Page 334 - (DK) Smithsinian - Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare

332 BELOW DECKS

1914–1945 Home to a complement of about 1,800 men COMMAND AND CONTROL

and officers by 1945, the Texas was like
a small town, with a post office, dentist,
and barber’s shops—but no liquor store,

on all US Navy ships. There were few frills
ARS because alcohol consumption was banned
on board: most men ate where they slept,
and toilet and bathing facilities were quite
ORLD W world in which each man knew his place, ▲ COMBAT ▲ PILOT HOUSE
primitive. It was, however, a well-organized
and in which basic needs of health and
nutrition were properly addressed.
The pilot house, located on the bridge,
ROOM
THE W handling galley Funnel Combat 14in Staff in the Combat contained the main steering position.
information
magazine
Shell
Crew
Information Center
It was equipped with wheel, compass,
center
assessed data from
rudder-angle indicator and engine
Shell
room
the radar (a World
room telegraph.
handling
War II addition) and
room
other sources. They ◀ CHART ROOM
also coordinated the Adjacent to the pilot house, the
weapons systems. chart room was where the navigating
officer worked. The devices on the
Plotting room
14in Engine Boiler wall above the chart table are depth
magazine rooms rooms CROSS SECTION and speed indicators.
SHELLS AND POWDER BOILERS AND RUDDER
◀ BURNER
NOZZLE DETAIL
The burners forced fuel oil
through atomizers, creating
a spray of mist that was
burned to heat the water.
The red bar was used to
adjust the volume and
fineness of the spray.

▲ 14IN SHELL HOIST
Shells and charges stored in magazines well below
the waterline were brought up to the handling
rooms and readied for use.

▲ EMERGENCY ▶ OIL-FIRED BOILER
STEERING POSITION After the Texas’s refit in
Normally the twin rudders 1927, steam to drive the two
were turned by electric vertical, triple-expanding
motors, but if the power engines was produced by six
▲ POWDER SCUTTLES failed, the ship could be oil-fired boilers. Each boiler
Propellent powder, stored far from the shells, steered manually by teams had eight burners; three have
was sent to the handling rooms via flash-proof of 16 men, using four been removed here to reveal
scuttles to prevent accidental ignition. large wheels. the interior.