1914Phot

U.S.S. TEXAS - BB35

1914 - 1925

Click on the thumbnails to view the photos.

Texas in her early years. . .

Early Dreadnaught design evolved rapidly. As old concepts and new ideas failed, others were tried with varying degrees of success. Some early ideas on Texas simply did not work and were either abandoned early in the ship's life, or during the mid 20's modernization. The top, left photo shows the Texas' first navigation bridge, which was open with weather protection provided only by a canvas canopy. This was changed shortly after her service began with the Grand Fleet in WWI. The right is of the stern 5" gun mount which is shown to be patched over very early in the ship's career and later completely covered. Bottom left is of a torpedo in one of Texas' torpedo rooms. Torpedoes fired from fixed underwater tubes was arguably one of the poorest ideas found on an early Dreadnaught.

Texas did not handle heavy seas very well. The photos to the left clearly show that the forward 5" guns were not only very wet, but useless in all but the calmest water. Note in the last photo that the #1 turret is rotated to the far port position. This was sometimes done to prevent taking water through the turret's gun ports in heavy seas.

Various shots of Texas in drydock. Note in the first that the forward 5" mounts have been removed and permanently covered. One can also see the smoother, more streamline of the hull before the torpedo blisters were added in the twenties. Following photos show the aft 5" mount positions that still exist and where the stern 5" gun mount has been removed and its port covered.

Ships were frequently alerted and sent out on patrol at a moment's notice. Since the consequences of sending an inadequately fueled ship into action could be disastrous, coaling was an extremely critical task that was closely observed and critiqued for speed and efficiency. Loading coal was labor intensive, time consuming and filthy. Hundreds of tons were dumped on the deck and moved by wheelbarrow to be shoveled into rows of coal scuttles that opened to the array of coal bunkers. All of this was closely supervised so that coal was properly distributed and the ship kept in trim. Cleanup, referred to as "field day" could also take a day of washing, holy stoning and squeegeeing the decks until the wood was practically white. The change to oil fired boilers allowed a reduction in crew, permitted unneeded coal bunkers to be put to other uses, and allowed the ship to be refueled under way in a small fraction of the time it took to coal.

The big 14" guns firing broadsides illustrate the whole reason for the ship's existence. The lower left photo on the second row shows empty powder tanks on the deck. The tanks contained two, one hundred and five pound gun powder bags. The right hand photo shows projectiles laying on the deck. Note the canvas straps wrapped around them close to the base. These covered and protected drive bands that deformed to engage the rifling in the gun barrel when fired. The bands also acted as seals to prevent gas blow-by and as bearing surfaces that reduced barrel wear. Note the two rectangular recesses in the base of the shells. Padeyes were inserted in these and used to hoist and carry the shells in a nose down position.

The left photo shows a crew operating the optical range finder and the right is of a crew serving a 5" gun. Judging from "home movies" taken of practice on board the Texas in 1931, a good crew could reload a gun in 2 - 3 seconds. In the book "North Sea Days" describing life on board Texas during World War I, it was said that the Marine detachment could never be beat for reloading speed on the 5" guns.

Texas was the first U.S. battleship to carry and launch an airplane. These 1919 photos show a Sopwith Camel mounted on a "flying off" platform.

Texas in her early years. . .
	Early Dreadnaught design evolved rapidly. As old concepts and new ideas failed, others were tried with varying degrees of success. Some early ideas on Texas simply did not work and were either abandoned early in the ship's life, or during the mid 20's modernization. The top, left photo shows the Texas' first navigation bridge, which was open with weather protection provided only by a canvas canopy. This was changed shortly after her service began with the Grand Fleet in WWI. The right is of the stern 5" gun mount which is shown to be patched over very early in the ship's career and later completely covered. Bottom left is of a torpedo in one of Texas' torpedo rooms. Torpedoes fired from fixed underwater tubes was arguably one of the poorest ideas found on an early Dreadnaught.
	Texas did not handle heavy seas very well. The photos to the left clearly show that the forward 5" guns were not only very wet, but useless in all but the calmest water. Note in the last photo that the #1 turret is rotated to the far port position. This was sometimes done to prevent taking water through the turret's gun ports in heavy seas.
	Various shots of Texas in drydock. Note in the first that the forward 5" mounts have been removed and permanently covered. One can also see the smoother, more streamline of the hull before the torpedo blisters were added in the twenties. Following photos show the aft 5" mount positions that still exist and where the stern 5" gun mount has been removed and its port covered.
	Ships were frequently alerted and sent out on patrol at a moment's notice. Since the consequences of sending an inadequately fueled ship into action could be disastrous, coaling was an extremely critical task that was closely observed and critiqued for speed and efficiency. Loading coal was labor intensive, time consuming and filthy. Hundreds of tons were dumped on the deck and moved by wheelbarrow to be shoveled into rows of coal scuttles that opened to the array of coal bunkers. All of this was closely supervised so that coal was properly distributed and the ship kept in trim. Cleanup, referred to as "field day" could also take a day of washing, holy stoning and squeegeeing the decks until the wood was practically white. The change to oil fired boilers allowed a reduction in crew, permitted unneeded coal bunkers to be put to other uses, and allowed the ship to be refueled under way in a small fraction of the time it took to coal.
	The big 14" guns firing broadsides illustrate the whole reason for the ship's existence. The lower left photo on the second row shows empty powder tanks on the deck. The tanks contained two, one hundred and five pound gun powder bags. The right hand photo shows projectiles laying on the deck. Note the canvas straps wrapped around them close to the base. These covered and protected drive bands that deformed to engage the rifling in the gun barrel when fired. The bands also acted as seals to prevent gas blow-by and as bearing surfaces that reduced barrel wear. Note the two rectangular recesses in the base of the shells. Padeyes were inserted in these and used to hoist and carry the shells in a nose down position.
	The left photo shows a crew operating the optical range finder and the right is of a crew serving a 5" gun. Judging from "home movies" taken of practice on board the Texas in 1931, a good crew could reload a gun in 2 - 3 seconds. In the book "North Sea Days" describing life on board Texas during World War I, it was said that the Marine detachment could never be beat for reloading speed on the 5" guns.
	Texas was the first U.S. battleship to carry and launch an airplane. These 1919 photos show a Sopwith Camel mounted on a "flying off" platform.