(The Center Square) – As Houston Fleet Week begins as part of America 250 celebrations, Texans are also celebrating the state’s naval history. It’s the first naval fleet week in Texas history.
Prior to joining the United States, Texas had its own navy to defend against Mexican forces.
Citing Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who said of the Texas Navy, the Center for International Maritime Security points out, “It is no exaggeration to say that without the Texas Navy there probably would have been no Lone Star State, and possibly, the state of Texas would still be a part of Mexico.” The center argues Texas Navy sailors were heroes and have not received the national recognition they deserve.
From 1835 to 1836, those living in Mexican territories and colonies that are now Texas believed they “needed a navy to defend against invasion and to protect volunteers who came to fight” for Texas independence, the Texas Maritime Museum explains. “We cannot only prevent invasion by sea, but we can also blockade Mexico and destroy her commerce,” Texas Gov. Henry Smith said in November of 1835, the museum notes.
In November 1835, the General Council of the provisional government of Texas passed a bill to authorize the purchase of four schooners and establish the Texas Navy. Four were purchased in January 1836: Brutus, Independence, Invincible and Liberty. They were tasked with protecting the coastline and disrupting Mexican supply lines in the Gulf with their port of call in Galveston, the most important port in Texas at the time.
By March 2, 1836, Texas declared independence from Mexico as the Texas Navy was already patrolling the Gulf and capturing Mexican merchant and war ships.
In one instance, on March 3, 1836, the Liberty captured a Mexican merchant ship, Pelicano, using hand to hand combat. Pelicano wrecked on a sandbar and Texas Navy crew found 300 kilograms of gunpowder hidden in flour barrels. What they salvaged was later used in the Battle of San Jacinto, which helped Texas defeat Mexico.
After the battle, the Texas Navy continued to block Mexican supplies in the Gulf, even capturing three Mexican ships in Copano Bay near Rockport, where the Texas Maritime Museum is located. The ships had arrived with supplies to support the Mexican Army not knowing it had already been defeated.
By late 1836, the Texas Congress and its president, Sam Houston, authorized the creation of the Texas Navy to “prevent an invasion from Mexico,” the museum notes.
It only lasted through mid-1837 after all four schooners were lost. Texas had no navy between September 1837 and March 1839, the Texas State Historical Association notes.
At the time, Mexico failed to attack Texas by sea due to several factors. One major factor was a French blockade and seizure of its fleet at Veracuz. France intervened in 1838 and 1839 due to Mexican policies impacting a French pastry chef. Referred to as the Pastry War, the French blockade crippled the Mexican economy.
By March 1839, the Zavala was commissioned to operate in Texas port areas, named after Lorenzo de Zavala, Vice President of the Republic of Texas. Schooners, sloop-of-war and brigs were later added to the fleet, with Galveston as their port of call.
As the new republic remained financially strapped and issues arose among naval leaders and Houston, by January 1843, Houston and the Texas Congress authorized the sale of all navy ships. Galvestonians who were “incensed at the thought of selling the navy, attended the auction and by force prevented the submission of bids,” returning them to the Republic, the TSHA notes. But six months later, a truce with Mexico was reached and the U.S. federal government took protection of Texas until annexation. In June 1846, the remaining Texas Navy ships were transferred to the United States Navy, the TSHA notes.
Texas’ third navy was established in 1958, by Gov. Price Daniel to preserve Texas’ naval history. In 1970, Gov. Preston Smith designated Galveston as the Texas Navy’s home port and headquarters. By 1972, what would become the Texas Navy Association was chartered, to promote the history of the Texas Navy between 1835 and 1846.
The legislature also established the third Saturday of every September as “Texian Navy Day” to celebrate the Texas Navy.
On Wednesday morning, on the first day of Houston Fleet Week, the association held a sunrise solute to active-duty military ships as they participated in the Parade of Ships entering Galveston Bay on their way to Houston.
Galveston remains an essential port for U.S. maritime advancement. A $1 billion project to build new icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard is underway in Galveston and Port Arthur, The Center Square reported. Battleship Texas is also being restored in the historic Gulf Copper shipyard in Galveston. The legendary WWII vessel fired the first shots on D-Day and earned 11 battle stars.
It’s also where two WWII naval legends are preserved at the Galveston Naval Museum. One is USS Cavalla, the notorious attack submarine that sank more than 34,000 tons of enemy shipping including the Imperial Japanese Navy’s carrier, Shokaku, during the Battle of the Philippine Seas. It is known as the “Avenger of Pearl Harbor.”
The other is USS Stewart, one of only two remaining Destroyer Escorts, and the only Edsall-class DE in the U.S. It was built in Houston and commissioned in May 1943.
