wbrook13
030-8825030
Here are 4 of the 14"/45 cal guns mounted on the Battleship Texas, with a little history on this magnificent ship.
The dreadnought Texas, built at Newport News 1911-1914, is the sole surviving dreadnought battleship in the world. As such she provides an example of one of the world's most imposing weapons systems, and a monument to one of the greatest arms races in history: the naval arms race that preceded the First World War.
Texas was a New York class battleship. Originally configured as coal-burning two-stackers with wire basket masts, Texas and New York arguably could be called super-dreadnoughts: they mounted ten 14" guns apiece and, initially, (21) 5" guns (later reduced to six). Texas was to live her entire service life -- including action in the North Atlantic in two World Wars, in Operation Torch and Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa -- with her original piston-and-crankshaft engines and 21-kt speed.
Texas led a long and useful life. Almost as soon as she was commissioned, she was assigned to assist in actions against Pancho Villa, in pre-revolutionary Mexico. Soon after that was settled, in April 1917, the U.S. declared war on the side of the Allies in WWI. Texas and New York were among a detachment of America's 9 most recent coal-burning dreadnoughts sent to reinforce the British Grand Fleet.
Texas was still deployed in the Atlantic when the devastating attack at Pearl Harbor precipitated America's entry into WWII. For the men of the Texas, this was to be the start of a vigorously prosecuted two-ocean war. The ship entered Boston Navy Yard for a refit in late '43 and emerged with new radars and more AA guns than ever. Shortly after leaving the yard, she became the flagship of the bombardment fleet covering the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Her assignment: Soften up Omaha Beach for the waves of GIs about to land. For several days after D-Day, she supplied the heroic rangers at Pointe du Hoc. After the success of the D-Day operation, she was assigned to shell Cherbourg's defenses. During this duty she was hit twice by German Battery Hamburg, killing her helmsman -- her only wartime casualty.
Following all the bombardments in Europe, the ship's 14" gun barrel linings were determined to be badly worn, so she received a new set of Mark 12 14" guns. In company with the battleships Arkansas and Missouri, Texas traversed the Panama Canal to the Pacific. Their destination was Iwo Jima. Texas streamed off the rugged cliffs of Mt. Suribachi as she pounded Japanese positions with her heavy artillery. Later, she also took part in the invasion of Okinawa, downing an attacking kamikaze on April 16, 1945. Texas was being repaired in the Philippines when the Japanese surrender came.
In 1948 she was towed to East Texas, decommissioned by the U.S. Navy, and promptly re-commissioned as the flagship of the Texas Navy. She remains a permanent war memorial at San Jacinto State Park near Houston.
Texas' specifications, as built:
Dimensions: 573' x 95'3" x 28.5' Extreme draft: 29'3¼" Displacement: 27,000 tons std; 28,400 deep laden. Armament: (10) 14"/45 cal. Mk. 8 (5x2); (21) 5"/50 cal. in casemates and open mountings; (8) 3" 50 cal. AA (as built); (4) 21" torpedo tubes. Armor: Midvale type. 12"/10"/6" belt, turrets: 9"/4", face 14"; 12"/4" conning tower; 4"/1.5" deck, 12"/5" barbettes, 11"/9" bulkheads. Fuel capacity: 3,000 tons coal, 400 tons oil. Propulsion: 14 coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers; two vertical inverted 4-cyl. triple expansion engines mfd. by Newport News (builder), developing 28,000 shp; twin screw. Speed: 21 kts. Endurance: 9,600 nm @ 10 kts; 3,700 nm @ 20 kts. Crew: 58 officers, 944 enlisted men. Cost: $5,830,000 ($137 million in 2010 currency), excluding armor and guns.
Among US-built battleships, Texas is notable for her sizable number of firsts: the first US battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns, the first US ship to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers (analog forerunners of today's computers), the first US battleship to launch an aircraft, one of the first to receive the CXAM-1 version of CXAM commercial radar in the US Navy, the first US battleship to become a permanent museum ship, and the first battleship declared to be a US National Historic Landmark.
