![]() ![]() The invasion of Okinawa was scheduled to begin on April 1, but pre-invasion bombardment plans called for Texas to be on station on March 25. Although the week and a half spent in Ulithi had been enough to resupply the ship, it was not nearly enough time to prepare the ship for another extended engagement. She stayed in the vicinity, providing fire on targets of opportunity until March 7, having expended 923 rounds of 14-inch projectiles, when she sailed for Ulithi Atoll for replenishment and minor repairs to damage done by the main batteries firing.Īfter only 11 days in Ulithi, Texas was on the move again. Texas arrived on station off of Iwo Jima on February 16, 1945, and began pre-invasion bombardment. The crew was refreshed, and ready to return to action. The ship had undergone extensive work after battling German forces in Operation OVERLORD and DRAGOON. In January 1945, Texas, under the command of Captain Charles Baker, who had been the ship’s commanding officer since March 1944, left Pearl Harbor for the Pacific theater. But Okinawa would prove to be an experience completely apart. She had covered the landings in North Africa, Normandy, Southern France, and Iwo Jima. Operation ICEBERG, the invasion of Okinawa, was the fifth, and final, amphibious landing the ship was to cover. ![]() Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command.Ĭommissioned in 1914, the Texas was an “old lady” in the fleet, saved from obsolescence by the need for shore bombardment to cover amphibious landings. US Naval shells explode on Okinawa during pre-invasion bombardment. ![]()
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