Historic Battleship Texas; The Last Dreadnought
Abilene, TX: State House Press, 2007. First Printing [Stated]. Trade paperback. 192 pages. The Military History of Texas series tells the colorful, dynamic, and heroic stories of the state's soldiers, battles, and battlefields from Spanish times to the present. This book contains an Introduction, twelve chapters, two appendices, and notes, as well as 40 black and white photographs, 11 black and white maps, and an Index. The author was the director of the San Jacinto Battleground State History Site where Battleship Texas is located. During the first quarter of the 20th Century, the major naval powers of the world built hundreds of Dreadnought-style battleships. Today there is only one. The battleship Texas was for a time the most powerful weapon on earth. When she was commissioned in 1914, her 14-inch guns were the largest in the world. This technological marvel of her time served with the British Grand Fleet in World War I and was the flagship of the entire U.S. Navy between the two World Wars. During the Second World War, Texas supported amphibious invasions in North Africa, Normandy, Southern France, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. She and her crew were preparing for the invasion of Japan when the war ended and the Texas came home. The Texas was saved from the scrap yard to become our nation's first historic ship museum in 1948. Now lying peacefully in her berth at the San Jacinto State Park near Houston, the battleship Texas is still serving her country--teaching instead of fighting. The Texas is the only battleship remaining in the world today that served in World War I and the only ship remaining of any type that served in both World Wars. More