My Review and Build of Trumpeter's 1/350 scale Kit #05340,
USS Texas, BB-35, Battleship
Last updated: Float Planes, Chains, Anchors, Props, Photo Etch details, Complete - Sep 7, 2015
Introduction and What's in the Box - August 20, 2015
About the ship:
This is a 1/350 scale model of the battleship, USS Texas, BB-35, commissioned in 1914, served at Tampico, Mexico, in World War I with convoy and blockade duty, in World War II in the Atlantic, the invasion of North Africa, D-Day, the Ballte of Cherbourg, the invasion of southern France, the Iwo Jima invasion, and at the Okinawa invasion. Then made into a museum ship in 1948 after decommissioning, where she remains to this day.
In the early 1900s, the US Navy was expanding, and it was expanding rapidly. Before she was built, President Roosevelt had high regard for the ability of a strong navy to allow a major power to protect itself and its interests around the world. Building up a powerful Navy was part of his, "Speak soiftly but carry a big stick," motto. In those dayys, the most powerful weapons on earth were battleships, parrticularly the readnought battleships.
USS Texas, even though it was the second named vessel of the class, it was actually laid down, launched, and commissioned before the the name-sake of the class the USS New York, BB-34. New York was laid down on September 11, 1911, launched on October 30, 1912, and commisisoned into the US Navy on May 15, 1914. The USS Texas was laid down on April 17, 1911, launched on May 18, 1912, and commissioned on March 12, 1914. Becasue of her being laid down, launched, and commissioned first, some like to refer to the class unofficially as the "Texas" class...not surprisingly, most of those doing so either reside in, or are from Texas.
At the time of her commissioning, with her ten brand new 14" 45 caliber main guns, and twenty-one 5" 51 calbier secondary guns, the USS Texas weas the most powerful battleship...of for that matter, weapon...on earth.
She saw immediate and extensive use.
Pre-World War I Service:
In the spring of 1914, President Woodrow Wilson ordered a number of ships of the Atlantic Fleet to Mexican waters in response to tension created when Mexican federal troops detained an American gunboat crew at Tampico. On April 20, 1914, President Wilson took it to the United States Congress and then sent orders to Rear Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher, commanding the naval force off the Mexican coast, instructing him to land a force at Veracruz and to seize the customs house there in retaliation for what is now known as the "Tampico Incident". The landing and successful occuptationw were carried out on April 21-22, 1914.
USS Texas, served as a part of the covering force after the occupation. After her commisisoning in March, and before she had the benefit of a normal shakedown cruise, USS Texas was ordered to put to sea to join the naval force off Varacruz. After a five-day stop at Hampton Roads she joined Rear Admiral Fletcher's force on May 26, 1914. She remained in Mexican waters for just over two months, deparing toward the end of July 1914.
In the end, the situation was resolved without need for USS Texas to fire its guns, but as the most ppowerful battleship on earth at the time, her very presence helped make that possible. In the end, Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo sought further redress from the Mexican regime by demanding an official disavowal of the Mexican army's action by them giving a 21-gun salute to the American flag.
After this action, USS Texas sailed to New York for her "Shakedown" yard time, after which she returned to sea, joining the Atlantic Fleet and settling into a schedule of normal fleet operations. Between then and 1916, she would spend several more months on station off the Mexican coast.
Then in 1916, the USS Texas put into the yard to become the first US Navy battleship to receive anti-aircraft guns with the addition of two 3 inch 50 cal (76 mm) guns that were place on platforms over the boat cranes. At this time, she also became the first US Navy ship to control her gunfire with analog gun directors and rangefinders. Two of the numerous "firsts" the USS Texas would experince throughout her career.
She spent significant time integrating these new features and establishing procedures and policy for their use.
World War I Sevice:
In 1917, the USS Texas was called upon for active duty when the US entered World War I.
When war was declared, USS Texas was at anchor in the York River with the other Atlantic Fleet battleships. First she was ordered to conduct exercises training Naval gun crews for service on board merchant ships in convoys. One of the gun crews trained aboard Texas was assigned to the merchant vessel Mongolia. On April 19, 1917, that crew sighted a surfaced German U-boat and opened fire on the U-boat averting an attack on Mongolia and firing the first American shots of World War I.
After running aground in September 1917, Texas was repaired and set sail for Enlgand, arriving at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland on February 11, 1918, where she joined US Navy Battleship Division 9, which was officailly a part of Royal Navy's 6th Battle Squadron of Britain's Grand Fleet.
Texas's service with the Grand Fleet consisted of convoy missions and forays to reinforce the British squadron on blockade duty in the North Sea when German heavy vessels would occassionally attempt to break out of the blockade.
Her very first activity, five days after she arrived at Scapa Flow, occurred when she sortied with the entire fleet to reinforce the 4th Battle Squadron. The Germans did not venture out and Texas took up convoy duty.
On April 24th, 1917, Texas again stood out to sea to support the a Royal Navy Battle Squadron after the German High Seas Fleet actually stood out to sea from Jade Bay toward the Norwegian coast, threatening Allied convoys. As the allied battline approached, the Germans retired. Forward vessels of the allied force caught sight of the retiring Germans on April 25th, but they were at extreme range and there was no possibility of engaging them. The next day, the Grand Fleet, including Texas, returned to Scapa Flow.
For the remainder of the war, USS Texas and the other US vessels acted as escorts for American minelayers, conducted tactical exercises and war games, and conducted routine convoy escort and othernaval operations until the Armistice on November 11, 1918. On November 21, 1918, she got underway to accompany the Grand Fleet to meet the surrendering German Fleet which rendevouzed east of the Isle of May where the Allied Grand Fleet escxorted the Germans to the Firth of Forth where they were anchored, having been defeated and now belonging to the allies.
Inter-war Sevice:
The USS Texas returned to the United States and entered New York Harbor, along with other US Navy vessels, on the day after christmas, 1918. After celebrations, Texas went into a repair and overhaul period.
