2011 |url-status=live
}}</ref>

On 9 June 2012 about 30 new leaks, between {{cvt|1|in}} holes and {{cvt|2|sqft|sqm}} gaps, were discovered, ultimately necessitating a three-week closure of the ship to visitors; removal of water and repair was complicated by the presence of residual oil in the ship's fuel bunkers.<ref>
{{cite news
|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/leak-shuts-battleship-texas-indefinitely-16645926
|title=Leak Shuts Down Battleship Texas Indefinitely
|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]
|access-date=26 June 2012}}</ref>{{failed verification
|date=November 2012}}<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://battleshiptexas.org/FAQ/FloodingQA.aspx
|title=Flooding Situation – Question & Answers
|publisher=Battleship Texas Foundation
|access-date=7 November 2012
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219024117/http://www.battleshiptexas.org/FAQ/FloodingQA.aspx
|archive-date=19 December 2012
}}
</ref> In less than a month, the leaks were fixed.<ref>
{{cite news
|last=Miller
|first=Doug
|url=http://www.khou.com/home/Battleship-Texas-is-patched-now-controversy-over-where-it-should-go-161158625.html
|title=Battleship Texas is Patched
|work=[[KHOU]]
|date=2 July 2012 |access-date=3 July 2012
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120706044844/http://www.khou.com/home/Battleship-Texas-is-patched-now-controversy-over-where-it-should-go-161158625.html
|archive-date=6 July 2012
}}
</ref>

On 12 June 2017, a {{convert|6|by|8|in|cm|adj=on}} hole about {{convert|15|ft}} below the waterline caused the ship to [[Angle of list|list]] six degrees to starboard. After emergency repairs, crews pumped out about 105,000 [[Gallon|U.S. gal]] (400,000 [[liter|L]]; 87,000 [[Gallon#Imperial gallon|imp gal]]) of water per minute out of the ship for more than 15 hours.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.click2houston.com/news/emergency-repairs-made-after-leak-nearly-sinks-battleship-texas|title=Emergency repairs made after leak nearly sinks Battleship Texas|last=Staff|first=Click2Houston.com|date=12 June 2017|work=KPRC|access-date=12 June 2017|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612130045/http://www.click2houston.com/news/emergency-repairs-made-after-leak-nearly-sinks-battleship-texas|archive-date=12 June 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

===2022 dry dock period===
{{update section|the current status of the relocation|date=April 2024}}
[[File:Starboard Side Torpedo.jpg|thumb|Starboard side of ''Texas'' with her torpedo blisters removed uncovering her original hull, December 2022]]

On 31 August 2022, ''Texas'' was towed out of her berth to a floating dry dock at Gulf Copper Dry Dock & Rig Repair in Galveston for repairs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Begley |first1=Dug |last2=Ferguson |first2=John Wayne |date=2022-08-31 |title=Battleship Texas arrives in Galveston early after 'perfect launch' |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/galveston/article/Battleship-Texas-set-for-historic-move-17409501.php |access-date=2022-09-07 |website=Houston Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref> The journey took four tugboats pulling the ship {{Convert|40|mi|km|abbr=off}} through the Houston Ship Channel and ended at around 4 pm.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lozano |first=Juan A. |date=2022-08-31 |title=Leaky battleship in Texas completes trip for $35M repairs |url=https://apnews.com/article/travel-texas-historic-sites-a99b04ffbf355355c5dfe47e191990d7 |access-date=2022-09-07 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}</ref> Gulf Copper's old dry dock was no longer usable so, in order to find a quick affordable option for their client ''Texas'', they found a sunken dry dock, a very large 42-year-old dry dock that sank off of the [[Bahamas]], that they had to salvage by repairing it after raising it from the seafloor and then cutting its length in half due to heavy damage from its sinking. The first vessel to use this recycled dry dock was ''Texas''.<ref>https://drydockmagazine.com/a-battle-to-drydock-the-battleship-uss-texas/ . Retrieved 13 April 2024.</ref>

