"She was a ship! The smartest man-o'war afloat, and the best. A hard, tough, salty, shootin’, steamin’ fool. A trophy grabber, a fighter, and a he-man battle wagon.” 

These are the words of Ensign Paul Schubert, who served aboard Battleship Texas in her early days. She was his ship and he had a lot to say about her. 

"If you know what it is to love a ship..." he wrote.

Schubert was a Naval Academy grad. I guess they taught him how to put things down on paper. He penned these words 90 years ago. While she was in service, he knew she would be remembered and commemorated. We know he was right. 

"Seamen have an old subtle sense of mating with their vessels; for many centuries they have regarded them as feminine, almost living creatures, and had a lively awareness of their individual personalities. 

If she is badly shaped, a ship is 'cranky,' or 'stiff,' or 'hell in the tropics,' or cold. 

Badly built, she is a thing to be feared.

Occasionally, some proud vessel of truly superior quality comes down to sea...and proves herself so to all mariners, her own in particular. The land world hears little of these matters. 

Usually, if a ship's name penetrates ashore, it is because of a single dramatic moment which by coincidence has captured the public imagination.

But the nautical world, which knows its queens intimately, acknowledges and remembers them. 

And Texas! Oh, Texas was the queen of the navy!"

He also wrote proudly of the queen's trophy-grabbing prowess. 

"She struck her stride, and there was no stopping her. By the summer of 1916 she had snatch the Battle Efficiency Pennant from the Michigan.

She had won the Gunnery Trophy, and was number two in  engineering. The following year she added that prize to her collection.

She was covered with decorations - the meat-ball flew at her fore truck, there was an E on her conning tower, another on her forward smoke pipe; she had Es on three turrets and half the guns of her second battery. 

Her trophy room was full of silver. Her boats' crews and athletic teams swept the Fleet. 

She was the pride and the despair of the Navy. You had to admire the damned tub, but how in the hell were you to beat her?

Ship spirit is a curious thing. In war they call it morale, and it's as important as your guns. In peace it wins trophies; it's the life and breath of a battleship.

Our motto was: 'Challenge first, and come on, Texas!' "

We know many Texans love this ship well. She is the flagship of the Texas Navy, after all. 

Here are two limited edition prints showing the queen, BB-35, in her early days. They are The Smartest Man-o'war Afloat (1914) and The Trophy Grabber (1919).

Each measures 24 by 18 inches, is limited to 254 copies. Each is hand-numbered.