USS Texas (1892)
USS Texas, photochrom print c. 1898
| |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Texas |
Namesake | State of Texas |
Ordered | 3 August 1886 |
Builder | Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia |
Laid down | 1 June 1889 |
Launched | 28 June 1892 |
Commissioned | 15 August 1895 |
Decommissioned | 11 February 1911 |
Renamed | San Marcos, 15 February 1911 |
Stricken | 10 October 1911 |
Nickname(s) | Old Hoodoo |
Fate | Sunk as gunnery target, 21–22 March 1911 |
Class overview | |
Succeeded by | Indiana class |
General characteristics | |
Type | Pre-dreadnought battleship |
Displacement | 6,316 full load ) (1896) |
Length | 308 ft 10 in (94.1 m) |
Beam | 64 ft 1 in (19.5 m) |
Draft | 24 ft 6 in (7.5 m) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 17.8 knots (33.0 km/h; 20.5 mph) |
Complement | 392 officers and men (1896) |
Armament |
|
Armor |
USS Texas was a
Texas developed a reputation as a jinxed or unlucky ship after several accidents early in her career; she consequently earned the nickname "Old Hoodoo".[1] These mishaps included problems during construction, a grounding off Newport, Rhode Island, and flooding shortly afterwards while at dock in New York City. In the last, she settled to the bottom with her gun deck awash and several crew members drowned. She also received significant damage to her hull in drydock after being raised. Her reputation improved with her service in the Spanish–American War,[2] when she blockaded the coast of Cuba and fought in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.
After the war, Texas returned to peacetime duty, interrupted by several refits. She became the station ship in Charleston, South Carolina, by 1908 and was renamed San Marcos in 1911 to allow her name to be used by USS Texas, a new battleship. She became a target ship that same year and was sunk in shallow water in Chesapeake Bay. She was used as a gunnery target throughout World War II and was partially demolished in 1959 because her remains were considered a navigational hazard.
Design and description
Background
The delivery of the
The Navy Advisory Board, confronted with the possibility of hostile ironclads operating off the American coast, began planning for a pair of ships to protect that coast in 1884. Both had to fit within existing docks and had to have a shallow draft to enable them to use all the major American ports and bases. They had to have a minimum speed of 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) and were to displace about 6,000 long tons (6,096 t). They were both optimized for end-on fire and had their gun turrets sponsoned out over the sides of the ship and echeloned to allow them to fire across the deck, much like the battleships Riachuelo and Aquidabã. The first ship, laid down for the then-traditional cruiser mission of battleship substitute on overseas deployment and armed with four 10 in (250 mm) guns, became Maine. The other, armed with two 12 in (300 mm) guns, became Texas,[4] the first ship named in honor of that state to be built by the United States.[a]
The
Even five years before Texas was complete, the blast effects from end-on fire were considered prohibitive and en echelon mounting of main guns was abandoned in European navies and new American builds. This made Texas's armament arrangement obsolete. The Bureau of Construction and Repair in conjunction with the newly established Board on Construction, considered a thorough re-design which would have placed Texas's main guns on the centerline, either in two single turrets or one twin turret, and the heavy redoubt eliminated. Construction by this time was too far advanced for such a plan, however, and Navy Secretary Benjamin Tracy limited the Board to detail improvements.[6]
General characteristics
Texas was 308 feet 10 inches (94.1 m) long
Propulsion
Texas's machinery was built by the Richmond Locomotive and Machine Works of
Armament
Texas's main armament consisted of two
Four of the six
The antitorpedo boat armament consisted of a dozen 57 mm (2.2 in) six-pounder guns (of unknown type) in casemates spaced along the hull.[7] They fired a shell weighing about 6 lb (2.7 kg) at a muzzle velocity of about 1,765 ft/s (538 m/s) at a rate of 20 rounds per minute. Their range was less than 8,700 yd (8,000 m).[15] Two 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss five-barrel revolving guns each were mounted on the fore and aft superstructures. In addition, two 37-mm Driggs-Schroeder one-pounder guns were mounted in each fighting top.[16] They fired a shell weighing about 1.1 lb (0.50 kg) at a muzzle velocity of about 2,000 ft/s (610 m/s) to a range about 3,500 yd (3,200 m). They had a rate of fire of about 30 rounds per minute.[17]
Texas carried four 14-inch (356 mm) torpedo tubes, all above water. One tube each was in the bow and stern and another on each side, towards the rear of the hull.[7] She was originally intended to carry two small steam torpedo boats, each with a one-pounder gun, and a trainable torpedo tube, but they were cancelled after the poor performance of the boat built for the Maine.[11]
Armor
The main waterline belt, made of Harvey armor, had a maximum thickness of 12 inches and tapered to 6 inches (152 mm) at its lower edge. It was 188 feet (57.3 m) long and covered the machinery spaces. It was 7 feet (2.1 m) high, of which 3 feet (0.9 m) was above the design waterline. It angled inwards for 17 feet (5.2 m) at each end, thinning to 8 inches (203 mm), to provide protection against raking fire. It sloped downwards to meet the top of the protective deck. It was 2 inches (51 mm) thick and sloped downwards at the ends of the ship. It also sloped downwards to the sides, but its thickness increased to 3 inches (76 mm). A 12-inch-thick diagonal armored citadel on the gun deck protected the turret machinery and the supports of the conning tower. The deck above it was two inches thick.[18][19]
