Highlights – Think & Do

Haze Gray and Underway USS Texas CGN-39

Construction

Texas’ keel was laid down on 18 August 1973, at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. She was initially designated a guided missile destroyer leader, but was reclassified as a guided missile cruiser and given the hull classification symbol CGN-39 on 30 June 1975. She was launched on 9 August 1975, sponsored by Mrs. Dolph Briscoe, wife of the Governor of Texas, and commissioned on 10 September 1977, with Captain Peter B. Fiedler in command.USS Texas (DLGN/CGN-39) was the second Virginia-class nuclear guided missile cruiser. She was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of Texas.

Texas‘ keel was laid down on 18 August 1973, at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. She was initially designated a guided missile destroyer leader, but was reclassified as a guided missile cruiser and given the hull classification symbol CGN-39 on 30 June 1975. She was launched on 9 August 1975.

History

Following a nine-week test of the ship’s combat systems, Texas loaded weapons at the Yorktown Naval Weapons station in October and underwent refresher training out of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in November. Texas spent the first three months of 1978 conducting at-sea evaluation of her propulsion and weapons systems off the Virginia Capes and in the Caribbean. On 28 March, she transited to her building yard at Newport News to commence a Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) which was completed on 31 July. The remainder of 1978 was spent in individual ship exercises off the east coast and Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, interspersed with periods in Texas‘ home port of Norfolk, Virginia.

The maiden deployment of the Texas was with the USS Nimitz Battle Group in the Mediterranean and North Arabian Sea during the Iranian hostage crisis. She also served as Flagship for Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Group One. The second deployment of the ship was once again with the Nimitz Battle Group operating in the Mediterranean Sea. During this period, Texas saw combat for the first time, as she responded to Libyan aggression in the Gulf of Sidra.

Incident

In the 1970s, Libya had claimed a 12 mile extension zone of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Sidra, which prompted US naval forces to conduct Freedom of Navigation operations in the area, the so-called “line of death”. These operations intensified when Ronald Reagan came to office; in August 1981, he authorized a large naval force, led by USS Forrestal and Nimitz, to deploy off the Libyan coast. The Libyan Air Force responded by deploying a high number of interceptors and fighter-bombers.

Early on the morning of August 18, when the US exercise began, at least three MiG-25 ‘Foxbats’ approached the US carrier groups, but were escorted away by F-4 Phantom IIs from Forrestal and F-14s of VF-41 and VF-84 from Nimitz. The Libyans tried to establish the exact location of the US naval force. Thirty-five pairs of MiG-23 ‘Floggers’, MiG-25s, Sukhoi Su-20 ‘Fitter-Cs’, Su-22M ‘Fitter-Js’ and Mirage F.1s flew into the area, and were soon intercepted by seven pairs of F-14s and F-4s. The situation was tense, but neither side fired any weapons, even in at least two cases when MiG-25s tried to breach through the American fighters by flying high and fast.On the morning of August 19, two VF-41 “Black Aces” F-14As, “Fast Eagle 102” (CDR Henry Kleeman/LT David Venlet) and “Fast Eagle 107” (LT Lawrence Muczynski/LTJG James Anderson), were flying combat air patrol to cover aircraft engaged in a missile exercise. An E-2B Hawkeye from VAW-124 made radar contact with two Sukhoi Su-22 Fitters which had left Okba Ben Nafi Air Base near Tripoli.

Kleeman and Venlet’s F-14 Tomcat from the incident is on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

The two F-14s were ordered to intercept. Only a few seconds before the crossing, at an estimated distance of 300 m, one of the Libyans fired an AA-2 “Atoll” at one of the F-14s, which missed. Then the two Sukhois flew past the Americans and tried to escape. The Tomcats evaded and were cleared to return fire by their “rules of engagement”, which mandated self defense on the initiation of hostile action. The F-14s turned hard port and came behind the Libyan jets. The Americans fired AIM-9L Sidewinders; the first kill is credited to Fast Eagle 102, the second to Fast Eagle 107. Both Libyan pilots ejected.

The official United States Navy report states that both Libyan pilots ejected and were safely recovered, but in the official audio recording of the incident taken from USS Biddle, one of the F-14 pilots states that he saw a Libyan pilot eject, but his parachute failed to open.