Once repairs are complete, the Battleship Texas Foundation intends to berth the ship at a different city; Galveston and many other Texas cities are interested but in March 2023, [[Baytown, Texas|Baytown]] and [[Beaumont, Texas|Beaumont]] were told by the foundation that they were no longer under consideration. As part of the conditions for receiving the $35 million from the Texas government, ''Texas'' can only be berthed in the upper coast region of Texas after she is repaired, meaning any part of the Texas coastline from the [[San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge]] to the Louisiana border. ''Texas'' also received a matching $35 million [[Federal grants in the United States|federal grant]] from the United States government for her repairs. This $70 million can only be used to repair the battleship and cannot be used on cosmetic-related maintenance like replacing the wooden deck and painting the ship. Also, infrastructure-related projects for the new homeport such as the parking lot or museum buildings cannot be paid for by these funds.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/local/2023/03/03/445278/historic-battleship-texas-parked-for-repairs-seeking-high-traffic-area-for-next-home/ |title=Battleship Texas will soon be on the move |work=Houston Public Media |last=Thomas |first=Matthew |date=23 August 2022 |access-date=16 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/texas/2022/08/23/431497/battleship-texas-will-soon-be-on-the-move/ |title=Historic Battleship Texas, parked for repairs, seeking high-traffic area for next home |work=Houston Public Media |last=Zuvanich |first=Adam |date=3 March 2023 |access-date=16 March 2023}}</ref> ''Texas'' later received $25 million more in funding for repairs from the Texas government in 2023.<ref>https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/FY24-Operating-Budget.pdf . Page 139. Retrieved 14 April 2024.</ref>

In November 2023, the Port of Galveston board of trustees approved Galveston to become the new home for ''Texas''. Her new home will be at Pier 20 in Galveston and rent will be $480,000 per year. She left dry dock on 5 March 2024 but will receive more repairs while afloat for the next 18 to 24 months to her superstructure, smaller guns, and interior spaces.<ref>https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/battleship-texas-to-get-long-term-home-in-galveston/ . Retrieved 14 April 2024.</ref><ref>https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/us-navy-battleship-uss-texas-now-back-water-209921 . Retrieved 14 April 2024.</ref>

===Commemoration===
''Texas'' was the first and oldest of the eight U.S. battleships that became permanent floating museums; the other battleships honored in this way are ''[[USS Massachusetts (BB-59)|Massachusetts]]'', {{USS|Alabama|BB-60|2}}, {{USS|North Carolina|BB-55|2}}, {{USS|New Jersey|BB-62|2}}, {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|2}}, {{USS|Wisconsin|BB-64|2}}, and {{USS|Iowa|BB-61|2}}. {{sfn|Westwood|1975|p=23}}<ref group="A">'' Iowa'' opened to the public 7 July 2012 in Los Angeles, California.</ref> ''Texas'' is also one of the oldest surviving modern naval ships, having turned 100 years old on 12 March 2014.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Pomp-emotion-greet-old-sailors-as-Battleship-5311283.php |title=Pomp, emotion greet old sailors as Battleship Texas turns 100 |newspaper=Houston Chronicle |first=Allan |last=Turner |date=12 March 2014 |access-date=5 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826051828/http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Pomp-emotion-greet-old-sailors-as-Battleship-5311283.php |archive-date=26 August 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Radio commemorations occur on ''Texas'' yearly during Museum Ship Weekend and Pearl Harbor Day. [[Amateur radio]] operators from the Battleship Texas Amateur Radio operate on those two occasions under the [[Federal Communications Commission]] [[callsign]] NA5DV, similar to the original callsign NADV.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=2388585
|title=Vanity License – NA5DV – Battleship Texas Amateur Radio Station
|work=Universal Licensing System
|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]
|access-date=7 November 2012
|date=29 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903094140/http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=2388585
|archive-date=3 September 2014 |url-status=live
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.na5dv.org/?page_id=38
|title=About Us
|publisher=Battleship Texas Amateur Radio Station
|access-date=7 November 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010232551/http://www.na5dv.org/?page_id=38
|archive-date=10 October 2011 |url-status=live
}}</ref>