The sides of the circular turrets were 12 inches thick, and they had 1-inch-thick (25 mm) roofs. The conning tower had 9-inch (23 cm) walls. Turret hoists,
No light armor was fitted above the main belt or at either end of the ship. This made Texas highly vulnerable to rapid-fire guns using high-explosive shells. This was not considered a significant threat at the time Texas was designed but would become so within a few years.[22]
Construction
Texas was authorized by the
Service
Early years
When
The ship ran aground near
After repairs Texas was assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron, and patrolled the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. In February 1897, she left the Atlantic for a brief cruise to the Gulf coast ports of Galveston, Texas, and New Orleans.[24] She arrived in Galveston on 16 February 1897 and anchored in 6 fathoms (36 ft; 11 m) of water. The local pilot assured her captain that this was the best berth in the harbor for a ship of Texas's length. However a strong tide swung her around onto a mud bank and held there. She was not able to get herself off and even the assistance of the U.S. Revenue Steamer Galveston was to no effect. Late the next day she was hauled off by the use of her port anchor and a tug.[28] These two incidents gave her a reputation as being a jinxed or unlucky ship and earned her the nickname "Old Hoodoo".[1]
She returned to the Eastern Seaboard in March 1897 and remained there until the beginning of 1898.
Spanish–American War
Early in the spring, war between the United States and Spain erupted over conditions in Cuba and the supposed Spanish destruction of Maine in Havana harbor in February 1898. By 18 May, under the command of Captain J. W. Philip, Texas was at Key West, readying to prosecute that war.[24]
On 21 May, the battleship arrived off
On 3 July, she was steaming off Santiago de Cuba when the Spanish Fleet under Admiral Cervera attempted to escape past the American Fleet. Texas took four of the enemy ships under fire immediately. While the battleship's main battery pounded the armored cruisers Vizcaya and Cristobal Colon, her secondary battery joined Iowa, Gloucester, and Indiana in battering two torpedo-boat destroyers.[24]
"The two Spanish destroyers fell out of the action quickly and beached themselves, damaged heavily. One by one, the larger enemy warships also succumbed to the combined fire of the American Fleet. Each, in turn, sheered off toward shore and beached herself. Thus, Texas and the other ships of the Flying Squadron annihilated the Spanish Fleet."
"The defeat of Cervera's Fleet helped to seal the doom of Santiago de Cuba. The city fell to the besieging American forces on 17 July, just two weeks after the great American naval victory. The day after the surrender at Santiago, Spain sought peace through the good offices of the French government. Even before the peace protocol was signed in
"In late November, Texas moved south to Hampton Roads where she arrived on 2 December. The warship resumed her peacetime routine patrolling the Atlantic coast of the United States. Though her primary field of operations once again centered on the northeastern coast, she also made periodic visits to such places as
Post-war service
Texas was decommissioned for a lengthy refit on 3 November 1900 at the Norfolk Navy Yard but was commissioned again on 3 November 1902.[23] During this refit, her funnel and topmasts were raised. Furthermore, the protection for her 12 in (300 mm) ammunition hoists was doubled and her broadside torpedo tubes were removed.[30] On one voyage to New Orleans in February 1904, Texas could only make 13.9 knots (25.7 km/h; 16.0 mph) under forced draft.[2] During 1904 her armament was upgraded when she exchanged her four 6 in (150 mm)/30 cal guns for more powerful 35-caliber weapons and two one-pounder guns were landed. She served as flagship for the Coast Squadron until 1905, and remained assigned to it after its commander shifted his flag.[24]
Texas was briefly decommissioned between 11 January 1908 and 1 September 1908.[23] By 1908 she had become the station ship at Charleston, South Carolina.[24] By 1910, she had lost her 37 mm (1.5 in) revolving cannon and one more one-pdr gun in exchange for two additional six-pounder guns.[7] Regarded as obsolete by 1911, she was relegated for use as a gunnery target to allow the Navy to evaluate the effects of modern shells on armored and unarmored parts of the ship, the probabilities of underwater hits and their depths, the effects of shock loads on pipes, etc., the flammability of the ship's fittings and the direction in which shells were pointing when striking at long range. As part of this evaluation, she was fully fitted out and only items which normally would have been allowed to be removed before action and those items added to her for service as a station ship were removed. Dummies were also rigged to evaluate the effects of hits on the crew. It is uncertain if her ammunition and powder remained on board for the tests. Preparing Texas for these tests cost $29,422.70.[31]
San Marcos
"On 15 February 1911, her name was changed to San Marcos to allow the name Texas to be assigned to
San Marcos was used for gunnery practice throughout World War II, although generally as an anchor for a canvas target screen. Sitting two to six feet below the surface and marked by an unlit buoy, she was responsible for the sinking of the cargo ship Lexington in 1940 following a collision.[34] Tons of explosives were used to demolish her upperworks and drive her hull deep into the mud; by January 1959, they were successful and she remains there today.[7]
Gallery
-
USS Texas at Grant's Tomb, 3 September 1898
References
Explanatory notes
- ^ The Confederacy built a twin-screw ironclad named Texas during the American Civil War, but she was the first United States ship to carry the name. See DANFS Texas (1892).
