June 6, 1944, at 5:50 am, the USS TEXAS begins to fire at multiple ground installations including casemates, gun emplacements, pillboxes, and underground tunnels, at Pointe Du Hoe and Omaha Beach. The ship’s spotter aircraft at the time, the British-made Spitfire airplane manned by American naval aviators, reported several hits on the emplacements.
Shifting targets at 6:26 am, seventeen more 14”/45 caliber rounds were fired in just four short minutes, ceasing all bombardment fire at 6:30 am while allied forces began landing on the beaches. For the remainder of the day, the ship continued to fire on targets of opportunity, such as machine gun and mortar positions, field batteries, troop emplacements, and ammunition depots. The last fire mission on enemy vehicles came at 8:45 pm and lasted until 9:09 pm, resulting in effective fire and several hits recorded. Just under seven hundred shells were fired into northern France, leading to a successful shore bombardment, allowing Allied forces to make headway in the liberation of Europe.
Eighty years later, the Battleship TEXAS, the last remaining battleship to participate in the bombardment of Normandy, reminds us of the great sacrifices made by those who took part in the largest amphibious invasion of Europe.
"Those of our troops who were not wax-gray with seasickness, fighting it off, trying to hold onto themselves before they had to grab for the steel side of the boat, were watching the Texas with looks of surprise and happiness. Under the steel helmets they looked like pikemen of the Middle Ages to whose aid in battle had suddenly come some strange and unbelievable monster. There would be a flash like a blast furnace from the 14-inch guns of the Texas, that would lick far out from the ship. Then the yellow-brown smoke would cloud out and, with the smoke still rolling, the concussion and the report would hit us, jarring the men’s helmets. It struck your near ear like a punch with a heavy, dry glove." - Ernest Hemingway
Landing craft pass Battleship Texas on their way to the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
Post on the Battleship Texas Foundation Facebook page: link
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