Texas joined the American battleship force attached to the Grand Fleet, where her role was convoy, blockade, minelayer escort, and preserving the balance of naval power. British assessments regarded her as one of the better American gunnery ships and praised American understanding while pointing to insufficient practice. She then supported diplomacy by escorting President Woodrow Wilson aboard George Washington toward the Paris Peace Conference. In 1919 Texas became the first American battleship to launch an aircraft when Lieutenant Commander Edward O. McDonnell flew a Sopwith Camel from the ship. Later exercises used an aircraft to spot fall of shot by Morse code, replacing the limited view from the ship with an observer above the target area.
Chapter · 30:06-35:40
Grand Fleet service and aircraft spotting
With the Grand Fleet and during the postwar peace settlement, Texas supported sea control and diplomacy before demonstrating how aircraft could improve battleship gunnery spotting.