Less than an hour later, while the Libyans were conducting a search and rescue operation of their downed pilots, two fully-armed MiG-25s entered the airspace over the Gulf and headed towards the US carriers at Mach 1.5 and conducted a mock attack in the direction of USS Nimitz. Two VF-41 Tomcats and one VF-84 Tomcat headed towards the Libyans, who then turned around. The Tomcats turned home, but had to turn around again when the Libyans headed towards the US carriers once more. After being tracked by the F-14s’ radars, the MiGs finally headed home. One more Libyan formation ventured out into the Gulf towards the US forces later that day.

History (Cont.)

Texas’ third deployment was with the USS Carl Vinson Battle Group, and included an around-the-world cruise which allowed her to visit every inhabited continent except South America and to sail all the oceans except the Arctic. The world cruise also included a change of homeport to San Diego, California, from Norfolk, Virginia. Texas spent the first part of the following year operating in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea before returning to San Diego. She then began to make preparations for a homeport change to Bremerton, Washington, for a Complex Overhaul. She entered dry-dock at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in September, and remained there until April 1987. The overhaul lasted until April 1987, and included the installation of the Tomahawk missile system.

Following a homeport change to Alameda, California, Texas deployed with the Carl Vinson Battle Group for Westpac 1988 as the Anti-Air Warfare Commander. This fourth major deployment included port visits to Singapore, Sub ic Bay, Hawaii. Thailand, and Kenya. In 1989, the Texas conducted local operations and a short overhaul at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco. By the end of the year, she was back at sea on counter-narcotics operations off the coast of South America.

In February 1991, Texas began her sixth deployment, en route to the Arabian Sea. She served valiantly during Operation Desert Storm as the ship for the anti-air warfare commander of the Nimitz Battle Group. Additionally, she served as a mother-ship for minesweeping operations off the coast of Kuwait, providing valuable logistic support for several minesweepers. She returned to San Francisco in August of that year. In April 1992, Texas returned to sea and conducted a second counter-narcotics mission that included visits to Ecuador and Panama.

USS Texas leads the USS Princeton while flying the state flag of Texas.

Decommissioning

Texas was placed in reserve commission on 31 May 1993, then decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 July 1993. Texas entered the nuclear Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 1 October 1999. The Ship/Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) is the process the United States Navy uses to dispose of decommissioned nuclear vessels. SRP takes place only at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington, but the preparations can begin elsewhere.

Ship’s Crest

The official crest of the USS Texas CGN 39 was designed by Martha Bell, a freelance graphic designer and a Texan. The colors—red, white, and blue—represent the state flag of Texas. The anchor and the fouled line symbolize the Navy, while the Lone Star signifies the state of Texas. The atoms and orbits within the Lone Star represent the nuclear power characteristics of the ship. The three stars at the bottom represent the past United States ships named “Texas”. The motto, “Proud Heritage, Proud Purpose”, refers to the history and legacy of those ships, and their purpose: defense of the United States.

Texas

After having been a territory first of Spain and then of Mexico and later an independent republic, Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state on 29 December 1845.

CSS Texas

—a twin-screw, ironclad ram built at Richmond, Va., for the Confederacy—was launched in January 1865. At the time of Lee’s evacuation of Richmond on 3 April 1865, she was left unfinished but intact in an outfitting berth at the Richmond Navy Yard—one of only two vessels which escaped destruction by the departing Confederate forces.

Captured when the city fell the following day, the ironclad, sister ship of CSS Columbia, was taken into the United States Navy, but saw no service. Texas was laid up at Norfolk until 15 October 1867 when she was sold at Norfolk to J. N. Leonard.

The CSS Texas (Confederate States Ship Texas), was a twin propeller casement ironclad ram of the Confederate Navy, named for the state of Texas. She was sister ship to CSS Columbia. Since the ship was built so late in the American Civil War, it saw no action before being captured by Union forces/

HistoryThe keel for the CSS Texas was laid down at Richmond, Virginia. She was launched in January 1865. At the time of Robert E. Lee‘s evacuation of Richmond on 3 April 1865, she was left unfinished but intact in an outfitting berth at the Richmond Navy Yard, one of only two vessels which escaped destruction by the departing Confederate forces. Captured when the city fell the following day, the ironclad was taken into the United States Navy, but saw no service. Texas was laid up at Norfolk until 15 October 1867 when she was sold to J.N. Leonard & Co.^[1] of New Haven, Connecticut.

