By Kris Osborn, President Warrior

The most powerful weapon in the world in 1914, are the words used to describe the famous USS Texas, a massive US Navy New York-class battleship which served in both WWI and WWII. 

The ship, which is now a museum ship in Galveston, Texas, was designated as a “flagship” ship of the US Fleet from 1922 to 1941.  Famous for “shelling” German-held beaches in the Normandy invasion, the ship also escorted war convoys across the Atlantic and even shelled the Nazi-aligned Vichy France by attacking enemy forces in North Africa. 

The USS Texas war contribution, however, was not limited to Normandy and the Atlantic but was transitioned to the Pacific to provide suppressive Naval fire during the famous Battle of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

Where Will the Ship Be? 

At the moment there is ongoing discussion and concern about exactly where the famous museum ship should be docked, and the deliberations are ongoing. However, a relocation of the ship will not change its status as a successful historical platform or change its inspiring role as a museum. 

Pioneering ship

Apart from its distinguished service in war, which has been regarded as extremely significant if not virtually unprecedented, the USS Texas served as a “test-bed” prototype platform for anti-aircraft guns and launching aircraft, according to a historical essay from the Historic Naval Ships Association. 

It is interesting and quite significant to analyze the clear extent to which the integration and application of these weapons influenced future maritime warfare in several key respects. The ship was among the first to implement radar systems designed to track air and surface threat as a way to direct gunfire and range-systems. With production-level radar, the ship helped pioneer anti-aircraft warship defense, something which of course has proven to be critical in the decades that followed. 

Massive Warship Modernization

In a tactical sense, the trajectory of deck-mounted gunfire is quite significant as it has evolved from “area” suppressive fire to what is now much longer-range, precision-guided ship-fired guns and missiles. However, the fundamental premise of deck-mounted area fire is still quite relevant, as US Navy warships still operate with deck-integrated 5in guns. Initially, the tactical importance of surface to shore suppressive fire cannot be underestimated, as it proved crucial to efforts to soften German defenses during the Normandy invasion. 

Incoming shells, if even unguided, were used to blanket areas with fire in order to damage, decrease or destroy well-fortified German positions on the beaches and in bunkers. Area fire is the concept, as munitions are used to overwhelm enemy areas with a high volume of suppressive fire. This is also used to help maneuver formations, much like artillery is used for land war in Combined Arms operations; ship gunfire was used to better enable Marines to land and advance on the beaches when invading Nazi territory.  

This performance in WWII Europe is like a large reason why the USS Texas was quickly sent to the Pacific in 1944, as it provided life-saving suppressive fire for the famous and ultimately successful US Marine Corps amphibious assault in Iwo Jima. 

This proven tactical advantage continued to inform the development of large warships. While big-gun, heavy battleships may not be part of the current US Navy fleet, they undoubtedly contributed to the maturation of deck-mounted guns now firing from destroyers, cruisers and other warships.  

In more recent years, the Navy has been experimenting with various kinds of new ammunition and fire control technology with the aim of both increasing range and introducing precision fire. There is still a key place for “area” fire in today’s threat environment, as it can be useful against small boat swarms on the surface of the ocean or even drone swarms attacking from the air. These threats, which have only grown more significant in recent years, suggest that there is still a tactical need for “area” fire as well as precision. 

Within the last decade, the Navy has been experimenting with GPS-guided 5in and 6in rounds from its warships to triple the range of attack and introduce a previously unprecedented measure of precision. 

Kris Osborn is the Military Technology Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University