She resumed operations with Atlantic Fleet in early 1919. In March of 1919, the USS Texas achieved another first for US Navy operations.
On March 10, 19919, USS Texas became the first American battleship to launch an airplane when Lieutenant Commander Edward O. McDonnell flew a British-built Sopwith Camel off the warship. As a result of this, later in 1919, USS Texas successfully employed aircraft to spot for her main batter gunfire during a main battery exercise. The resuls proved that gunfire being corrected by airborne spotters was significantly more accurate than gunfire relying on shipborne spotting. In an appearance before the Navy General Board, Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Whiting testafied that air spotting increased main battery accuracy by as much as 200%. As a result of the experiments and experinces aboard the USS Texas, the US Navy began adding floatplanes to all battleships
In July of 1919 Texas deployed to the Pacific Ocean as part of the newly formed US Navy Pacific Fleet. She would spend the next five and half years with the Pacific Fleet, and in July 1920, the following year, she was designated BB-35 under the Navy's new alpha-numeric system of hull classification symbols.
Texas left the Pacific in January of 1924 and returned to the east coast for overhaul. Afterwards she particiapted in training, taking new US Navy Academy Midshipmen across the Atlantic. In a live fire, SINKEX in November 1924, the USS Texas sank the incomplete battleship Washington. This exercise was conducted to bring the US into compliance with the Naval Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922. In July of 1925, she began a major, sixteen month overhaul to modernize the vessel. During this time, she replaced both of her original cage masts with new tripod masts which she would carry throught the reaminder of her service life, and still carries today as a museum ship. Also, of major importance, her old coal-fired boilers were replaced with new oil-fired boilers. she also had her fire-control equipment upgraded, had her AA battery increased by adding six more 3 inch (76 mm) guns, and had her original torpedo tubes were removed. This extensive modernization overahaul was completed towards the end of November 1926. Also, sixof the 5 inch guns were relocated to new main deck casemates at this time.
Following completion of this overhaul, Texas became a much more modern and capable vessel. Her stature in the US fleet was well known by this time, and she was once again named as the flagship of the United States Fleet and resumed duty with the Atlantic Fleet.
In late 1927 she received orders sending her back to the Pacific Fleet from late September to early December. During this period, USS Texas achieved another of her "firsts," when she showed a movie to her crew for entertainment. In January 1928, after returning to the Atlantic Fleet, USS Texas was asked to transport President Calvin Coolidge to Havana, Cuba, for the Pan-American Conference and then to use the Panama Canal to cross back into the Pacific to perfrom manuevers and exercises with the Pacific Fleet off of Hawaii. Texas was becoming well known in both the Atlantic and Pacific areas of operation.
After an overhaul in 1929, Texas conducted operations and deployments alternately between the Atlantic and Pacfic until 1934, when she was once again designated as the flagship for the entire Fleet while in the Pacfic.
In the summer of 1937, she was once again assigned to the east coast, as the flagship of the US Navy Training Detachment. While assigned to the training detachment, sometime in 1937 she received eight new 1.1 inch (28 mm) AA guns in two quadruple mounts to add to her AA armament. Then, in December 1938, Texas achieved another "fisrt," when she had installed and then tested the first shipborne radar designed and made by a commercial company RCA for the US Navy.
Then, in late 1938 she was assigned as the flagship of the newly formed Atlantic Squadron. Through both organizational assignments, her duties were directed primarily to training missions, Midshipman cruises, Naval Reserve drills, and training members of the Fleet Marine Force. In December 1938, Texas received for testing the first shipborne radar designed and made by a commercial company RCA for the US Navy.
As a result of those tests, in 1941, Texas was one of fourteen ships to receive the RCA CXAM-1 radar
World War II Sevice:
Before Pearl Harbor, as the war in Europe continued to escalate, USS Texas began convoying duties for US ships carrying Lend-Lease materiel to the United Kingdom. In February 1941, the US 1st Marine Division was activated aboard the USS Texas, and, Admiral Ernest J. King hoisted his flag as Commander-in-Chief of the re-formed Atlantic Fleet aboard Texas. That same year, while on Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic, as post war records from Germany indicated, USS Texas was stalked unsuccessfully by the German submarine U-203.
Initial Convoy Duties:
On Pearl Harbor day, the day that will live forever in Infamy, December 7, 1941, USS Texas was at Casco Bay, Maine, undergoing a rest and relaxation period following three months of watch duty off Newfoundland. After 10 days at Casco Bay, she returned to duty until late January 1942. At that time she escorted a convoy to England. She then patrolled waters near Iceland until March. Texas then had a refit where the secondary battery was reduced to six 5 inch guns and two of her 1.1 inch (28 mm) quad mounts were replaced by six (later ten) 40 mm quad mounts and forty-four 20 mm cannon. She then continued convoy-escort missions. On one occasion, she escorted Guadalcanal-bound marines as far as the Panama canal, on another, she screened vessels carrying troops to Freetown, Sierra Leone, on the west coast of Africa. More frequently, she made voyages to and from the United Kingdom escorting both cargo- and troop-carrying ships
Operation Torch - the invasion of North Africa:
On October 23, 1942, the USS Texas sortied with Task Group 34.8, which was the Northern Attack Group for Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. The objective was Port Lyautey in French Morocco. The warships arrived off the coast early in the morning of November 8th and began preparations for the invasion. USS Texas transmitted Lt. General Dwight D. Eisenhower's first "Voice of Freedom" broadcast, asking the French not to oppose Allied landings. When the troops went ashore, Texas did not go into action immediately. At that point, the doctrine of supporting amphibious invasesions was still developing. Many land force officers did not yet recognize the value of bombardments before landing, feeling it would give away the element of surprise. Texas first began firing her guns early in the afternoon when she was requested to fire on a Vichy French Army ammunition dump near Port Lyautey. Another gunfire mission was provided on the 10th before the cease fire on 11 November. Thus she expended only 273 rounds of 14 in ammunition. During her short stay, some of her crewmen went ashore to assist in salvaging some of the ships that had been sunk in the harbor. Texas departed North Africa on November 16th for the Atlantic seaboard of the United States.
