USS Texas
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | USS Texas | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | pre-dreadnought battleship | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | United States Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | Spanish–American War | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | Chesapeake Bay | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 20 km from land |
| Position | 37.7194, -76.0833 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
USS Texas was a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the United States in the early 1890s. The first American battleship commissioned, she was built in reaction to the acquisition of modern armored warships by several South American countries, and meant to incorporate the latest developments in naval tactics and design. This includes the mounting of her main armament en echelon to allow maximum end-on fire and a heavily-armored citadel amidships to ensure defensive strength. However, due to the state of U.S. industry at the time, Texas's building time was lengthy, and by the time she was commissioned, she was already out of date. Nevertheless, she and the armored cruiser USS Maine were considered advancements in American naval design.
Texas developed a reputation as a jinxed or unlucky ship after several accidents early in her career; she consequently earned the nickname "Old Hoodoo". These mishaps included problems during construction, a grounding off Newport, Rhode Island, and flooding shortly afterwards while at dock in New York City. In the last, she settled to the bottom with her gun deck awash and several crew members drowned.
Location
- Recorded position: 37.7194, -76.0833 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Chesapeake Bay
- Nearest coast: United States
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article USS Texas (1892) (revision 1377048624), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- USAS American Mariner 1966 · 36 km
- U-1105 1949 · 62 km
- Helianthus III 1990 · 144 km
- HMS Braak 147 km
- USS Philadelphia 1776 · 154 km
Other wrecks of the Spanish–American War
- Cristóbal Colón 1898
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · Chesapeake Bay