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General Characteristics

Crew List

Memorabilia

Cruise Books

Accidents aboard the Ship

USS Texas' Commanding Officers

History of USS Texas

USS Texas Disposal

Image Gallery

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USS Texas (CGN 39)

USS TEXAS was the second ship in the VIRGINIA-class of nuclear powered guided missile cruisers and the third ship in the Navy named after the state of Texas. Last homeported in Bremerton, Wash., she was laid up there after decommissioning and later went through the nuclear recycling program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS TEXAS. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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• Click here to see which USS TEXAS memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS TEXAS Cruise Books:

• Mediterranean and Indian Ocean Cruise Book 1979-80
• World Cruise Book 1983
• WestPac Cruise Book 1984-85
• WestPac Cruise Book 1988

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Accidents aboard USS TEXAS:

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USS TEXAS' Commanding Officers:

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History of USS TEXAS:

USS TEXAS entered service on September 10, 1977, at Norfolk after construction at Newport News Shipbuilding. Following a nine-week combat-systems test and a weapons onload at Yorktown in October 1977, she completed refresher training from November 1977 at Guantanamo Bay and then spent early 1978 proving propulsion and weapons off the Virginia Capes and in the Caribbean. A post-shakedown availability at Newport News ran from March 28, 1978 to July 31, 1978. The remainder of the year was devoted to independent exercises off the U.S. East Coast and at Roosevelt Roads with Norfolk as home port.

Her maiden deployment began amid the Iran Hostage Crisis, when TEXAS joined the USS NIMITZ (CVN 68) battle group for a September 1979-May 1980 Mediterranean-Indian Ocean cruise that included contingency operations on "Gonzo Station" in the North Arabian Sea and support to the failed rescue attempt known as Operation Evening Light in April 1980. As part of the NIMITZ group, TEXAS's schedule encompassed port calls typical of that cruise - Rota, Naples, Alexandria, Tunis, and Athens - interwoven with high-tempo Gulf of Oman/Arabian Sea presence operations that marked U.S. policy toward revolutionary Iran.

In August-October 1980, TEXAS again operated with NIMITZ during NATO exercise Teamwork '80, a North Atlantic reinforcement scenario, with visits that included Portsmouth and Wilhelmshaven, before a return to U.S. waters. That phase reflected NATO's Cold War focus on the Norwegian Sea and North Atlantic sea lines.

Her second Mediterranean deployment with the NIMITZ group ran August 3, 1981-February 12, 1982. It included the tense period of U.S.-Libyan confrontation in and around the Gulf of Sidra as the United States challenged Libya's excessive maritime claims. The carrier group's schedule included ports such as Naples, Tunis, Livorno, Haifa, and Palma. TEXAS's role as a nuclear-powered area-air-defense cruiser aligned with the battle group's layered defense posture during these freedom-of-navigation operations.

After workups, TEXAS shifted to the Pacific via an around-the-world cruise that began March 1, 1983 when she departed Norfolk with the USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70) battle group. That circumnavigation combined presence and alliance diplomacy across multiple oceans and concluded with a change of home port to San Diego. During the July-September leg in Australasia, the group's arrival in Australia coincided with large public port events. TEXAS called at Auckland beginning August 2, 1983 for a planned 13-day visit and also visited Wellington - port calls that triggered substantial anti-nuclear protests as New Zealand's domestic debate over nuclear policy intensified. Demonstrations in Wellington are documented on August 10-11, 1983 and were emblematic of the movement that would later produce New Zealand's nuclear-free legislation. While departing Brisbane on July 19, 1983, TEXAS suffered above-waterline damage after contacting the quay. Repairs were effected locally and the cruise continued.

With the world cruise complete, TEXAS shifted shipyard focus to the Pacific Northwest. She entered dry dock at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in September 1983 for a long Complex Overhaul that extended through April 1987 (in 1986 she is recorded as in reactor overhaul throughout the year). The modernization added TOMAHAWK capability via armored box launchers and updated combat-systems fits while completing major propulsion plant and hull work that was typical for mid-life nuclear surface combatants of the period. Following trials, TEXAS changed home port to Alameda.