- ^ The USS Texas landed three field pieces and two additional M1895 Colt–Browning machine guns on 12 June, the latter procured from the ship's own armory. See Venzon 1992, p. 8
Citations
- ^ a b c d e Reilly & Scheina 1980, p. 35.
- ^ a b c d Allen 1993, p. 244.
- ^ Reilly & Scheina 1980, p. 21.
- ^ Reilly & Scheina 1980, pp. 21, 33, 35.
- ^ Reilly & Scheina 1980, p. 22, 24.
- ^ Friedman 1985, p. 20.
- ^ a b c d e f g Reilly & Scheina 1980, p. 48.
- ^ Reilly & Scheina 1980, p. 42.
- ^ Allen 1993, pp. 226–227.
- ^ Allen 1993, p. 238.
- ^ a b Reilly & Scheina 1980, p. 39.
- ^ a b Reilly & Scheina 1980, p. 36.
- ^ Reilly & Scheina 1980, pp. 36, 44.
- ^ Reilly & Scheina 1980, p. 37.
- ^ Allen 1993, pp. 227, 229.
- ^ Reilly & Scheina 1980, pp. 37–38.
- ^ Allen 1993, pp. 227, 229, 231.
- ^ Friedman 1985, p. 21.
- ^ a b c Reilly & Scheina 1980, p. 19.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n DANFS Texas (1892).
- ^ Allen 1993, pp. 238–39.
- ^ The New York Times & 21 October 1896.
- ^ Allen 1993, p. 239.
- ^ Allen 1993, pp. 239, 241.
- ^ Allen 1993, p. 242.
- ^ Reilly & Scheina 1980, pp. 45–46.
- ^ Allen 1993, pp. 247–48.
- ^ Allen 1993, p. 250.
- ^ Allen 1993, p. 256.
- ^ "Baltimore, Crisfield & Onancock Line v. United States, 140 F.2d 230 (4th Cir. 1944)". Justia Law. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
Bibliography
Print sources
- Alden, John D. (1989). American Steel Navy: A Photographic History of the U.S. Navy from the Introduction of the Steel Hull in 1883 to the Cruise of the Great White Fleet. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-248-2.
- Allen, Francis J. (1993). ""Old Hoodoo": The Story of the U.S.S. Texas". Warship International. XXX (3). Toledo, Ohio: International Naval Research Organization: 226–256. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Friedman, Norman (1985). U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-715-9.
- Reilly, John C.; Scheina, Robert L. (1980). American Battleships 1896–1923: Predreadnought Design and Construction. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-524-7.
- Sieche, Erwin F. (1990). "Austria-Hungary's Last Visit to the USA". Warship International. XXVII (2): 142–164. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Venzon, Anne, ed. (1992). General Smedley Darlington Butler: Letters of a Leatherneck 1898–1931. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-275-94141-3.
Online sources
- "Texas". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- "United States of America 12"/35 (30.5 cm) Mark 1 and Mark 2". NavWeaps.com. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- "United States of America 6"/30, 6"/35 and 6"/40 (15.2 cm) Marks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7". NavWeaps.com. 25 December 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- "United States of America 6-pdr (2.72 kg) [2.244" (57 mm)] Marks 1 through 13". NavWeaps.com. 6 April 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- "United States of America 1-pdr (0.45 kg) [1.46" (37 mm)] Marks 1 through 15". NavWeaps.com. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- "The Accident to the Texas: Capt. Glass Held Wholly Irresponsible for the Trouble" (PDF). The New York Times. 21 October 1896. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
- | Deck Log of the USS Texas, National Archives, Washington D.C.
External links
- USS Texas (1895–1911), later renamed San Marcos Archived 10 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Photo gallery of USS Texas at NavSource Naval History
- USS Texas from The Spanish–American War Centennial Website
- 4/1/1899; The Improved Turrets and the Ammunition Hoists of the Battleship Texas
- Naval Vessel Register – USS Texas
- USS Texas Ship's cat "Mr Riley" p. 26