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In a previous entry I mentioned that I had visited the San Jacinto Battlefield Memorial and the USS Texas museum ship. This and the Alamo are examples that show that Texas doesn't have the biggest of everything, contrary claims notwithstanding.
First, the San Jacinto battlefield. The actual Monument, a column with an observatory on top, is in fact the tallest monumental column. The battle it commemorates was fought in a tiny area - maybe one square mile. To a certain extent this makes sense - there weren't that many people in Texas in 1836, so the entire Texas "army" was 900 men. Given the lack of range of the era's muskets (and many of the Mexicans were carrying flintlocks, obsolete even then) the amount of territory an army could cover wasn't that much. Even so, given how close the two armies were (a 10 or 15 minute walk separated them) Santa Ana's decision not to fortify his position was stupid.
Second, the USS Texas. She's moored just next to where the Texans camped, which has become a park. The ship is the last dreadnought in existence, and one of the very few veterans of both world wars. This means although she's big, she's not the biggest battleship even in the US inventory.
In reading about the Texas's history, I see she was off Omaha Beach during D-Day. According to Wikipedia, she ended that day by closing the beach to 3,000 yards, where she fired her 14-inch main battery at sniper nests blocking the beach exits. You can watch artillery shells in flight (I've done it), so imagine watching a shell the size of a motorcycle flying toward you at 600 MPH!
After D-Day and an artillery duel with German coast batteries, she ended up off of Okinawa, dealing with kamikazes. In fact, the massive increase in the number of AA guns meant that her WWI crew of 900 nearly doubled to 1400 by the end of WWII. They literally ran out of berthing spaces, and had bunks lining main corridors of the ship. (Man, that would really suck!)
Considering that the ship was nearly 30 years old by the end of the war, which is old for any salt-water vessel, she was quickly retired and ended up as a museum in 1947. Now, plans are to put her in permanent drydock, as the effort to keep her afloat in salt water is becoming increasingly difficult. She's a good ship, but not the biggest.
First, the San Jacinto battlefield. The actual Monument, a column with an observatory on top, is in fact the tallest monumental column. The battle it commemorates was fought in a tiny area - maybe one square mile. To a certain extent this makes sense - there weren't that many people in Texas in 1836, so the entire Texas "army" was 900 men. Given the lack of range of the era's muskets (and many of the Mexicans were carrying flintlocks, obsolete even then) the amount of territory an army could cover wasn't that much. Even so, given how close the two armies were (a 10 or 15 minute walk separated them) Santa Ana's decision not to fortify his position was stupid.
Second, the USS Texas. She's moored just next to where the Texans camped, which has become a park. The ship is the last dreadnought in existence, and one of the very few veterans of both world wars. This means although she's big, she's not the biggest battleship even in the US inventory.
In reading about the Texas's history, I see she was off Omaha Beach during D-Day. According to Wikipedia, she ended that day by closing the beach to 3,000 yards, where she fired her 14-inch main battery at sniper nests blocking the beach exits. You can watch artillery shells in flight (I've done it), so imagine watching a shell the size of a motorcycle flying toward you at 600 MPH!
After D-Day and an artillery duel with German coast batteries, she ended up off of Okinawa, dealing with kamikazes. In fact, the massive increase in the number of AA guns meant that her WWI crew of 900 nearly doubled to 1400 by the end of WWII. They literally ran out of berthing spaces, and had bunks lining main corridors of the ship. (Man, that would really suck!)
Considering that the ship was nearly 30 years old by the end of the war, which is old for any salt-water vessel, she was quickly retired and ended up as a museum in 1947. Now, plans are to put her in permanent drydock, as the effort to keep her afloat in salt water is becoming increasingly difficult. She's a good ship, but not the biggest.
