The USS Texas (BB-35)

USS Texas (BB-35)

Technical Data: Built by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Company of Newport News,

Virginia, the battleship USS Texas was launched May 18, 1912, and commissioned March 12, 1914.

The ship stretched 573 feet, stem to stern, with a beam of 106 feet. Displacing 34,000 tons, she

required a draft of twenty-eight feet, six inches. The Texas held a crew of 1,820 officers and

men and reached a top speed of twenty-one knots on the open sea.

History: Shortly after her commissioning in 1914, the Texas saw action in Mexican waters during

the so-called "Vera Cruz" incident. During World War I, she joined the 6th Battle Squadron of the

British Grand Fleet, operating out of Scapa Flow and the Firth of Forth. In this role, she protected

forces laying a North Sea mine barrage, countered German fleet sorties, fired at submarines, and

protected Allied supply lines. During World War II, the USS Texas fired her guns in support of the

amphibious assault on Morocco; performed convoy duty; and fired at German defenses at Normandy

on "D-Day" (June 6, 1944). Transferring to the Pacific Theater of Operations, the Texas provided

gunfire and anti-aircraft support to the landings at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She was decommissioned

April 21, 1948, and later that year became the first battleship memorial museum in the United States.

The ship remains on permanent display at the Battleship Texas State Historical Site, La Porte Texas.

Charley Plummer's Story: When Charley Madison Plummer joined the U.S. Navy on July 26, 1920,

he mistakenly told the recruiter that he had been born on January 24, 1901, which would have made

him nineteen years and two days old at the time. In fact, Charley did look all of nineteen years old;

but, in the excitement of the moment, he had gotten his dates mixed up. Charley had actually been

born on December 1, 1904, which added up to fifteen years, eight months, and twenty-seven days

old. After undergoing initial training, Seaman Second Class Charley Plummer boarded his first ship,

the USS Texas, on November 16, 1920, serving under the command of Captain Frank H. Schofield.

During the next seven years and six months, Charley served under six successive captains aboard

the Texas and rose three ranks, to Quartermaster First Class. Charley was on board in 1925, when

the Texas underwent major modifications, her engines converted to oil-fired boilers, tri-pod masts

and a single stack added, her five-inch guns moved up to the main deck, and blister plating added

as protection against torpedo attack. On May 28, 1928, in San Francisco, California, Charley left

the USS Texas for temporary duty en route to his next ship, the USS Tulsa.

Sources: Battleship Texas State Historic Site (Texas Dept. of Parks and Wildlife) and Department

of the Navy Bureau of Navigation "Continuous Service Certificate" record of Chief Quartermaster

Charley Madison Plummer, Service Number 380-09-65, United States Navy, Retired (1920-1950).