Construction
Texas was the first of two New York-class battleships authorized on 24 June 1910. Bids for Texas were accepted from 27 September to 1 December with the winning bid of $5,830,000—excluding the price of armor and armament—submitted by Newport News Shipbuilding Company. The contract was signed on 17 December and the plans were delivered to the building yard seven days later. Texas's keel was laid down on 17 April 1911 at Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 18 May 1912, sponsored by Miss Claudia Lyon, daughter of Colonel Cecil Lyon, Republican national committeeman from Texas, and commissioned on 12 March 1914 with Captain Albert W. Grant in command.
Texas's main battery consisted of ten 14 in (360 mm)/45 cal Mark 1 guns, that could fire 1,400 lb (640 kg) armor piercing shells to a range of 13 mi (11 nmi; 21 km). Her secondary battery consisted of twenty-one 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns. She also mounted four 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes, two on each side of the 2nd Platform at frames 32 and 34.5. The Torpedo Rooms also stored 12 torpedoes. Texas and her sister New York were the only battleships to store and hoist their 14 in (360 mm) ammunition in cast-iron cups, nose-down.
Read more about this topic: USS Texas (BB-35)
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