Author: John C. Ferguson Publisher: TX A&m-McWhiney Foundation ISBN: 9781933337074 Category : Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
During the first quarter of the 20th century, the major naval powers of the world built hundreds of Dreadnought-style battleships. Today there is only one. The battleship Texas was for a time the most powerful weapon on earth. When it was commissioned in 1914, the 14-inch guns were the largest in the world. This technological marvel of the time served with the British Grand Fleet in World War I and was the flagship of the entire U.S. Navy between the two World Wars. During the Second World War, an older Texas, past its prime, supported amphibious invasions in North Africa, Normandy, Southern France, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. The ship and her crew were preparing for the invasion of Japan when the war ended and the Texas came home. No longer needed to defend her country, the Texas was saved from the scrap yard to become our nation's first historic ship museum in 1948. Now lying peacefully in her berth at the San Jacinto State Park near Houston, the battleship Texas is still serving her country-teaching instead of fighting. The Texas is the only battleship remaining in the world today that served in World War I, and the only ship remaining of any type that served in both World Wars. This is the story of the battleship Texas and the brave men who walked its decks. John C. Ferguson is park superintendent at Mission Tejas State Park and the former director of the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site where Battleship Texas is located. He is the author of Texas Myths and Legends (McWhiney Foundation Press, 2003) and Hellcats (State House Press, 2004).
Author: Publisher: Texas A&M University Press ISBN: 9780890965191 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 166
Book Description
"Centennial series of the Association of Former Students, Texas A & M University ; no. 45." History of the battleship Texas from its commissioning in 1914 to the present as a tourist attraction.
Author: Lawrence Burr Publisher: US Naval Institute Press ISBN: 9781591149101 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 120
Book Description
USS Iowa BB-61, the first of four Iowa-class battleships built for the U.S. Navy, was launched in 1942. Capable of thirty-three knots and armed with nine new fifty-caliber sixteen-inch guns, she was the pinnacle of battleship design for the U.S. Navy during World War II. The Iowa class perfectly merged the heavy armor of battleships with the speed of battlecruisers. Iowa's speed and heavy armament positioned her to accompany and protect U.S. Fast Carrier task forces through the Pacific War by participating in multiple actions from Truck, the Philippine Sea, Leyte, and ending in Tokyo Bay. Deactivated in 1948, the outbreak of the Korean War saw Iowa recommissioned in 1951 for shore bombardment duty in support of United Nation troops against the North Korean army invasion. Iowa returned to the U.S. in 1952, and then participated in NATO exercises until she was decommissioned in 1958. Soviet expansion and rearmament programs in the 1970's saw Iowa recommissioned in 1984 following a two-year modernization program. This program saw the addition of nuclear capable Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles and modern computer-based communication technology. Extensive exercises with NATO forces and goodwill visits carried through until April 1989, when tragedy struck the ship with an explosion in gun turret two killing 47crew members. The soundness of Iowa's design and her armored strength prevented the explosion from reaching her magazines and the potential loss of the ship. Decommissioned in October 1990 and placed in reserve, she would eventually be stricken from the Navy record in 2006. Transferred to the Port of Los Angeles in 2012, Iowa now serves as the National Museum of the Surface Navy located at San Pedro, California.
Author: Mark Lardas Publisher: Arcadia Publishing ISBN: 1439657483 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 128
Book Description
The USS Texas was built when dreadnought battleships were kings of the seas. It was the world's most powerful battleship when first commissioned in 1914, and for over a century it fought many battles. Some took place while the Texas served as a warship in the US Navy in World Wars I and II. Since becoming a museum ship and war memorial in 1948, it has fought a longer and more difficult struggle as it combats the ravages of time for its very survival. Throughout its existence, the Texas has made history, leaving a wealth of fascinating stories in its wake.