The [[Texas Legislature]] designated the battleship Texas as the official "State Ship of Texas" in 1995.{{sfn|Hatch|2022|p=23}}

==Media==
[[File:USS TexasSan Jacinto Park in Fog.jpg|thumb|''Texas'' seen at sunrise at the end of 2007; the [[obelisk]] in the background is the [[San Jacinto Monument]]]]
<!-- IMPORTANT:

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''Texas'' has appeared in several films prior to and since her retirement. Her cinema debut, though brief, was in the final scene of the 1937 film ''Boy of the Streets'' starring [[Jackie Cooper]] and Maureen O'Conner.<ref>"Boy Of The Streets" 1937</ref> The 1966 [[Steve McQueen]] film [[The Sand Pebbles (film)|'' The Sand Pebbles'']] shot some scenes aboard the ship, but these were removed from the final cut of the movie and subsequently lost. For the 2001 film [[Pearl Harbor (film)|'' Pearl Harbor'']], ''Texas'' was chosen as a filming location because she is the only surviving American battleship that was built and in service prior to 1941, and her exterior and interior components look very similar to other battleships that were built in the 1910s and 1920s and were present on [[Battleship Row]] during the attack. Numerous exterior and interior shots were filmed on ''Texas'', with actors using the main deck and numerous interior areas. The interior scenes of the aircraft carrier {{USS|Hornet|CV-8|2}} were also shot inside ''Texas''.  For the 2006 films [[Flags of Our Fathers (film)|'' Flags of Our Fathers'']] and ''[[Letters from Iwo Jima]]'' actual film footage of the exterior of ''Texas'' taken by the film crew were used to depict her fighting at Iwo Jima. Close-up shots of actors manning the smaller guns of ''Texas'' also were used. The only thing added in post-production was [[computer-generated imagery]] depicting the main turrets turning and firing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blog.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2012/07/steve-mcqueen-the-uss-texas-and-a-boatload-of-photos/ |title=Steve McQueen, the USS Texas and a boatload of photos |work=Chron |last=Gonzales |first=J. R. |date=5 July 2012 |access-date=14 March 2023}}{{unreliable source?|date=March 2023}}</ref>

