Artillery and Armour in the USA: Texas (3) Corpus Christi, USS Lexington, and San Antonio, The Alamo

Artillery, Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles in Texas (Part 3), Corpus Christi, USS Lexington, and San Antonio, The Alamo

One of the aims of this website is to locate, identify and document every historical piece of artillery and all armoured fighting vehicles preserved in Texas.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these tangible pieces of our military history and the list you see here is constantly being revised as new finds are discovered and the data is updated.  The photos have come from various contributors, but the author likes to "ground truth" the reports, so a good number of the photos are by the author unless otherwise credited.  Any errors found here are by the author.   It often happens that military monuments that are relatively mobile, have been moved for restoration or scrapped, sometimes they are repainted with different markings and serial numbers, or they are replaced with a different piece of kit.  For those reasons, any additions, deletions, corrections or amendments that you may be able to add to this list of Artillery and AFVs in Texas would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com.  The primary aim is preserve our military history and to keep the record accurate.

Corpus Christi, USS Lexington armament

USS Lexington (CV/CVA/CVS/CVT/AVT-16), nicknamed "The Blue Ghost", is an Essex-class aircraft carrier built during the Second World War for the United States Navy.  Originally intended to be named Cabot, word arrived during construction that USS Lexington (CV-2) had been lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea.  The new aircraft carrier was renamed while under construction to commemorate the earlier ship.  She was the fifth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington.  Since 1992, the ship has been docked in Corpus Christi, where she operates as a museum.

Lexington was commissioned in February 1943 and saw extensive service through the Pacific War.  For much of her service, she acted as the flagship for Admiral Marc Mitscher, and led the Fast Carrier Task Force through their battles across the Pacific.  She was the recipient of 11 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation.  Following the war, Lexington was decommissioned, but was modernized and reactivated in the early 1950s, being reclassified as an attack carrier (CVA).  Later, she was reclassified as an antisubmarine carrier (CVS).  In her second career, she operated both in the Atlantic/Mediterranean and the Pacific, but spent most of her time, nearly 30 years, in Pensacola, FL as a training carrier (CVT).  Lexington was decommissioned in 1991.

Bofors 40-mm anti-aircraft gun and 3-inch 50 cal anti-aircraft gun.

3-inch 50 cal anti-aircraft guns.

USS Lexington  5"/38 dual purpose (DP) gun turret.

San Antonio, The Alamo

The Battle of the Alamo (23 February to 6 March 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution.  Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio), killing the Texian and immigrant occupiers.  Santa Anna's cruelty during the battle inspired many Texians, both legal Texas settlers and illegal immigrants from the United States, to join the Texian Army . Buoyed by a desire for revenge, the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on 21 April 1836, ending the rebellion.

The Alamo, 20 Jan 2014.

Cast iron smoothbore muzzle loading gun, The Alamo.

Cast iron smoothbore muzzle loading gun, The Alamo.

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