How USS Texas was opened for an oil-firing conversion

How could USS Texas be converted from coal to oil without removing her entire topside?

By cutting open planned access routes to the engineering spaces, changing boilers and bunkers, and closing the armored structure again during a major modernization.

Changing USS Texas from coal to oil meant reaching large engineering components and altering both boilers and bunker arrangements. That could require opening the deck or cutting into the hull rather than lifting machinery through a convenient permanent hatch. Designers could identify routes that were easier to open during a major refit, but an access path simple enough for routine crane loads would also create a dangerous weakness in the armored structure. The conversion was therefore planned and feasible, yet still a major reconstruction rather than a simple fuel-system swap.