Battleship Texas Foundation

Battleship Texas Foundation The official page of the Battleship Texas Foundation. For more information on Battleship Texas, please visit: BATTLESHIPTEXAS.ORG

Don't forget, new products are added to the store every month!Shop Below:store.battleshiptexas.org
07/11/2025

Don't forget, new products are added to the store every month!

Shop Below:
store.battleshiptexas.org

, July 8, 1948, the USS NEW YORK (BB-34), sister ship of the USS TEXAS (BB-35), is sunk.Serving as a target during the ...
07/08/2025

, July 8, 1948, the USS NEW YORK (BB-34), sister ship of the USS TEXAS (BB-35), is sunk.

Serving as a target during the atomic bomb test at Bikini, Marshall Islands, in July of 1946, the ship was radioactive and too outdated for use by the end of World War II. NEW YORK would be taken to sea off Pearl Harbor, and used as a target for United States Navy aircraft and ships.

In April of 1948, the USS TEXAS (BB-35), the sole surviving New York-class battleship, would be saved and decommissioned in the namesake state of Texas, where the ship remains to this day.

📷: USS NEW YORK (BB-34) being sunk as a target, off Hawaii, on 8 July 1948. Photograph provided by the Naval Heritage and History Command.

We had a blast visiting with everyone yesterday on for the Freedom Over Texas celebration. Thank you for having , Hou...
07/05/2025

We had a blast visiting with everyone yesterday on for the Freedom Over Texas celebration. Thank you for having , Houston!

Happy Independence Day!Come see our booth and the 20 mm gun trailer at Houston's Freedom Over Texas, 4 PM to 10 PM today...
07/04/2025

Happy Independence Day!

Come see our booth and the 20 mm gun trailer at Houston's Freedom Over Texas, 4 PM to 10 PM today! www.houstontx.gov/july4/

📸: Sailors from USS Texas marching in a July 4th parade in Tacoma, Washington.

Attention on deck!Battleship TEXAS will participate in Houston's Freedom Over Texas celebration on July 4th, 2025. Join ...
07/03/2025

Attention on deck!

Battleship TEXAS will participate in Houston's Freedom Over Texas celebration on July 4th, 2025. Join us for festivities, tradition, and live concerts!

Learn more: www.houstontx.gov/july4/

Today, we concluded this year's Battleship Texas Normandy Tour! Thank you to everyone who supported and came aboard to...
06/29/2025

Today, we concluded this year's Battleship Texas Normandy Tour! Thank you to everyone who supported and came aboard to learn about the last battleship to participate in the largest amphibious invasion of Europe.

Over two hundred participants visited the space where the crew learned about the invasion on June 6, 1944, discussed the most well-known firing mission on June 15, 1944, from inside a turret, and stepped inside the pilot house to discuss the battle of Cherbourg and the duel with Battery Hamburg.

If you missed a tour this year, don't worry—the Battleship Texas Normandy Tour will return.

For more information on Battleship Texas, please visit battleshiptexas.org.

Lt. (jg) Ford, AOM2c Jack Mullinnix, and Lt. (jg) Stephen Sturdevant, pose next to the "dud" 240mm shell that hit the US...
06/26/2025

Lt. (jg) Ford, AOM2c Jack Mullinnix, and Lt. (jg) Stephen Sturdevant, pose next to the "dud" 240mm shell that hit the USS TEXAS (BB-35) on June 25, 1944.

Following the shell's removal, Captain Charles Baker, USS TEXAS (BB-35), would recommend Lt. (jg) Sturdevant was worthy of commendation, which Sturdevant later received a Bronze Star for his actions in May and June 1944. Captain Baker's recommendation is as follows.

On 25 June 1944, this vessel was hit by a German 240 mm shell which penetrated into the Warrant Officers' Country and failed to explode. Its removal presented a serious problem as it was two decks below the main deck and considerable damage would have been caused by an accidental explosion.

In response to a call for a disposal expert, Lt. (jg) Sturdevant came on board on 26 June, supervised the removal of the shell, and then undertook the removal of fuze, detonator and explosive charge at considerable risk to his life, and solely for the purpose of obtaining information on German explosive shells; which, is it understood, is being made the subject of a report by Lt. (jg) Sturdevant to Bureau of Ordnance.

It is believed that the above mentioned action on the part of Lt. (jg) S. H. Sturdevant is worthy of commendation.

