USS TEXAS Gunnery + Torpedo Information

USS Texas Gunnery + Torpedo Information

[USS TEXAS]
Texas, taken from her kite balloon - sometime between the 28th of May 1918, when the balloon was fitted, and October 1918.
(courtesy of CF Moore and the battleship Texas)

This period photograph (circa 1918) was taken by John H. Rogers, and contributed by his grandson - click on it for an enlargement. (The full set can be seen here).

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt aboard Texas, in the Firth of Forth, 29 August, 1918.

The general public was interested in naval affairs-- Charles Moore has provided this clipping from the New York Times of February 4, 1917, reporting on USN gunnery.

The following reproductions (courtesy of Charles Moore (cfmoore@texas.net), who runs the USS Texas website) show various details of ammunition and other gunnery-related tidbits from the microfilm collection on board the battleship.

[Bow Turrets]

Ammunition on Board, 1910
Transverse Section through Turret (207K)
(a much higher resolution scan, 657K, may be seen by clicking here)
General Arrangement of 14-inch Turret
(click on each for enlargement: 92K, 238K, 478K, 594K )
Longitudinal Section through Turret 1:

(information block on plan)
A 12-inch turret:

To hand turn a 532 ton BB35 turret, Charles Moore has found drawing C&R# 15167, on reel 32120-01, with the following data:

Speed of chain - in feet per minute: 161.25

Revs per minute handchain and shafts: 31.25

Revs per min at end of speed gear - 50

Max speed of turret - degrees per minute: 12

Estimated pull for each of 16 men: 25 lbs

Torpedo Armament

As built, the Texas carried four 21" submerged torpedo tubes:

Charles notes that: I finally came across a drawing with some details of the torpedo rooms, aboard BB35. The torpedo room plan is part of a 2nd Platform joiner plan dealing with storage shelve details for General Store Keeper compartments, Drawing date was June 1912 with a review date of Oct 1914.

To put it into perspective, I included a section of an August 1915 exterior profile view. The torpedo tube outlets through the hull are indicated. [this is the profile shown at the top of the page]

As late as 18-19 Sept 1924, BB35 fired torpedos, in the Southern Drill Ground. The ship entered drydock on 31 July 1925. During the dry dock the tubes and torpedoes were removed. The torpedo compressors were retained.

Click here for machinery details.

Last Updated: 14 November, 2006.

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