Battleships: Past and Present; USS TEXAS Part 2 Quiz

Answer: USS Constitution (Old Iron Sides)

The USS Constitution (Old Iron Sides) was commissioned in 1797 (is still in commission) and, although considerably older, she is a frigate and not a battleship. Though heavily armored with cross laid oak beams (i.e. Old Ironsides) she was no match for the Ships of the Line of her day. HMS Victory, although a wooden sailing ship, is classified as a First Rate, Ship of the Line ("Line of Battle Ship" or "battleship") for her day.

She was launched in 1765, and is still in commission in the Royal Navy.

The Battleship Warrior (HMS Warrior till 1987) was launched in 1869 and made of wrought iron plating over wood frames, and is the oldest FLOATING battleship in the world. The Battleship Mikasa (Admiral Togo's Flagship at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905) is a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy launched in Great Britain in 1900. All three will the subject of coming quizzes in this series.

Answer: The United States Fleet

In January of 1931, after a major refit in New York, the USS TEXAS was transferred to the Pacific for a six year tour and became the flagship of the entire U.S. Navy for a time, before later becoming the flagship of the First Battleship Division of the U.S. Fleet (BatDivI). For that period of time the "ocean designations" (Pacific Fleet and Atlantic Fleet, etc.) were dropped in the US Navy. Even though newer and more modern battleships had been commissioned, the USS TEXAS still packed a powerful punch with her ten 14" guns.

Answer: Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific.

USS TEXAS started her service in World War II attached to the Northern Attack Group for Operation Torch and the invasion of North Africa and was in the Mediterranean. Later on she was involved in the Normandy Landings in the Atlantic and towards the end of the war she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet where she participated in two major island campaigns.

Answer: The Invasion of Okinawa

The last major battle of World War II was the invasion of Okinawa and USS TEXAS was right there off the beach bombarding Japanese gun emplacements, and providing called fire support. She also provided antiaircraft fire against the kamikaze attacks, claiming one solo kill and three assists.

After the Japanese surrendered she made three trips back to the states ferrying troops home in Operation Magic Carpet. She participated in the invasion of Iwo Jima earlier, but was not in the Pacific for Tarawa.

Although Honshu was bombed by USAAF and U.S. Navy planes, the planned invasion of the Japanese Main Islands never took place due, in part, to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Answer: Nuclear Attack Submarine SSN-775

The current holder of the name USS TEXAS is a Virginia Class Nuclear Attack Submarine designated SSN-775. She was christened by First Lady Laura Bush in 2004, and, in 2006, was commissioned in Galveston, Texas. Her home port in 2009 will be Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. CVN-77 is the last of the Nimitz Class Super Carriers and is named for fellow Texan, President George H.W. Bush. CGN-39 was a Nuclear Guided Missile Cruiser and was indeed the USS TEXAS but was retired in 1993 as part of the nuclear recycling program. LHD-9 would be the next Amphibious Assault Carrier and has yet to be built.

They are generally names after famous WWII battle sites.

Answer: A Confederate Ironclad and a Guided Missile Cruiser

CSS TEXAS was a Confederate Ironclad Ram built in Richmond, Virginia near the end of the Civil War and never saw action. She was transferred to the U.S. Navy after the war and "laid up" in Norfolk till she was sold in 1867. USS TEXAS CGN-39 was commissioned in 1977 and was a Nuclear Powered Guided Missile Cruiser until she was retired in 1993.

The Republic of Texas had 13 ships during two separate periods, but none were named Texas. No Civil War Blockade runner was named Texas. USS Texas SSN-775 is not a surface ship!

Answer: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

USS TEXAS was turned over to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 1983, after 55 years of neglect, for the purpose of maintaining and administering the ship as a memorial and museum. Much of the funding for the maintenance and restoration of the TEXAS comes from the funding of the department although significant private funding is contributed.

Answer: A well restored ship outside and a work-in-progress inside

During Hurricane Alicia in 1983, to the surprise of almost everyone, the old girl actually floated off the bottom with the storm surge and the decision was made to "refit" her. USS TEXAS was fully restored outside in Galveston Texas from 1988-1990 and, although her interior spaces are far from wreckage, she is in the long process of being restored inside as well.

The funds for this massive project are coming from many sources including the school children of Texas.

Answer: The site of the capture of Mexican General Santa Ana

The 1,200-acre San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site consists of the battleground itself where Sam Houston and his little "army" surprised and defeated Santa Ana during his siesta and secured Texas independence from Mexico, the 570 foot tall, 70 million pound masonry monument with a Texas star on top called the San Jacinto Monument, the huge museum in the base of the tower housing nearly 400,000 artifacts from the republic period of Texas history, and Battleship TEXAS.

The site is located east of Houston and a north of Galveston Island. Students and visitors alike are able to experience, first hand, living history at the San Jacinto Battleground and Battleship TEXAS. General Santa Ana was captured the day after the battle nearby in, what is now, Pasadena wearing the clothing of a Mexican private soldier.

Answer: She was with the British Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland.

She was sent to the British Grand Fleet in Jan. 1918 after the U.S. entered WWI, and like all U.S. ships "over there", she was under the command of the British Admiralty, BUT the Battle of Jutland took place between the German High Seas Fleet and the British Grand Fleet in May and June of 1916. All the others are "trivial" FACTS. No! Really! The next quiz in the series will focus on the oldest existing battleship in the world and then I will work forward in time. Remember what ship that is?