What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
The idea that the crew of a battleship would intentionally flood the vessel during a wartime operation seems absolutely ludicrous, and totally irresponsible. And yet that's exactly what happened in June 1944 when a risky decision was made to swamp the USS Texas below decks with seawater during the Normandy Landings.
Before examining this bizarre Second World War-era episode in more detail, let's find out more about the USS Texas.
As a second global conflict broke out in Europe, Texas began operating on the Neutrality Patrol, an American attempt to keep the war out of the Western Hemisphere. Pearl Harbor changed all that, and the vessel saw action in various operations from 1942 onwards.
Later in June during the attack on the port of Cherbourg, Texas was struck twice by large-caliber coastal defense guns, causing the only known casualties in action during her long service. She's pictured from the deck of USS Arkansas while under German fire.
Texas served in the Great War as part of the Battleship Force of
the Atlantic Fleet. Pictured are 629 of the 1,052 complement of sailors posing on the deck of the vessel. Some are sitting on the battleship's massive 14-inch guns.
In March 1914, the USS Texas was officially commissioned. Later that year she joined the Atlantic Fleet.
After service in the Pacific Ocean as part of the newly formed Pacific Fleet, Texas returned to the United States to undergo major modifications. During the overhaul, torpedo
blisters were added as protection against torpedo attack. These would feature later in the flooding incident Texas is famous for.
One of her first operational duties was to sail with the US naval force off the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, in what became known as the Tampico Incident. The Americans occupied the port city for six months in a diplomatic tit-for-tat after nine US sailors had been seized by the Mexican authorities after wandering into a restricted zone.
The USS Texas was launched to great fanfare the following year, on May 18, 1912.
While a gun crew of Texas sailors loaned to the SS Magnolia, a merchant ship, fired the first shots of the US Navy in the war, USS Texas itself saw no combat action in the conflict.
On April 4, 1917, the US Senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. America had entered the First World War.
Texas might have suffered more casualties had it not been for an incredible stroke of luck. Pictured is Rear Admiral Carleton F. Bryant (left) and Captain Charles A. Baker, Commanding Officer of USS Texas with a German dud shell that hit the ship during the bombardment but failed to explode. It was quickly disarmed.
A navy photographer captured this story-telling moment aboard the USS Texas as a crewman regaled his buddies with tales of his adventures in ink by showing off the various tattoos he had done in Pacific and Atlantic ports.
During this period, Texas was honored with a visit from Admiral William V. Pratt, commander in chief of the United States Fleet. The vessel would emerge from her refit as the flagship of the American fleet. For the next 12 years, Texas steamed the
Atlantic and Pacific, representing American naval power.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower is pictured aboard the USS Texas prior to the invasion of France, addressing officers and crew.
Texas took part in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa in November 1942. It was her first combat mission and she was one of only three US battleships deployed to waters off French Morocco, the other two being Massachusetts and New York.
Throughout 1943, Texas carried out the familiar role of convoy escort. The following year however would see her become part of history as one of the battleships taking part in the Normandy Landings.
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the USS Texas was supporting efforts on Omaha Beach. After the initial landings, she returned briefly to England before sailing back across the Channel to again provide covering fire for the advancing Allied troops. But there was a problem.
Because Allied troops had advanced so far inland, retreating German defenses were now out of range of the ship's guns. Shells were dropping short of enemy targets. It was then that the crew came up with an ingenious way of rectifying the situation.
In order to zero in on the German lines, port (right) side guns needed to be elevated higher than their maximum levels. To achieve this, the starboard torpedo blisters were flooded to lower the left-hand side of the vessel.
After undergoing repairs to damage sustained in the bombardment of Cherbourg, USS Texas headed south as part of Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, in August 1944.
She arrived off Saint-Tropez during the night of August 14 and was joined early the next morning by battleship Nevada and cruiser Philadelphia.
USS Texas sailed into the Pacific theater in late 1944 to provide support for the landing at Iwo Jima from February 18 to March 7, 1945, firing
923 rounds from her main battery.
On April 1, she took part in
the invasion of Okinawa, the largest amphibious assault of the
Pacific theater. For six weeks she bombarded the coast, fortunately escaping damage from numerous kamikaze attacks.
Texas was retired from active service in the summer of 1946. She was nearly used as a practice bombing target but a fund was launched to save her. The vessel languished for many years before ending up in dry dock for restoration.
Fully restored to her former glory, the battleship became a floating museum, one of the star attractions at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site near Houston.
The USS Texas remained at San Jacinto until 2022 before being towed from her berth to dry dock at Gulf Copper & Manufacturing Corporation in Galveston for another extensive overhaul.
Sources: (Veteran Life) (War History Online) (We Are The Mighty) (Texas Parks and Wildlife)
See also: The remarkable story behind the capture of the German submarine U-505
Construction began on the Texas on April 17, 1911, at Newport News in Virginia. She was designed as a New York-class super-dreadnought battleship.
By purposely flooding the starboard torpedo blisters the crew had gained the extra two degrees needed to fire the port guns accurately. It was an ingenious solution. Most vessels would never voluntarily flood part of their hull, but this daring move embodied the spirit the Allied forces demonstrated at Normandy.
At the end of the war, USS Texas joined dozens of other vessels in Operation Magic Carpet to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and Asian theaters. Pictured is the crowded hangar deck of the USS Enterprise.
One of the lesser-known facts about the Second World War is the extraordinary incident that took place during the Normandy Landings when the crew of the battleship USS Texas purposely flooded the vessel in the thick of the action. Most vessels would never voluntarily flood part of their hull, especially during wartime, so why was this bizarre decision made, and what did it achieve?
Click through and revisit the moment seawater was deliberately allowed to swamp the lower decks of one of America's most famous warships.
Why the USS Texas flooded itself on D-Day
One of the most bizarre incidents of the Second World War
LIFESTYLE D-day
One of the lesser-known facts about the Second World War is the extraordinary incident that took place during the Normandy Landings when the crew of the battleship USS Texas purposely flooded the vessel in the thick of the action. Most vessels would never voluntarily flood part of their hull, especially during wartime, so why was this bizarre decision made, and what did it achieve?
Click through and revisit the moment seawater was deliberately allowed to swamp the lower decks of one of America's most famous warships.