"She struck her stride, and there was no stopping her. By the summer of 1916 she had snatched 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 E's on three turrets and half the guns of her secondary battery.
Her trophy room was full of silver. Her boats' crews and athletic teams had swept the Fleet.
She was the pride and the despair of the Navy. You had to admire the damned tub, but how in 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!"
You could count on a shipmate ashore or afloat."