Design

From a technological view, the CSS Texas was one of a series of three ‘Tennessee class’ ironclads (the other two being the CSS Tennessee II and CSS Columbia) which embodied the latest developments in Confederate shipbuilding technology. Her casemate was diamond-shaped rather than being a sloped box as on earlier ships and fitted snugly around the front, aft and side cannon placement. Instead of bolted on, the pilot house almost formed a seamless natural extension of the side armor. Details of her armament are sketchy, but her sister ship, the CSS Tennessee II carried four 6.4 in. Brooke rifles, two 7 in. Brooke rifles and a bolted-on spar torpedo. Also for the Tennessee II, armor was given as 3 layers of 2 in., top speed as 5 knots and crew as 133 men. It is unclear however in how far the CSS Texas resembled the Tennessee II as other sources give her a (projected) speed of no less than 10 knots and note that both the Tennessee II and the Texas differed from the original design due to availability of key materials (in particular guns and engines) and due to improvements made during construction from lessons learned in combat.^[

Career
Name:	CSS Texas
Launched:	January 1865
Struck:	15 October 1867
Fate:	sold
General characteristics
Length:	217 ft (66 m)
Beam:	48.5 ft (14.8 m)
Draft:	13.5 ft (4.1 m)
Propulsion:	steam
Complement:	50 officers and men
Armament:	four pivots, two broadside guns

**USS Texas (BB-35), the second ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the U.S. state of Texas**,

is a New York-class battleship. The ship was launched on 18 May 1912 and commissioned on 12 March 1914.

Soon after her commissioning, Texas saw action in Mexican waters following the “Tampico Incident” and made numerous sorties into the North Sea during World War I. When the United States formally entered World War II in 1941, Texas took on the role of escorting war convoys across the Atlantic, and she later shelled Axis-held beaches for the North African campaign and the Normandy Landings before being transferred to the Pacific Theater late in 1944 to provide naval gunfire support during the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Texas was decommissioned in 1948, having earned a total of five battle stars for service in World War II, and is presently a museum ship near Houston, Texas. Among the world’s remaining battleships, Texas is notable for being the oldest remaining dreadnought battleship. She is also noteworthy for being one of only six remaining ships to have served in both World Wars. Among US-built battleships, Texas is notable for her sizable number of firsts: the first US battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns, the first US ship to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers (analog forerunners of today’s computers), the first US battleship to launch an aircraft, one of the first to receive the CXAM-1 version of CXAM commercial radar in the US Navy, the first US battleship to become a permanent museum ship, and the first battleship declared to be a US National Historic Landmark.

In 1948, the Battleship Texas became the first battleship memorial museum in the U.S. That same year, on the anniversary of Texas Independence, the Texas was presented to the State of Texas and commissioned as the flagship of the Texas Navy. In 1983, the Texas was placed under the stewardship of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and is permanently anchored on the Buffalo Bayou and the busy Houston Ship Channel. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s 1,200-acre San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site consists of the Battleground, Monument and Battleship Texas. These sites are located within minutes of downtown Houston and a short distance to the beaches of Galveston Island. Millions of visitors come to this area each year to enjoy the mild coastal climate and cultural and sports activities. Students and visitors alike are most fortunate to be able to experience history first hand through living history at the San Jacinto Battleground and Battleship Texas.

**The third Texas (CGN-39)**

was laid down as a guided missile frigate on 18 August 1973, at Newport News, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Co.; reclassifled as a guided missile cruiser and redesignated CGN-39 on 30 June 1975; launched on 9 August 1975; sponsored by Mrs. Dolph Briscoe, wife of the Governor of Texas; and commissioned on 10 September 1977, Capt. Peter B. Fiedler in command.

Following a nine-week test of the ship’s combat systems, Texas loaded out weapons at the Yorktown Naval Weapons station in October and underwent refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in November. Texas spent the first three months of 1978 conducting at-sea evaluation of her propulsion and weapons systems off the Virginia capes and in the Caribbean. On 28 March, she transited to her building yard at Newport News to commence a Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) which was completed on 31 July. The remainder of 1978 was spent in individual ship exercises off the east coast and Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, interspersed with periods in Texas’ home port of Norfolk.

Name: Texas

Namesake: The state of Texas