Author: Mark D. Cowan Publisher: ISBN: 9781466248946 Category : Spanish-American War, 1898 Languages : en Pages : 411
Book Description
The Texas was early-on considered something of an ugly duckling in the Navy, often characterized as a clumsy "hoodoo", or jinxed ship. Her service in the Spanish American War proved her to be a late bloomer, an odd-looking ship that met the challenges of combat and served her nation well as a critical step in the development of the New Navy. Perhaps being seen as the least valuable battleship in the Navy and therefore the most expendable, the Texas found herself in the enviable position of seeing more action than any other capital vessel in the US Fleet. The Texas shone in every engagement in which she was committed. She took part in the search for the Spanish fleet. She also participated in the first significant independent Marine Corps action in history when she provided critical support in their capture of Guantanamo Bay. She then provided support to the Army in the invasion of Cuba and the subsequent investiture of Santiago, engaging a number of Spanish forts in the process. Off Santiago, she took the first hit by an enemy gun and the first combat death for the Navy, being struck by enemy shells in two different actions. At the Naval Battle of Santiago she steamed aggressively forward into the thick of battle and directly engaged six warships of the Spanish fleet. Though clearly obsolescent, few patriotic sailors would not have wanted to walk her powder and blood-stained decks. The Texas was conceived in an era when the US Navy was attempting to arise from the post-Civil War neglect that had crippled its ability to assert itself in international waters. It was a period of great change, both technologically and in the development of the theory of naval power as espoused by Alfred Thayer Mahan. She sailed in the time before the US Navy had reached the renowned strength and professionalism it exhibited in World Wars One and Two, but contributed immeasurably to this achievement. This is the illustrated story of the design, construction, and operational history of the USS Texas of 1895, America's first battleship and hero of the Spanish-American War. Hundreds of historic photos and plans combined with exhaustively researched text capture the spirit of the age, as well as the technological details of the ship.
Author: Norman Friedman Publisher: US Naval Institute Press ISBN: 9781682477588 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
The Norman Friedman Illustrated Design History series of U.S. warships books has been an industry standard for three decades and has sold thousands of copies worldwide. To mark and celebrate this achievement, the Naval Institute Press is proud to make these books available once more. Digitally remastered for enhanced photo resolution and quality, corrected, and updated, this series will continue to serve--for scholars and enthusiasts alike--as the foundation for U.S. naval warship research and reference for years to come. U.S. Battleships is one the most comprehensive references available on the entire development of U.S. battleships, starting in 1886, with Maine and Texas, continuing to South Carolina, the U. S. Navy's first dreadnought, through to the behemoth Montana-class of World War II, Friedman authoritatively analyzes the design and performance histories of this popular type. The long careers of the Iowa-class, including their recommissioning in the late Cold War, are covered. Like the other books in Friedman's design-history series, U.S. Battleships is based largely on formerly classified internal U.S. Navy records. Friedman, a leading authority on U.S. warships, explains the political and technical rationales for building battleships and recounts the evolution of each design. Alan Raven and A.D. Baker III have created detailed scale outboard and plan views of each ship class and of major modifications to many classes. Numerous photographs complement the text.
Author: Brian Lane Herder Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN: 1472835042 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 49
Book Description
After the American Civil War, the US Navy had been allowed to decay into complete insignificance, yet the commissioning of the modern Brazilian battleship Riachuelo and poor performance against the contemporary Spanish fleet, forced the US out of its isolationist posture towards battleships. The first true US battleships began with the experimental Maine and Texas, followed by the three-ship Indiana class, and the Iowa class, which incorporated lessons from the previous ships. These initial ships set the enduring US battleship standard of being heavily armed and armoured at the expense of speed. This fully illustrated study examines these first six US battleships, a story of political compromises, clean sheet designs, operational experience, and experimental improvements. These ships directly inspired the creation of an embryonic American military-industrial complex, enabled a permanent outward-looking shift in American foreign policy and laid the foundations of the modern US Navy.
Author: John C. Ferguson
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Author: Lawrence Burr
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Author: Mark Lardas
Author: Mark D. Cowan
Author: Norman Friedman
Author: Max R. Newhart
Author: Brian Lane Herder
Author: James L. Stokesbury