New York-Class Battleships: 10 14-Inch Guns, Two Ships, and a Big WWII Impact
Many maritime history experts consider the U.S. Navy’s Iowa-class to be the crème de la crème of the battleship world, and quite understandably so. Among other things, they claimed the longevity crown as the last battleships from any country to fire their guns in anger, doing so during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. One of the ships, the USS New Jersey (BB-62), is the most decorated battleship in U.S. history.
USS Texas battleship. Image: Creative Commons.
Image: Creative Commons.
Battleship USS Texas. Image: Creative Commons.
It might seem ironic, then, that the Iowa-class, and three out of the four of its ships—the USS Iowa (BB-61), Wisconsin (BB-64), and Missouri (BB-63)—were named for landlocked Midwestern states. With that in mind, we now discuss a slightly less famous but still noteworthy battleship class named for a state that not only has a coastline, but a battlewagon-building shipyard: the New York class.
New York-Class Battleship Initial History
Named for the Empire State, the class consisted of two ships designated as “super-dreadnoughts.” In contrast to the “fast battleships,” such as the Iowas, North Carolinas, and South Dakotas, this class was designed as a more heavily armed upgrade over the preceding Wyoming-class dreadnoughts.
The lead ship of the class, the USS New York (BB-34), was built at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn (affectionately nicknamed the “Can-Do Shipyard”). It was laid down on September 11, 1911, launched on October 30, 1912, and commissioned on May 15, 1914.
Next came the USS Texas (BB-35), which was built by Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. The ship was laid down on April 17, 1911, launched on May 18, 1912, and commissioned on March 12, 1914.
-Displacement: 28,822 tons fully laden
-Hull Length: 573 feet
-Beam Width: 95 feet 2.5 inches
-Draft: 29 feet 7 inches
-Max Speed: 21 knots
-Crew Complement: 1,042 commissioned officers and 1,772 enlisted seamen
-Primary Armament: 10 x 14-inch guns
-Secondary Armament: 21 × 5-inch guns; 4 × 21-inch torpedo tubes
-Tertiary Armament: 4 × 3-pounder 47-mm saluting guns; 2 × 1-pounder 37-mm guns
Operational History
The USS Texas is arguably the more famous of the two New Yorks. She served both during the occupation of Veracruz, Mexico, in 1914, and during World War I, but didn’t see action in either campaign.
She would make up for that missed action during World War II. According to Naval History and Heritage Command, “A change in mission took place in October and November 1942, when she provided heavy gunfire support during the invasion of North Africa.”
From there, she provided her gunfire support service to the D-Day landings in June 1944, and then, in true globetrotter fashion, she made her way to the Pacific theater of operations, providing shore bombardment and anti-aircraft (anti-kamikaze) defense during the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns.
The Texas earned five battle stars for her World War II service alone. Amazingly, she lost only one crew member to enemy action throughout her combat history. She was decommissioned on April 21, 1948.
The USS New York earned her own fair share of accolades. For her World War II service alone, she was awarded three battle stars. Moreover, she too took part in the Veracruz campaign and World War I, sinking a German U-boat during the latter, albeit by an unintended collision.
In the next World War, the New York joined in the pre-invasion bombardment of Safi, Morocco, as part of Operation Torch during the Mediterranean Campaign. She would later join her sister ship in the waters off Iwo Jima, firing more rounds than any other Navy warship and scoring a spectacular direct hit with a 14-inch shell on an ammunition dump.
The USS New York was decommissioned on August 29, 1946.
Where Are They Now?
Sadly, BB-34 was not preserved for posterity. There is some consolation in the fact that she was allowed to go out with a bang (and go down to Davy Jones’s locker), rather than being sold for scrap. As the Pacific Wrecks Inc website writes, “On July 8, 1948 towed from Pearl Harbor roughly 40 miles out to sea.
The battleship was used as a target for Navy planes that bombed, fired rockets and strafed. A total of 21 direct hits were claimed with 500-pound bombs, 20 direct hits with 100-pound bombs, and 56 hits by 5′ rockets until the battleship rolled over and sank.”
The USS Texas has in fact been preserved for posterity as a floating museum. She is docked in the Lone Star State at Pier 15 in Galveston, a 10-minute walk from the historic Strand District. She us expected to be officially opened to the public sometime this year.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He is also the author of the newly published book “Five Decades of a Fabulous Firearm: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beretta 92 Pistol Series.”