An interesting note to this operation was that a young news reporter was on board Texas from Norfolk, Virginia, through the operation off of North Africa, and then back to the US. His name was Walter Cronkite, Afyter arriving back off the US, Cronkite was flown off of Texas in a OS2U Kingfisher aircraft to Norfolk. He was granted permission to do this so he could file his news report before rival correspondents, and to issue the first uncensored news reports about Operation Torch. This launched his career as a news correspondent.
Operation Overloard - D-Day Invasion:
Throughout 1943, the USS Texas carried out convoy escort duties across the Atlantic, making numerous voyages to Casablanca, Gibraltar, and frequent visits to ports in the British Isles. That routine continued into the Spring of 1944 for the Texas. But the routine ended on April 22, 1944 when she was ordered to remain at the Clyde estuary in Scotland to began training for the invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
Texas carried out many 14 in gun-firing exercises in preparation for supporting the landings with British battleships HMS Ramillies and HMS Rodney. The firing was done in conjunction with Royal Air Force airplanes as spotters. On April 29, USS Texas, USS Nevada (which had been refloated and repaired from Peal Harbor), and USS Arkansas relocated to Belfast Lough, in Northern Ireland, to make final preparations for the landings.
On June 3, USS Texas and the Western Taskforce sailed for Normandy. On June 4th, June, the task force reversed course due to bad weather off Normandy. Nut later, the taskforce reversed course and joined the invasion fleet and headed toward Normandy, navigating through channels cleared by minesweepers to Omaha beach. At 03:00 on June 6, 1944, Texas and the British cruiser Glasgow entered the Omaha Western fire support lane at their initial firing positions, 12,000 yds off the coast near Pointe du Hoc. At 04:41 AM, she was in position as part of a combined US-British flotilla totalling 702 ships, including seven battleships and five heavy cruisers.
The initial bombardment commenced at 05:50 AM, against six 5.9 in German guns, atop Pointe du Hoc. When Texas ceased firing at Pointe Du Hoc at 06:24 AM, two hundred and fifty five 14 in shells had been fired in thirty-four minutes, an average rate of fire of 7 1/2 shells per minute. This was the longest sustained fire rate for USS Texas in World War II. While this was going on, and thereafyter, her 5 in cuns were supporting the landing force, engagine multiple targets.
By noon, the assault on Omaha Beach was in danger of collapsing due to stronger than anticipated German resistance, and because of the inability to get needed armor and artillery units ashore.. In an effort to help penned down soldiers on Omaha beach, destroyers providing gunfire support closed to very near the shoreline, almost grounding themselves to fire on the Germans. Texas followed suite, and the big ballteship closed to only 3,000 yds, firing her main guns to clear German resistance in front of Vierville. Her main and secondary batteries fired on any and all targets pointed out by the troops ashore or her own spotters, including firing on enemy snipers and machine gun nests hidden in defiles just off the beach. Numerous soldiers credited USS Texas with saving their lives that day and helping, along with other couragous ship crews, in opening up Omaha beach the afternoon of June 6th.
Texas continued to support the troops ashor through June 9th, including helping the Rangers who had taken Point Du Hoc. This included USS Texas obtaining and filling two LCVPs with provisions for those Rangers. Upon their return, the LCVPs brought thirty-five wounded Rangers to Texas for treatment within Texas's ample sick bay. The ability for the big ballteship to attend to wounded and provide a place to gather forces extended to captured enemy as well. A total of twenty-seven prisoners (twenty Germans, four Italians, and three French) were brought to the ship.
Late in the day of June 7th, her main battery rained shells on the enemy-held towns of Formigny and Trévières to break up German troop concentrations. That evening, she bombarded a German mortar battery that had been shelling the beach. Not long after midnight, German planes attacked the ships offshore, and one of them swooped in low over Texas. Her anti-aircraft batteeries engaged, but the intruder escaped. On the morning of June 8th, her guns fired on Isigny, then on a shore battery, and then again on Trévières. At this point she retired across the channel to England to rearm and then returned to the coast on June 11th, to conttinue providing gun fire support missions.
By June 15th, allied forces had advanced far enough where the front lines were beginning to extend out of range of Texas 14 inch guns. Her last fire support mission was in fact out of range, but her captain, determined to support the troops as long as possible, had her starboard torpedo blister flooded which gave the Texas a list to that side, causing the guns to be able to be elevated a few more degrees. This gave the guns enough elevation to complete that final fire support mission. After this, Texas departed the coast for England on June 18th.
The Battle of Cherbourge:
USS Texas was ordered back into the fight on the morning of June 25th, one week after leaving Normandy. She sailed with battleships USS Arkansas and USS Nevada, along with four cruisers and eleven destroyers to the vital port of Cherbourg. The allies were in the process of assualting the town from land, but very a very strong battery of four 9.4 inch (240mm) guns, Battery Hamburg, was located there and needed to be supressed.
Task Group 129.2 was built around Arkansas and Texas, and ordered to move 6 miles off the coast to the east of Cherbourg and engage Battery Hamburgand. At 12:08 PM, Arkansas befgan firing at the German position. The German gunners waited for Arkansas and Texas to be well in range before they began returning fire. At 12:33 PM, Texas was straddled by three German shells. Five minutes later, at 12:38 PM Texas returned fire. The battleship continued firing in spite of geysers blossoming all around her (see the one picture above). She was having difficulty spotting the German targets because of smoke. The German gunners were stubborn and skilled. At 13:16 PM, a German shell skidded across the top of the Texas conning tower, sheared the top of the fire control periscope off which wounded the gunnery officer and three others in the conning tower, then hit the main support column of the navigation bridge and exploded. This explosion caused the deck of the pilot house to be blown upwards 4 ft, wrecked the interior of the pilot house, and wounded seven more peronnel. Of the eleven total casualties from the German shell hit, one man died, the helmsman on duty, Christen Christensen. The commanding officer, Captain Baker, escaped unhurt and quickly had the bridge cleared. The warship continued to deliver 14 in gun fire in salvos and, in spite of damage and casualties, scored a direct hit at 13:55 PM, penetrating a heavily reinforced gun emplacement and destroying the gun within.