After rejoining the CARL VINSON team, TEXAS deployed June 15, 1988-December 14, 1988 as the battle group's Anti-Air Warfare Commander on WestPac/Indian Ocean duty during the waning phase of the Iran-Iraq War and its aftermath. The cruise pattern combined Western Pacific operations with Arabian Sea presence in support of regional stability and maritime security, with port visits including Subic Bay, Singapore, Hong Kong, Pattaya (Thailand), and calls associated with the Indian Ocean leg. She returned to the Bay Area and in 1989 conducted local operations and a short industrial period at Hunters Point before resuming fleet tasking. By late 1989 she is noted as undertaking counter-narcotics operations off South America, reflecting the Navy's growing support to interagency drug-interdiction missions.

In 1990, TEXAS participated in RIMPAC '90, the large multinational Pacific exercise, where official imagery shows the ship maneuvering in company with USS PRINCETON (CG 59) on May 1, 1990. The following months brought a rapid change in the strategic environment: Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, while TEXAS was serving as a Pacific command-and-control ship for enhanced counter-narcotics operations. She returned to Alameda in early autumn to begin an accelerated workup cycle for Persian Gulf duty.

The 1991 deployment began when TEXAS sailed to San Diego on February 24, 1991 to rendezvous with USS NIMITZ and other elements forming Battle Group Bravo. The battle group departed February 25, 1991. Although the ground campaign of Operation Desert Storm ended shortly thereafter, the carrier group continued Western Pacific/Indian Ocean operations and entered the Arabian Gulf for post-conflict presence, air defense, and maritime security. The NIMITZ deployment ran February 25-August 24, 1991, with port calls that included Subic Bay, Singapore, Dubai/Jebel Ali, Pattaya, Hong Kong, and Pearl Harbor. During the post-war mine-clearance effort off Kuwait - undertaken after the mine strikes on coalition ships highlighted the threat - TEXAS served as a logistics and afloat support platform for U.S. minesweeping units while continuing to provide battle-group area-air-defense command functions. She returned to San Francisco in August 1991.

TEXAS resumed operations in 1992 with a second counter-narcotics mission that included visits to Ecuador and Panama, again reflecting post-Cold-War naval tasking in the Western Hemisphere. In July 1992, she changed home port to Bremerton, Washington, to begin preparations for a Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. She entered dry dock in September 1992.

Policy and budget decisions at the end of the Cold War altered that plan. Amid Navy force-structure reductions and the high projected cost of mid-life nuclear refuelings for non-Aegis cruisers, the Department of the Navy moved to cancel VIRGINIA-class refuelings. TEXAS's RCOH was formally terminated on April 1, 1993. She was decommissioned at Bremerton on July 16, 1993, the first of her class to leave service, as the Navy rebalanced to more economical surface combatants.

Following lay-up at Bremerton, TEXAS entered the Navy's nuclear Ship-Submarine Recycling Program on October 1, 1999. Dismantlement of the hulk was completed in October 2001, closing the ship's lifecycle after just under sixteen years.

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About USS TEXAS' Disposal:

Decommissioned nuclear powered ships of the US Navy are brought to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Wash., where they are awaiting their final disposal. The TEXAS was no exception. When she arrived at PSNS the first action that took place was the removal of the ship's superstructures and since PSNS does not own a dock large enough for two VIRGINIA-class cruisers, a 100 foot long part of the stern of TEXAS was also removed.

The photos below show the TEXAS moored alongside the ex-USS VIRGINIA (CGN 38) and surrounded by numerous nuclear powered submarines. The hull on the portside of the TEXAS is from the ex-USS LONG BEACH (CGN 9) which was the first nuclear powered surface ship in the US Navy. Dismantling of TEXAS' hulk was completed in October 2001.

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USS TEXAS Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Randall Graham during TEXAS' WestPac Cruise in 1988.

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