, June 26, 1944, the USS TEXAS (BB-35) is anchored in Portland Harbor, Portland, England, after returning from the coas...
06/26/2025

, June 26, 1944, the USS TEXAS (BB-35) is anchored in Portland Harbor, Portland, England, after returning from the coast of Cherbourg, France. Following the mission to eliminate Battery Hamburg, a long-range major caliber coastal defense battery, the ship was carrying a live 240mm shell that failed to detonate after hitting the ship and required disposal.

Because the ship's Bomb Disposal Officer, Lt. (jg) Ford, had not handled a shell or fuze of that type, Captain Baker chose to wait until the ship was in safer waters to safely and adequately remove the unexploded ordnance. Many of the ship's crew had evacuated the areas surrounding the shell and chose to sleep on the decks that night.

At 2:30 am Lt. (jg) Stephen Sturdevant, the Bomb Disposal Officer for the United States Naval Advanced Amphibious Base, Portland-Weymouth, England, reported aboard the USS TEXAS (BB-35) in response to a request for a bomb disposal. Assisted by Lt. (jg) Ford, and AOM2c W. Mullinix, the three worked on safely removing the unexploded enemy shell.

By 9:40 am, they had successfully removed the 240mm by maintaining the shell in the position they found it, moving it to the nearest hatchway by hand, and using the ship's crane to lower it over the side onto a small boat. After discovering the fuze was loose, the men removed it by hand and returned it to the ship, where an impression of the base plug was made so a spanner bar could be made. The shell body was taken ashore where the explosives could be steamed out.

At 1:44 pm, the USS TEXAS (BB-35) was underway for Plymouth, England. Lt. (jg) Ford returned to Portland, England, several days later to reclaim the shell. While it is unknown how and when the shell was returned to TEXAS, a request was made on June 28, 1944, to return and deliver the 240mm, mentioning the USS ARKANSAS (BB-33) as the possible courier. During World War II, a special mount was fabricated on the ship, where the shell would be displayed for the crew to see.

Today, the "dud" 240mm shell remains aboard the Battleship TEXAS, which continues to serve as a reminder of the actions of both the ship and its crew during the battle with Battery Hamburg.

Don't tell our boss—we increased the Normandy discount to 10% for today only!Shop the last day of the Normandy discount ...
06/26/2025

Don't tell our boss—we increased the Normandy discount to 10% for today only!
Shop the last day of the Normandy discount 10% off everything:

https://store.battleshiptexas.org/

, June 25, 1944, we remember Christensen and all those affected as the ship and its crew continued to support the Allie...
06/25/2025

, June 25, 1944, we remember Christensen and all those affected as the ship and its crew continued to support the Allied forces in the liberation of Europe in World War II.

Christen Christensen was born on February 7, 1923, in Brooklyn, New York, and at the age of nineteen, worked for the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Enlisting in the US Navy on July 15, 1943, Christen would report aboard the USS TEXAS (BB-35) in September 1943. Serving as the ship's helmsman on June 25, 1944, Christen was directly above where the 240mm German shell struck the USS TEXAS (BB-35). Tourniquets were applied, and Morphine was given subcutaneously before Christensen was moved to the after-battle dressing station and provided oxygen with a facial mask.

Christensen was pronounced dead at 4:35 pm on June 25, 1944. Christensen's body was removed from the vessel and buried on June 29, 1944, in the Brookwood American Military Cemetery in Brookwood, England, with a temporary wooden cross. In August 1947, the family requested to move the remains to the Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York, where he remains today.

📷: Christen Christensen, the only combat fatality aboard the USS TEXAS (BB-35) during the ship's thirty-four-year-long career in the United States Navy.

, June 25, 1944, at 3:00 pm, the USS TEXAS (BB-35) is ordered to retire and return to Portland, England, after receivin...
06/25/2025

, June 25, 1944, at 3:00 pm, the USS TEXAS (BB-35) is ordered to retire and return to Portland, England, after receiving two hits during the duel with Battery Hamburg.

Following the engagement, the official after-action report concluded that a coast defense battery of that size could not be silenced by ship bombardment unless an excessive amount of ammunition was fired or the battery was fired upon from a blind bearing or far out of the battery’s range. However, the assigned mission was deemed successful because the task group provided fire from calls made by the army using Shore Fire Control Parties (SFCP).

📷: The USS TEXAS (BB-35) takes aim on Battery Hamburg as the two duel on June 25, 1944.

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