At 14:02 ground troops of VII Corps radioed, "Thanks very much—we should be grateful if you would continue until 15:00." At this point VII Corps was on the verge of breaking into Cherbourg's city streets. Shore fire control called for more naval support. all the while, large-caliber rounds from Battery Hamburg continued to drop around the ships.
At 14:47 PM, an unexploded shell from another hit was reported aboard Texas. It had crashed through the port bow directly below the Wardroom and entered the stateroom of Warrant Officer M.A. Clark, but failed to explode. The unexploded shell was later disarmed by a Navy bomb disposal team in Portsmouth, England, and this shell is displayed aboard the ship to this day. The duel went on for three hours. The Germans straddled and near-missed Texas sixty-five times, but Texas continued her mission and fired two hundred and six 14 in shells at Battery Hamburg. At 15:01 PM, at the end of the priod requested by ground forces, Texas retired.
On June 29, all German resistance in Cherbourg ended. Field commanders indicated that during the battle, "naval bombardment of the coastal batteries and against strong points around Cherbourg results were excellent, and did much to engage the enemy's fire while our troops stormed into Cherbourg from the rear." The army liason officer reported that the many German guns tcould not be reactivated, and those that could have been turned towards the advancing ground forces if they had had the chance, but because of the engaging naval fir from allied warships, they were all pointed out to sea when the city fell. The engagement of those guns by USS Texas and her sister ships, saved many Ameriacn and allied lives while the ground forces were attacking the town.
Operation Dragoon - The invasion of Southern France:
After being repaired in England from the damage sustained off Cherbourg, USS Texas prepared for the invasion of southern France.
Then, on July 16, 1944, she headed for the Mediterranean via Gibraltar and Oran, Algeria. Texas rendezvoused with three French destroyers off Bizerte, Tunisia, on August 11th, and sailed to the French Riviera, arriving off Saint-Tropez in the evening of August 14th. She was joined early on the 15th by battleship USS Nevada and the cruiser USS Philadelphia[. At 4:44 AM on August 16th, these vessels moved into position for the pre-landing bombardment. At 6:51 AM they opened fire. The enemy beaches had been fortified and heavy resistance was expected. Because of extremely poor visibility that morning, Texas relied on her radar equipment to determine her position for both navigation and gunnery purposes. No landmarks were visible during the firing that morning up until near noon.
But the heavy opposition to the landings that was expected never matrialized, and ground forces moved inland rapidly. QUickly, fire support from Texas was no longer required, and she departed the southern coast of France the morning of August 17th, and utltiamtely headed for New York, arriving on September 14, 1944.
USS Texas involvement in the war in Europe was over...but her involvement in the War in the Pacific was about to begin.
Operation Detachment - The Invasion of Iwo Jima:
Texas was in Harbor in New York for a thirty-six day day repair period. The barrels on her 14 in main battery were replaced during this time. After a brief shakedown cruise, she departed in November, 1944, and travelled, via the Panama Canal, to the Pacific Ocean. Stopping at Long Beach, California, and then Oahu, Hawaii. She spent Christmas at Pearl Harbor. Afterwards, she conducted maneuvers off Hawaii for about a month and then steamed to Ulithi Atoll, from which she departed on February 10, 1945, travelling to the Mariana Islands.
For two days off of the Marianas she conducted exercises to prepare for the invasion of Iwo Jima. She arrived off of Iwo Jima on February 16th, three days before the landings. She opened up her big guns and spent three days pounding the Japanese on Iwo Jima in preparation for the landings by three Marine Corps Divisions. After the Marines landed on February 19th, Texas began providing naval gunfire support for them in response to requests from units ashore. Although Iwo Jima was not declared to be completely pacified until March 16th, USS Texas departed on MArch 7th, 1945 and returned to Ulithi Atoll to preapre for her next assignment.
Operation Iceberg - The Invasion of Okinawa:
At Ulithi Atoll the USS Texas prepared for the invasion of Okinawa. She departed with Task Force 54, on March 21st, and arrived in the Ryukyu Islands on the 26th. Texas immediately moved in close to Okinawa and began her prelanding bombardment that same day. For the next six days, she fired multiple salvos from her main guns to prepare the way for several Army and Marine divisions who would be landing on April 1st, 1945.
Each evening, Texas retired from her bombardment position close to Okinawa, to get further out to sea, but then returned the next morning to resume her bombardments. The enemy ashore, continued to prepare for a defense-in-depth strategy after the landings. But Japanese air units from Japann did respond. Numerous kamikaze raids were sent to attack US Navy ships off shore, and some were specifcally tasked against the bombardment group. Though attacks were fierce, and numerous US Navy ships in the huge armada off of Okinawawa were damaged and sunk, USS Texas escaped all damage.
On April 1st, after six days of bombardment, the troops went ashore. For almost two months, USS Texas remained in Okinawan waters and provided gunfire support for the troops, while continuiing to fend of Kamikaze air attacks. Texas claimed one kamikaze kill and three assists during those battles, but sustained no damge herself. She departed Okinawa on the 14th of May for the Philippines.
