The USS Texas was launched in May of 1912 and Commissioned in Apr of 1914. She is quite a notable ship, being the only remaining Dreadnought from the World War I era, she was also the first to mount Anti-Aircraft guns (1916), the first to use rangers and range-keepers for fire control, the first to launch an aircraft from one of her turrets, was one of the first to receive the CXAM-1 radar, the first to become a permanent museum ship, the first ship to be named a National Historic Landmark. She took part in both World War I and World Wart II, earning 5 Battle Stars in World War II. In World War I she was part of Battle Division 9, part of the 6th Squadron of the British Grand Fleet. She mostly conducted convoy escorts and reinforcement of other British Squadrons.

During World War II, she first took part in the neutrality patrols, and then once the US took a more active role, she escorted convoys with lend-lease materials to England, as well as escorting troops ship to England or the Panama Canal. In Oct 1942, she took part in Operation Torch, supporting the landing at Port Lyautey in French Morocco, firing her main batteries to attack a couple of inland targets, including an ammunition dump. The young reporter Walter Cronkite was onboard during this Preparation, and was the first to make it back to the US to report on Operation Torch thanks to being flown back to land with a OS2U Kingfisher to beat a fellow reporter from another ship.

After Operation Torch she did some more escort duty, and then in Apr 1944 started training for the Operation Overlord. There she was Flagship for Bombardment Force at Omaha Beach, and was responsible for the Western half of the Beach supporting the 29th Infantry Division, and the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions at Pointe du Hoc, attacking positions on the beach, at Vierville, Formigny, Trévières, Isigny, and in her last fire support mission for the invasion, she had to flood her Torpedo blister to get enough elevation to reach the target. She took part in the invasion of Cherbourg, bombarding the 9 inch shore guns there, where she received damage from the batteries, one doing damage to the conning tower, fire control periscope, and damaging the main support column of the bridge. She also received a hit from a shell that didn't explode on the port bow, the shell which can still be seen on the ship.

She took part in Operation Dragoon, bombarding the Southern Coast of France for the landings there, but after meeting no opposition there, she was sent back home for repairs and thereafter she sailed to the Panama Canal to join the Pacific Fleet. In Feb 1945 she supported the landing on Iwo Jima, bombarding the Island for three days before the landings and then giving the Marines gunfire support thereafter. After Iwo Jima, she moved to take part in the invasion of Okinawa. There she took part in six days of pre-landing bombardment, and supported the landed troops for another two months thereafter. Her last operation was Operation Magic Carpet, which was the return of the U S troops back to the US.

She has a long history, and now the model kit, I think it looks great, the molding is great, it has planks that are seperated, four trees of Photo etch come with it, the correct US flag, which a lot of Model Companies get the number of stars wrong for this era. The Hull has a big inaccuracy, but most people will not notice it because they will not know its wrong I think. I think some metal barrels would be better even though the once in the box are decent, and a wood deck, nice but I believe really unnecessary. I give this kit two thumbs up OOB.

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