''Texas'' appears as a multiplayer map for ''[[Call of Duty: Vanguard]]'' and ''[[Call of Duty: WWII]]''. Players fight on the deck of the ship as it is at sea during World War II.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.callofduty.com/blog/2022/06/call-of-duty-vanguard-warzone-mercenaries-of-fortune-season-four-reveal|title=MERCENARIES OF FORTUNE, THE FOURTH SEASON OF CALL OF DUTY®: VANGUARD AND CALL OF DUTY®: WARZONE™, DEPLOYS ON JUNE 22|last1=Noel|first1=Daniel|last2=Mattone|first2=James|date=June 16, 2022|access-date=August 21, 2024|publisher=Call of Duty Blog}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[U.S. Navy Museum#See also|U.S. Navy museums]] (and other battleship museums)
* [[Japanese battleship Mikasa|Japanese battleship ''Mikasa'']], the only surviving pre-dreadnought battleship
{{Portal bar|Texas}}
==Footnotes==
{{reflist|group=A}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Breyer |first=Siegfried |title=Battleships and Battle Cruisers, 1905–1970 |year=1973 |location=Garden City, New York |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |isbn=9780385072472 |oclc=702840}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Cronkite
  |first=Walter
  |author-link=Walter Cronkite
  |title=A Reporter's Life
  |url=https://archive.org/details/reporterslife00cron_0
  |url-access=registration
  |location=New York
  |publisher=Knopf
  |year=1996
  |isbn=978-0-394-57879-8
  |oclc=34958652
  |pages=[https://archive.org/details/reporterslife00cron_0/page/89 89–90]
  }}
* {{cite book |last1=Egan |first1=Robert S. |last2=Lott |first2=Arnold S. |last3=Sumrall |first3=Robert F. |title=USS Texas (BB35) |publisher=Leeward Publications |location=Annapolis, Maryland |year=1976 |isbn=0-915268-06-X |oclc=2645562}}
* {{cite book
  |last=Ferguson
  |first=John C.
  |title=Historic Battleship Texas: The Last Dreadnought
  |series=Military History of Texas #4
  |year=2007
  |publisher=State House Press
  |location=Abilene, Texas
  |isbn=978-1-933337-07-4
  |oclc=154678508
  }}
* {{cite book |last=Friedman |first=Norman |author-link=Norman Friedman |title=U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y41Ha_3HsrYC&pg=PP1 |location=[[Annapolis, Maryland]] |publisher=[[Naval Institute Press]] |year=1986 |isbn=9780870217159 |oclc=12214729}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gardiner |first1=Robert |last2=Gray |first2=Randal |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 |year=1985 |location=Annapolis |publisher=[[Naval Institute Press]] |isbn=9780851772455 |oclc=12119866 |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V2r_TBjR2TYC}}
* {{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Gordon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sDYlzQeoZFYC |title=United States Army in World War II: The European Theater of Operations, The Cross Channel Attack |year=1951 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]] |isbn=9780160018817 |oclc=50729081 |page=519}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Hatch |editor-first=Rosie |title=Texas Almanac 2022-2023 |date=2022 |publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]] |location=Austin, Texas |isbn=978-1-62511-066-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hone |first1=Thomas C. |last2=Hone |first2=Trent |title=Battleline: The United States Navy 1919–1939 |location=Annapolis |publisher=[[Naval Institute Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=9781591143789 |oclc=62324475 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2ajsxg8BTEC&pg=PP1}}
* {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Jerry W. |title=Battleship Texas |location=Annapolis |publisher=[[Naval Institute Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=9781557504111 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u8MZuKxwNk8C |oclc=37935228}}
* {{cite book |last=Kaufmann |first=J. E. |title=Fortress Europe: European Fortifications of World War II |year=2002 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |isbn=9780306811746 |oclc=52821490 |page=432}}
* {{cite book |last=Love |first=Robert W. |title=History of the U.S. Navy: 1775–1941 |location=Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |publisher=[[Stackpole Books]] |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-8117-1862-2 |oclc=659967537 |page=537 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUkSAAAAYAAJ&q=History+of+the+U.S.+Navy}}
* {{cite book |last=McManus |first=John C. |title=The Americans at Normandy: The Summer of 1944--the American War from the Normandy Beaches to Falaise |year=2004 |location=New York |publisher=Forge |isbn=9780765311993 |oclc=55510683 |page=[https://archive.org/details/americansatnorma00mcma_0/page/496 496] |url-access=registration |author-link=John C. McManus |url=https://archive.org/details/americansatnorma00mcma_0/page/496}}
* {{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |author-link=Samuel Eliot Morison |title=History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: The Invasion of France and Germany 1944–1945 |year=2001 |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |isbn=9780785813125 |oclc=52204536 |page=496}}
* {{cite book |last=Pater |first=Alan F. |title=United States Battleships: The History of America's Greatest Fighting Fleet |year=1968 |isbn=9780917734076 |publisher=Monitor Book Company |location=Beverly Hills, California |oclc=439949}}
* {{cite book |last=Powers |first=Hugh |title=Battleship Texas |location=College Station |publisher=[[Texas A&M University Press]] |year=1993 |isbn=9780890965191 |oclc=49569222 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sPWIsucIbAcC&pg=PP1}}
* {{cite book |last=Ryan |first=Cornelius |author-link=Cornelius Ryan |title=[[The Longest Day (book)|The Longest Day: 6 June 1944]] |year=1959 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |isbn=9780671890919 |oclc=30364485 |page=[https://archive.org/details/longestday00corn_1/page/90 90]}}
* {{Cite book
  |last=Sterne
  |first=Gary
  |title=The Cover-Up at Omaha Beach: D-Day, the US Rangers, and the Untold Story of Maisy Battery
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  |year=2014
  |isbn=9781629143279
  |oclc=879371577
  |pages=26–27
  }}
* {{cite book
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  |title=Fighting ships of World War II
  |chapter=The Battleship
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  |page=23
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* {{cite book |last1=Wiper |first1=Steve |last2=Flowers |first2=Tom |title=USS Texas BB-35 |series=Warship Pictorial #4 |year=2006 |publisher=Classic Warships Publishing |location=Tucson, Arizona |isbn=9780965482936 |oclc=42533363 |orig-year=1999}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/texas-ii.html}}
* {{Naval Vessel Register|{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=BB35}}}}