Operation Majic Carpet - After the end of the War:
Texas remained in the Philippine islands off of Leyte until the Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945. She then returned to the Ryukyu Islands and stayed off of Okinawa until September 23, when she set sail fo the United States with a boatload of US troops as a part of Operation Majic Carpet. She took the troops to San Pedro, California where the troops disembarked on October 15, 1945. She celebrated Navy Day there on October 27th.
USS Texas made two more round-trip voyages in November, and a third in late December, ferrying troops back to the United States. On January 21,1946, USS Texas departed San Pedro and steamed via the Panama Canal to Norfolk where she arrived in February to prepare for inactivation. On June 18th, 1946, USS Texas, was officially placed in the US Navy reserve fleet at Baltimore, Maryland. She was officially decommissioned from the US Navy on April 21, 1947, after a long battleship career spannig both World Wars and thirty-four years.
Museum Ship:
After her decommissioning, the USS Texas was offered up for use as a museum ship. Very stringent requirements have to be met for the US Navy to allow one of its formerly commissione vessels to be maintained in this way.
But very quickly, the state of Texas responded. On April 17, 1947, only six days after she was decommissioned, the Battleship Texas Commission was established by the Texas Legislature to care for the ship. They quickly met all the requirments, including the $225,000 necessary to tow her from Baltimore to San Jacinto.
On March 17, 1948, the Texas began her journey to a brand new anchorage on the Houston Ship Channel near the San Jacinto Monument, at San Jacinto State Park in Texas. she arrived there on April 20, 1948, and was turned over to the State of Texas on the 21st to serve as a permanent memorial.
The 21st of April is significant in Texas history because it was the date of the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto against Santa Anna, when the Texas forces defeated him there, and Santa Anna, the president of Mexico at the time, surrendered and agreed to Texas Independence. This led to the creation of the Republic of Texas, which joined the US as a state in 1845. Afterwards, the USS Texas name was struck from the official US Navy Vessel Register on April 30, 1948.
In being establshed as a memorial museum ship, the Texas established another "first," that of being the first permanent battleship memorial museum in the US. When the battleship was presented to the State of Texas, she was commissioned by the state as the permanent flagship of the Texas Navy.
She has remained as such ever since.
As a native Texan myself, I can remember on two occassions as a young man 10 and 13 years old, while visitng relatives in Houston, going aboard the vessel in the 1960s.
By the 1980s, however, the USS Texas was in a state of disrepair, patrticularly below the waterline. The State of Texas, and the people of Texas came to her rescue.
In 1983, the responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of the battleship was transferred form the original Texas Commission, to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, The Commission was a small agency, and was not able to continue to amass the funding or the personnel necessary to maintain the Texas. Texas Parks and wildlife is a large, very well staffed and funded agancy, better suited for the long-term viability of the vessel.
In addition, funding was raised, with the people of Texas and the government of Texas coming up with the funds to take her from her berth in 1988 and place her in dry dock until 1990 for extensive repairs and conditioning for her long term upkeep as a museum/memorial ship. This included significant updates and changes to her berth near the San Jacinto Memorial.
In December of 1988, Texas was pulled from her berth with great difficulty by six large tugboats to begin the 56 mile trip to Todd Shipyards in Galveston, Texas. Once under tow she started taking on water, through a breach just forward of the engine room. The crew had three 4 in and two 2 in pumps to combat the flooding. During the nine hour trip, the ship's draft increased 18 to 20 inches and Texas ultimately entered the yard's floating drydock with only 6 inches to spare between her hull and the blocks she would sit on. If she had not made it in time, she would probably have settled on the bottom there and had to be raised. As it was, she made it and then underwent a 14-month refit. This was to restoroe her hull to its 1945 condition. Her hull and superstructure were sand-blasted which removed tons of rusted metal from her. Inside, welders and fabricators replaced weakened structural beams and numerous rusted-out deck plates. Workers also removed the concrete from the main deck and made repairs. A new pinewood deck was later installed in Greens Bayou. In total, more than 375,000 lbs of steel was removed and replaced. More than 40,000 rivets were seal-welded on the underwater hull. On February 24, 1990, tugboats moved Texas from that dry dock to a repair facility on Green's Bayou for further repairs, including the deck. Four of the ten authentic quad 40mm mounts were installed as well. On July 26, 1990, the ship was returned to her berth at San Jacinto where the final six mounts of 40 mm guns were installed. Repairs complete, the ship officially reopened to the public on September 8, 1990.
Texas Parks and Wildlife then started an onging program to restore her interiror compartments on room at a time.
Since that time, a plan to dry dock the vessel at her San Jacinto Memorial berth, has been proposed. The Master Plan was formally adopted in 2004 by Texas Parks and wildlife. The Texas Legislature put it to the Texas voters. On Novmebr 6, 2007, the people of Texas, by a significant margin, approved $25 million in funds to dry-berth the ship to prevent any further deterioration from the corrosive waters of the ship channel.
One of the provisions of the bond was that the Battleship Texas Foundation (BTF), a non-profit support organization, raise $4 million in private funds to supplement the $25 million in bond funds and provide a total of $29 million to accomplish the goal.
After the vote, BTF contracted a independent maritime engineering firm to make a survey of the ship to determine her condition. The survey reported that her keel and main supporting internal structure was sufficiently strong to support the weight of the ship in a dry berth. Acting on this report, Texas Parks and wildlife prepared a progress report which they presented to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) in July 2008. Then in In March 2009 the funds were released for the dry berthing project to commence.
After a lengthy selection process and fee negotiations, a contract was signed with AECOM, in October of 2010 to design and develop the plans for the dry-berth. AECOM completed its preliminary design in the spring of 2011. Following a federally mandated environmental assessment, the bidding process for construction of the dry berth and temporary mooring of Texas was to begin in 2014. But by that time, estimates for the cost to dry berth the big ship ballooned to 72 million dollars. So the decision was made to use the funds to repair all leaks and further imporve her berthing so she could be permanently anchored there.
