Commissioned 1914

01A Class Behind the Curve

USS Texas was commissioned on 12 March 1914, completing a construction programme that had begun in 1911. She was a New York-class dreadnought: ten 14-inch guns arranged in five twin turrets, driven by triple-expansion reciprocating engines at a time when turbine propulsion was becoming the standard for capital ships. She was powerful, well-armoured, and almost immediately superseded.

The problem was not her guns. Fourteen inches was a serious calibre, and the five-turret arrangement gave her a respectable broadside. The problem was pace — technological pace, specifically. By 1914, the Royal Navy was already operating turbine-driven dreadnoughts that were faster and more fuel-efficient than anything running reciprocating machinery. The Nevada class, authorised in 1911, the year Texas was laid down, introduced all-or-nothing armour and oil-fired boilers as American standards. Texas, still burning coal, was already a generation behind before she cleared her first shakedown.

This is not a criticism. The Navy ordered her from within the knowledge available in 1911, and what they received was a sound, well-built ship. Riveted construction, heavy plate, a hull that would prove durable well beyond anyone's expectations. What the commissioning date marks, rather, is how rapidly the dreadnought type was evolving during precisely these years — a pace so fierce that even a brand-new vessel could arrive at her commissioning ceremony already belonging to the previous chapter.

The Nevada class, authorised in 1911, the year Texas was laid down, introduced all-or-nothing armour and oil-fired boilers as American standards.

Written from published engineering and heritage sources. Where a figure is not documented, this archive describes the engineering rather than asserting a number.