==External links==
{{Commons and category|USS Texas|USS Texas (BB-35)}}
* [http://www.battleshiptexas.org/ Battleship Texas Foundation], created to assist ongoing preservation and educational efforts aboard this historic ship.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161226061143/http://www.hnsa.org/resources/manuals-documents/booklets-of-general-plans-online/ 1944 General Plan for the U.S.S. ''Texas'' (BB-35), New York Class], hosted by the [http://www.hnsa.org/ Historical Naval Ships Association (HNSA) Digital Collections]
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/uss_texas_bb35.htm Maritimequest USS ''Texas'' BB-35 photo gallery]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081013172038/http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-2419 Texas Navy] hosted by [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ The Portal to Texas History].
* [http://www.murdoconline.net/archives/004428.html USS ''Texas'' Hard Hat Tour] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108104255/http://www.murdoconline.net/archives/004428.html |date=8 January 2009 }}: Photos and information from a tour of closed-to-the-public areas of the ship.
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-t/bb35.htm USS ''Texas'' (Battleship Number 35, later BB-35), 1914–1948]
* NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archives
**{{navsource|01/35a|USS Texas}} 1911–1915, 1916–1919, 1920–1926, 1927–1941, 1942–1949, 1950–present
**{{cite web |url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/features/texas/texas.htm |title=Battleship Texas (BB-35), Special Feature, 6 July 2002 |website=NavSource Naval History}} Contains high resolution images taken on the 90th anniversary of the launch of ''Texas''.
* {{HNSA|uss-texas-bb-35}}
* [https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/10-uss-texas-reciprocating-steam-engines ASME National Engineering Historic Landmark Page]
* [https://battleshiptexas.info/images/Documents/ActionReports/Overview.html Battle Reports]
* [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/texas-78ca8023701948cdb4524f8d4c22eab2 BB35 3D Model] 3D Computer Model of BB35 in her 1945 configuration

{{New York class battleship}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Texas}}
{{Protected areas of Texas}}
{{U.S. state ships}}
{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919)}}
{{2010 shipwrecks}}
{{2012 shipwrecks}}
{{2017 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Texas (BB-35)}}
[[Category:Existing battleships]]
[[Category:Naval ships of Operation Neptune]]
[[Category:New York-class battleships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Newport News, Virginia]]
[[Category:1912 ships]]
[[Category:World War I battleships of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II battleships of the United States]]
[[Category:Museum ships in Texas]]
[[Category:Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Texas]]
[[Category:Museums in Harris County, Texas]]
[[Category:Military and war museums in Texas]]
[[Category:Naval museums in the United States]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Harris County, Texas]]
[[Category:Symbols of Texas]]
[[Category:Battleship museums in the United States]]