The biggest concern has been keeping the ship watertight at the waterline, where the majority of the corrosion occurs as tides alternate the ship from constantly being wet and dry. Blister tanks, which line the ship's outer hull, suffer substantial leaks. Repairs would seal points where blister tanks where pipe openings or other apertures penetrate those areas particularly. In addition, when necessary, the hull's sheathing would be replaced with steel panels. it is estimated that such repairs and plans might extend the viability of existing, in water berthing by as much as 60 or 70 years
Specifications for the USS Texas, at the end of World War II:
Designation: BB
Length: 573 ft
Beam: 95 ft
Displacement: 32,000 tons (full load)
Propulsion: 6 oil fired boilers, 2 shafts
Speed: 21 knots
Range: 8,500 miles at 10 knots
Crew : 1,042
Armament:
- 10 x 14 in/45 caliber main guns - 06 X 5 in/51 caliber secondary guns
- 10 X 3 in/50 caliber Anti-aircrft guns
- 24 x 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns (6 x 4 mounts)
- 44 x 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns)
Armor:
- Belt:12 in midships, 6 in aft
- Bulkheads: 10 in and 11 in lower belt aft
- Barbettes: 5 to 12 in
- Turrets: 14 in face, 4 in top, 8 in sides
- Decks: 1.5 to 3 in
Post Script:
I visited The USS Texas in August of 2014. It was the first time I had been back to the ship since 1969, 45 years earlier. She looked great! You can see three pictures Imy wife and I took while there above...the first three pictures.
The Kit:
This is a brand new kit by Trumpeter, announced in late 2014 and delivered to outlets in the US in the Summer of 2015. One of my favorite suppliers, who have a storng online presence and a very decent brick and mortar store in Georgia, is Free Time Hobbies. I got mine from them, after being on their wating list.
It is a GREAT model. Little or no flash or residue from the molding process and lots of delicate detail parts, including all of the photo etch railing for the vessel, and various sensors and other details in PE. It will make for a nice build.
It comes woith a total of 13 plastic frets (two in clear plastic for the 2 OSU Kingfisher aircraft) and 3 Photo Etch metal frets. There are also 14 plastic parts that are individual parts for the main decks, deck houses and the stand. A total of 672 plastic parts and 138 metal parts, or 810 parts altogether.
There are two decals sheets with a total of 58 decals.
There is an excellent set of instructions that go through all of the steps of building the model in typical, descriptive and intuitive Trumpeter fashion. Aslo, in keeping with most 1/350 scale Trumpeter models, there is a full color paint guide for the vessel, depicting it in its current colors as a museum ship, which is a basic dark Sea Gray color for the vertical and horizontal surfaces.
This model of the USS Texas, Battleship...out of the box...lives up to the reputation for quality and detail we have come to expect from Trumpeter.
I intend to build the vessel in a World War II configuration, with both Kingfisher aircraft mounted on the catapult atop the center 14" gun turrret. I will choose the paint scheme from the Atlantic escort duties leading up to the invasion of North Afirca and thereafter, or the D-Day invasion scheme, or the camo scheme in the Pacific. I just havn't decided yet...I like all three.
Here's how it all looked out of the box:
This really looks to be an excellent build. As a naval enthusiast and as a native Texan, I have wanted an affordable, yet detailed USS Battleship Texas, BB-35, in 1/350 scale for a long time and am really looking forward to building this and adding it to my collection.
Color me Texas proud! LOL!
The Build - Initial construction and painting of the hull - August 20, 2015
The hull comes in two pieces, a port and starboard side. Both are nicely detailed. There are five stiffner/structural pieces that fit in between the two. As I was putting mine together, I found that the fit between the matching holes for two sides, and the holes for the structural pieces were not in perfect alingment. There is about a 1/32 inch of play/difference there. I split the difference between the two ends, and will make up any difference with putty if necessary. I then glued all of that together.
I then painted the assembled hull Model Master Gunship Gray.
That was all there was time for.
She's looking pretty good. In my next session I will add the main deck, the shafts, supports and rudders to the lower hull, and then mask off and paint the lower hull in its hull red, and then the waterline mark in black. I will also paint the main deck.
The Build - Main Deck, hull painting, shafts & struts, 5" guns, main deck house - August 22, 2015
I began this session by adding the main deck. It comes in two section, the forward and aft portions. Tge hull, with the stiffners, was spread a little too wide on the forward portion so I had to use clamps to really pull the sides in for the main deck forward. But this worked out fine.
I then added the shafts and struts for the propulsion, along with the rudder, and then masked off the hull and painted the lower hull red (below the waterline).
Continuing on with the hull, I masked off and painted the waterline mark flat black. Then I gathered and painted the six 5" gun that are mounted along the gun deck, foreward to port and starboard behind the main forweard batteries. I thne added the lower section of the main deck house, extending back amidships. This fit too was a little tough and had to use clamps to pull it together, and then a little filler along a couple of seams.
With that done, I then added the second level of the main deck house, which inludes the second level of AA guns and the portion just below the pilot house.
I am doing a little preparation for weatherg (of sorts) as I go here, and believe it is looking pretty good. LOTS of details left.
In the next session, I hope to add the rest of the main deck house, the funnel, the main batteries, and the 40mm gun mounts.
The Build - Pilot House, Main tripod mast, Forward, Main 14" gun Batteries - August 24, 2015
Well, I started this session by building the next "stack" to the main deck house, which included the pilot house, and then placed it on the battleshipp.
I then built the main battery 14" gun turrets. There are five of them and each consists of five parts. Both barrels, a dowel/shaft for the two barrels to pivot up and down on, then the main part of the gun turret (through which both guns protrude), and the bottom of the turret. Two of them have to four have small holes drilled out (they are well marked on the inside of each turret) for the addition of positions for four 20mm antiaircraft gun positions, one (the turret amidships) to receive the aircraft catapult, and then the forward and aft batteries.
