1942Photo

U.S.S. TEXAS - BB35

1942 - 1945

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Texas is now dressed for war. The four photos to the left show the ship's Measure 12 modified paint scheme that was worn early in the war. The bow shot shows a wake suggesting that the ship is moving at a very low speed. The lines over the rail at the bow are very likely towing paravanes to snag and cut the mooring lines of antishipping mines.

The left photo shows crews resting while on station at the 3" mounts. The center shows the radical surgery required to replace 14" gun barrels. The right photo shows the crew work involved in firing 40mm guns.

The four photos at the left were taken in June 1944 and the ship now wears a Measure 22 paint scheme. Besides providing fire support at the Normandy landings, Texas also provided medical support for severely injured soldiers. German prisoners were also taken on board.

All photos in this section, except for the first two and last two, were taken by Life correspondent, Wilmont Ragsdale. He was witness to the gun duel between German shore batteries and Texas at Cherbourg on June 25, 1944. During this action, German batteries straddled Texas more than 50 times and managed numerous close hits that blew paint off the hull, dented the superstructure, covered the decks with shrapnel and blew antennas off of the admiral's bridge. As a result of exceptional maneuvering and no small measure of luck, the ship was only struck twice. One shell penetrated the port hull close to the bow, but was a dud. However, the other struck the roof of the armored conning tower. While the armor performed its job for the conning tower, the resulting blast blew upward and destroyed the navigation bridge immediately above the point of impact. The helmsman, Christen Christensen was mortally wounded and ultimately proved to be the Texas' only combat fatality in two wars. The next to last photo shows the gun director in the conning tower that was destroyed by the impact of the shell. The last photo show the point of impact of the dud shell.

These last photos show Texas in the South Pacific and wearing Measure 21, her last active duty paint scheme. The ship was in her final configuration and fully equipped to provide both artillery support and anti-aircraft protection. The right photo shows a Mk.51 gun director crew; however, close inspection of the turret in the background shows that we slipped in a photo of a crew on board USS Arkansas.

	Texas is now dressed for war. The four photos to the left show the ship's Measure 12 modified paint scheme that was worn early in the war. The bow shot shows a wake suggesting that the ship is moving at a very low speed. The lines over the rail at the bow are very likely towing paravanes to snag and cut the mooring lines of antishipping mines.
	The left photo shows crews resting while on station at the 3" mounts. The center shows the radical surgery required to replace 14" gun barrels. The right photo shows the crew work involved in firing 40mm guns.
	The four photos at the left were taken in June 1944 and the ship now wears a Measure 22 paint scheme. Besides providing fire support at the Normandy landings, Texas also provided medical support for severely injured soldiers. German prisoners were also taken on board.
	All photos in this section, except for the first two and last two, were taken by Life correspondent, Wilmont Ragsdale. He was witness to the gun duel between German shore batteries and Texas at Cherbourg on June 25, 1944. During this action, German batteries straddled Texas more than 50 times and managed numerous close hits that blew paint off the hull, dented the superstructure, covered the decks with shrapnel and blew antennas off of the admiral's bridge. As a result of exceptional maneuvering and no small measure of luck, the ship was only struck twice. One shell penetrated the port hull close to the bow, but was a dud. However, the other struck the roof of the armored conning tower. While the armor performed its job for the conning tower, the resulting blast blew upward and destroyed the navigation bridge immediately above the point of impact. The helmsman, Christen Christensen was mortally wounded and ultimately proved to be the Texas' only combat fatality in two wars. The next to last photo shows the gun director in the conning tower that was destroyed by the impact of the shell. The last photo show the point of impact of the dud shell.
	These last photos show Texas in the South Pacific and wearing Measure 21, her last active duty paint scheme. The ship was in her final configuration and fully equipped to provide both artillery support and anti-aircraft protection. The right photo shows a Mk.51 gun director crew; however, close inspection of the turret in the background shows that we slipped in a photo of a crew on board USS Arkansas.