030-8825030
Here are 4 of the 14"/45 cal guns mounted on the Battleship Texas, with a little history on this magnificent ship.
The dreadnought Texas, built at Newport News 1911-1914, is the sole surviving dreadnought battleship in the world. As such she provides an example of one of the world's most imposing weapons systems, and a monument to one of the greatest arms races in history: the naval arms race that preceded the First World War.
Texas was a New York class battleship. Originally configured as coal-burning two-stackers with wire basket masts, Texas and New York arguably could be called super-dreadnoughts: they mounted ten 14" guns apiece and, initially, (21) 5" guns (later reduced to six). Texas was to live her entire service life -- including action in the North Atlantic in two World Wars, in Operation Torch and Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa -- with her original piston-and-crankshaft engines and 21-kt speed.
Texas led a long and useful life. Almost as soon as she was commissioned, she was assigned to assist in actions against Pancho Villa, in pre-revolutionary Mexico. Soon after that was settled, in April 1917, the U.S. declared war on the side of the Allies in WWI. Texas and New York were among a detachment of America's 9 most recent coal-burning dreadnoughts sent to reinforce the British Grand Fleet.
Texas was still deployed in the Atlantic when the devastating attack at Pearl Harbor precipitated America's entry into WWII. For the men of the Texas, this was to be the start of a vigorously prosecuted two-ocean war. The ship entered Boston Navy Yard for a refit in late '43 and emerged with new radars and more AA guns than ever. Shortly after leaving the yard, she became the flagship of the bombardment fleet covering the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Her assignment: Soften up Omaha Beach for the waves of GIs about to land. For several days after D-Day, she supplied the heroic rangers at Pointe du Hoc. After the success of the D-Day operation, she was assigned to shell Cherbourg's defenses. During this duty she was hit twice by German Battery Hamburg, killing her helmsman -- her only wartime casualty.
Following all the bombardments in Europe, the ship's 14" gun barrel linings were determined to be badly worn, so she received a new set of Mark 12 14" guns. In company with the battleships Arkansas and Missouri, Texas traversed the Panama Canal to the Pacific. Their destination was Iwo Jima. Texas streamed off the rugged cliffs of Mt. Suribachi as she pounded Japanese positions with her heavy artillery. Later, she also took part in the invasion of Okinawa, downing an attacking kamikaze on April 16, 1945. Texas was being repaired in the Philippines when the Japanese surrender came.
In 1948 she was towed to East Texas, decommissioned by the U.S. Navy, and promptly re-commissioned as the flagship of the Texas Navy. She remains a permanent war memorial at San Jacinto State Park near Houston.
Texas' specifications, as built:
Dimensions: 573' x 95'3" x 28.5' Extreme draft: 29'3¼" Displacement: 27,000 tons std; 28,400 deep laden. Armament: (10) 14"/45 cal. Mk. 8 (5x2); (21) 5"/50 cal. in casemates and open mountings; (8) 3" 50 cal. AA (as built); (4) 21" torpedo tubes. Armor: Midvale type. 12"/10"/6" belt, turrets: 9"/4", face 14"; 12"/4" conning tower; 4"/1.5" deck, 12"/5" barbettes, 11"/9" bulkheads. Fuel capacity: 3,000 tons coal, 400 tons oil. Propulsion: 14 coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers; two vertical inverted 4-cyl. triple expansion engines mfd. by Newport News (builder), developing 28,000 shp; twin screw. Speed: 21 kts. Endurance: 9,600 nm @ 10 kts; 3,700 nm @ 20 kts. Crew: 58 officers, 944 enlisted men. Cost: $5,830,000 ($137 million in 2010 currency), excluding armor and guns.
Among US-built battleships, Texas is notable for her sizable number of firsts: the first US battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns, the first US ship to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers (analog forerunners of today's computers), the first US battleship to launch an aircraft, one of the first to receive the CXAM-1 version of CXAM commercial radar in the US Navy, the first US battleship to become a permanent museum ship, and the first battleship declared to be a US National Historic Landmark.