I then built the main mast and the upper, two story observation house on top of the tripod support structure (which was added in the 1920s to replace the original pole and lattice masts she was built with). This is the highest place on the vessel and is used for lookouts, spotters, fire control, etc. It is a very distinctive feature of the USS Texas and her sister ship USS New York, and later class battleships in US Navy service in that time frame like the Nevada class...and perhaps most distinctively...the Pennsylvania class (of which the USS Arizona, destroyerd in Pearl Harbor, is the most famous).
I also dry fit the two forward 14" gun batteries onto the vessel.
With the main mast on the vessel (although there are a lot of detail to add yet), and with the two forward 14" turrets, I decided this was a good place to stop.
Now that is looking like the USS Texas. Lots and lots of work to go...but she is definitely shaping up now.
The Build - 40mm and 20mm guns, Secondary mast, cranes, sensors - August 3, 2015
I began this session by building the 40mm anti-aircraft gun systems (there are ten mounts with four guns to each mount), and many of the 20mm anti-aircraft guns. I build twent-six of those out of 44 altogether.
Each 40mm system was comprised of seven parts, and each 20mm gun system was comproised of two parts. I painted them, assembled them, and then added them to the vessel:
Then I began to assemble the secondary mast that mounts forward to the aftermost two 14" gun turrets. This assembly has a lot of parts. it is a Tri-mast like the main mast, but not so high. I built the basic mast structure and then added the portions that mount the main radar and various sensors (phpoto etch parts). I will still have to add numerous 20mm gun mounts to this mast.
At this point it was time to add the two large cranse. They are located amindships to port and starboard, and are used for picking up the float planes, the ship's launches, and any other major lifts that may occur.
These are comprised of both plastic (10 parts) and photo etch metal parts (4) for the cranes. They came together very well>
I then added some more sensors and life rafts, did a little touch up, and then took these pictures of the vessel as she sits now. Looking good. Lots of details and very heavily armed.
She is looking nice. Still a LOT of details to add on the various decks. A couple of more launches, the chains and mechanisms for the anchor and the anchors, numerous funnels and other equipment, and the rest of the 20mm armament. I hope to get all of that done in the next session. A lot of railing, ladders, and other PE parts to add after that in the following session.
The Build - Catapult, Deck Details, OS2U Kingfishers, Mast details - Sep 3, 2015
Lots and lots of small parts added during this session, and some nice assemblies.
I started by building and adding the catapult for the two OS2U Kingfisher patrol planes that were assigned to the USS Texas. This catapult sits atop the 3rd 14" Gun turret, amidships. The catapult is a very nice photo etch metal assembly. I painted these parts, cut them out, and then bent them where necessary, glued them together, and then attached them atop the turret and placed that turret amidship, canted as if though preparing to launch.
It was then time to add some more details to the main deck of the ship. There were a lot. I started by building the two small deck houses locted underneath each crane which hold life rafts and an observation deck. I then added a lot of details to the main deck. Vents, funnels, and a lot of equipment around the vessel. Many small parts that needed painting and placing. Adds tremendously to the detail and realism of the model.
I then added the numerous sensors and other equipment to the main bridge structure which houses the main mast, and to the structure housing the aft mast. Search lights, sextantrs, binoculars, and other equipment. 12-16 pieces per mast structure. This included stairs and ladders to the main bridge and mast area...the same ones I climbed up in 2014 when I visited the vessel. Again, adding a lot of nice detail to the ship. I will add the main yard arms to the masts last, after the other photo etch railin has been added.
Once this was completed, I had added all of the detail plastic parts to the ship...except for the Kingfisher aircraft which I will paint, add decals to, and attach during the next session. So I took a few pictures showing off the vessel at this stage.
Boy, she is looking very good.
In the next session, I will add all of the photo etch metal railing, numerous other ladders and stairs, the main and secondary mast yard arms, the aircraft, the propellers, and hopefully the decals to complete the model. We shall see if I can get all of that done over the next several days. I do have the Labor Day holiday coming up and may well get the vessel completed in that time. we shall see.
The Build - Float Planes, Chains, Anchors, Props, Photo Etch details, Complete - Sep 7, 2015
Lots to accomplish in this session.
I started by completing the painting of the two O2SU Kingfisher float planes, and then painting the chain for the anchors and the anchors themselves. I also painted the propellers. I then added the chains, anchors, and propellers to the vessel:
At this point I added the O2SU Kingifsher patrol aircraft to the model. I was thinking about just adding one, preparing for launch, but I went ahead and added both in their storage postion.
I then went through the long and detailed process of adding all of the photo etch ralings and stariways to the ship. There was a lot of this. Numerous stariways and for each you have to turn down each step and then bend the railings appropriately for each. Also a lot of railng, both long railing runs and numerous very short one. Also a lot of circular decks.
Finally, I added and appropriately formed the main mast arm, horizontal mast. This is a nicely detailed photo etch part that really adds a lot to the vessel.
Finally I added the base and name plate to the vessel. with that, the vessel was complete and I went through and did some touch up paint work, and then added two coats of dull coat finish.
Here are the presentation photos of the finished USS Texas, BB-35, in 1/350 scale:
...and some close ups.
...and how about an overhead?
This was a really fun and gratifying build for me personally.
She look very good. Just a whole lot of really nice detail.
SCHEDULE for Future Activities - Sep 7, 2015
- By Sep 25, 2015, Complete RAF Typhoon in 1/72 Scale.
- By Oct 16, 2015, Complete RN Merlin Helicopter in 1/72 Scale,
- By Oct 30, 2015, Complete French Rafael M in 1/72 Scale.
- By Nov 27, 2015, Complete USS Hornet, CV-8 in 1/350 Scale.
