A major 1920s refit replaced coal-fired boilers, added torpedo bulges, moved vulnerable secondary guns, and upgraded fire control and anti-aircraft armament. In 1927 Texas also became the first American battleship to show talking pictures for crew entertainment, a small example of new civilian media entering shipboard life. Texas then alternated between fleet and divisional flagship duties as newer equipment renewed her command value. Her assignment to the Scouting Fleet also shows how a 21-knot battleship could supply heavy support when the planned Lexington-class battlecruisers were unavailable. By 1938 Texas was testing RCA's CXZ shipborne radar and later received CXAM-1, linking her long career to another major naval technology transition.
Chapter · 35:53-43:06
Interwar modernization kept Texas useful
Oil-fired boilers, bulges, improved fire control, anti-aircraft guns, and early radar extended Texas's utility between the world wars.