The completion of the PLAN Carrier group was centered on the already completed Trumpeter's 1/350 scale PLA Navy's Aircraft Carrier CV-16, Liaoning, (in addition to the other escorts already completed) included Mini Hobby's's PLAN Guangzhou, DDG-168. I recently pre-ordered a 1/350 scale model of the PLAN Type 071 LPD, Yuzhao Class, announced by Trumpeter and due out in October, 2013. I will end up adding two of those, propbably LPD-998 Yuzhao and LPD-999, Jinggangshan, add the PLAN- DDG-139, Ningbo, and the PLAN DDG-115, Shenyang, along with the PLAN Weifang, FFG-550 and thus build a PLAN ARG.
The completion of the US Carrier Strike group was centered on the completed Tamyia's 1/350 scale USS Enterprise, CVN-65, (in addition ot the other escorts already completed) included Trumpeter's, USS Freedom, LCS-1, Dragon's USS Preble, DDG-88 and Hobby Boss's USS Texas, SSN-775. When a 1/350 scale USS Enterprise, CVN-80 (or any Gerald R. Ford Class) is released from Trumpeter, Tamiya, Dragon, or whomever else, I will add it to this group along with another AEGIS Cruiser. Whichever Ford Class coms out in 1/350 scale, I will build it as the USS Enterprise, CVN-80.
The US ARG will include Tamiya's 1/350 scale, USS Iowa, BB-62 (which I have already completed), Trumpeter's 1/350 scale USS Iwo Jima LHD-7, Gallery's 1/350 scale USS Sommerset, LPD-25, Bronco Models 1/350 Scale USS New York, LPD-21, Cyber Hobby's USS Independence, LCS-2, Acadamy's 1/350 scale USS Rueben James, FFG-57, and another Flight IIA US AEGIS class detroyer based on Trumpeter's 1/350 scale USS Lassen, DDG-82...all of these models which I already own.
The completion of the UK Group featured the Airfix 1/350 scale HMS Illustrious, R06 as its centerp[iece until a 1/350 scale Queen Elizabeth carrier is released. When that happens, I will add that carrier to the group as its centerpiece. The Royal Navy CSG will also include two Airfix 1/350 scale Daring Class DDGs (one of which is already completed), two Trumpeter 1/350 scale Type 23 HMS Duke class Frigates (one of which is already completed), and the Hobby Boss 1/350 scale HMS Astute SSN (which is also already completed) and Airfix 1/350 scale HMS Tragalgar SSN. One day, when a 1/350 scale HMS Ocean LPD come out, I will use tt to start building a Royal Navy ARG.
The French CSG is centered on Heller's 1/400 scale Charles De Gualle, R91. I have purchased the 1/400 scale Heller French De Grasse, D612 DDG, which is an ASW DDG, the French Duquesne, D603 DDG which is an anti-air multi-purpose DDG, and the French Aconit D612 FFG and Gueprattet F714 FFGs, both of which are Lafayette class frigates. These five vessels will round out my French CSG. As soon as a French Robin class nuclear sub, like the French Perale S606 SSN is released in 1/350 or 1/400 scale, I will add that to the group. Also as soon as the Forbin D620, Horizon class anti-air DDG is released in 1/350 or 1/400 scale, I will purchase two of them and replace the De Grrasse and Duquesne with them, and then save those two for when a Mistral Class LPD is released in 1/350 or 1/400 scale so I can create a French ARG with those vessels.
The completion of the Japanese JMSDF group was centered on Fujimi's very finely detailed, 1/350 scale Hyuga, DDH-181. It will be escorted by Trumpeter's 1/350 scale DDG-177, Atago, an AEGIS class DDG and the JMSDF, DDG-174, Kongo class (which I own), Trumpeters's 1/350 scale DDG-114 Susunami and DDG-111 (both of which are Takinami Class DDGs which I own), and by the 1/350 scale SS-503 Hakuryu (which I own), one of Japans new, very modern and capable AIP Diesel Electric submarines. As soon as a DDG-115 Akizuki in 1/350 scale is released, I will add it to this group. Should a 1/350 scale Osumi Class LPD be relased, I will buy two of those vessels and create a JMSDF ARG.
Then, finally it will be a complete Russian CSG (centered on Trumpeter's Kuznetsov which I own) the Russian Kirov Class nuclear battle cruiser (CGN), the Peter the Great, by Trumpeter (which I own), the Russian Slava Class cruiser, Varyag by Trumperter (which I own), two Trumpeter 1/350 scale Udaloy DDGs (which I own), Hobby Boss's Akula II class SSN (which I own), and the new Yasen class Russian SSN (which I own), all in 1/350 scale. Some time in the more distant future when a 1/350 scale Russian version of the French Mistral class comes out (which is building in real life right now), I will add two of those and build a Russian ARG.
Recently I purchased Heller's 1/400 scale Foch, the Clemceau Class carrier that was sold to the Brazilians in 2000 and in 2002 was refitted and became the Brazilian CV, Sao Paulo, using steam catapaults. I will build the model as the Sao Paulo and thus start a Brazilian group, though the Type 22 DDGs and the FFGs the Brazilians use are not available at present. I have however purchased a set of 1/400 scale A-4 Skyhawks and S-3 Trackers to build a suitable airwing for the Sao Paulo.
Then, again, once the models are available, I'd like to build an Italian Carrier Strike Group centered on the Cavour and their Horizon DDGs, a Spanish Carrier Strike Group centered on the Juan Carlos and their F-100 AEGIS FFGs, and ultimatly an Australian Strike Group centered on the new Canberra Class LPD and the Hobart class AEGIS DDGs. If they ever build the models, an Indian Carrier Strike Group centered on either the Vikramaditya or their new ADS Carrier, the Vikrant, and their Kolkata class DDGs and Shivlak class FFGs would also be nice.
Years more worth of work!
You can see all of these actual carriers, read their histories and specifictions at my site:
WORLD-WIDE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
...and most of their surface escorts at:
AEGIS AND AEGIS-LIKE VESSELS OF THE WORLD