Republic of Texas

[Redhorse]

I believe by 1926, the existence of the 5/25 would've been known by the Texians; in particular since your ships are built in US yards! In other words, you can very assuredly use it. ( but I'd not put more than four, to follow suit with the USN.)

I went back through my references, and you're right. The Salt Lake City was laid down in 1927 and was the first US cruiser armed with the 5"/25 for her secondary battery. I'll replace the 6"/53s.

[bezobrazov]

It'll look nice that way, but, by all means, consider my other suggestions too!

FYI, being a Texan, I enjoy your thread quite much!

[Redhorse]

Just posted the change with the 5"/25.

[bezobrazov]

Very good, but, Redhorse, I'd probably suppress the forward pair for now, and be more in line with US-navy practice. In fact, I seriously doubt the USN would settle for four 5/25s only on their 'Tinclads', if a close neigbor, such as the Republic of Texas would've gone with the double amount.
What you can do is to save the eight-gun configuration till a modernization process begins, say in 1935! That'd add further credibility to the design- and construction history.

Also, will you mayhaps post a version with glazed-in bridges? You can always start out with open bridges, for sure (The French did!), but by, the very latest 1930/32 plasitc window panes between rubber and steel sliders would've been fitted to protect the bridge crews from the elements.

Also, I did notice that you wanted to have that absolutely so-good-looking 'V'-shaped transom stern, as the early US Treaty cruisers featured. I like that, but I'd extend the 'V'-break all the way towards the beginning of the outer shaft trunk. - But it is such a nice, unique feature, so I want you to keep it!

[Redhorse]

In 1929, just one year after purchasing the T-2 trainer aircraft, the armed observation variant replaced the old O-1A in the 11th Observation Squadron. They were identical to the T-2 except for the ring-mounted Lewis gun in the observer's station. They were designated as the O-3.

[Redhorse]

In 1930, the Texas Air Force ceased purchases of the F-2 fighter (the Curtiss PW-8) in favor of a newer, faster aircraft, the Boeing F3B. Though originally designed as a naval fighter for the US Navy, the Boeing tested superior to other available fighters. The first 16 aircraft equipped the 17th Fighter Squadron, replacing their Orenco F-1s.



The following year 16 more airframes were sent to 3rd Fighter Squadron, replacing their F-2s, and they would be the last aircraft delivered in a camouflage paint scheme. Starting in 1932, the effects of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl had reached Texas. Subsequent aircraft were delivered with nothing more than national markings for the next five years to save money.

[eswube]

Nice to see it going on.

[macseann]

New to the forum, but I've enjoyed catching up on Redhorse's work on this subject. Such a well thought out and reasoned alternate history, and on my favorite subject, Texas. The sale of Texas' far north and western claims to the US was a brilliant idea to address both the crippling debt that the Republic had accumulated it its first decade and also to allow the United States and Mexico's new history to still mostly align with actual history, just without Texas annexation. The shared experience of war with Mexico also is smart in that it allows Texas to quickly shift alliances away from Britain and France. Very sharp. I do have a couple of questions, and forgive me if its way late in the narrative, so to speak, or not really pertinent to the topic.

1) What was the trigger event that shifted Texas away from annexation efforts with the US and towards a British negotiated peace/recognition of independence with Mexico? An interesting idea is that one person could have made the difference in the annexation question.... William Henry Harrison. If he didn't get a cold just a few weeks into his presidency, which turned into fatal pneumonia, then perhaps he would have been more temperate and cautious than his somewhat wild-card Vice President John Tyler, and dodged the Texas question to avoid war with Mexico. I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

2) I loved seeing the Madisonville class destroyers. I went to high school in a town about 10 miles form Madisonville (Normangee, located in Leon county). Do you think the county and town, which was founded in the late 1850s, would still have been named after the 4th president of the US, though? Quite a few towns and counties are named after American heroes, but I wonder if that would have started to taper off after the Mexican War, or would continued immigration from the US still have brought with it attachment to the mother country?

3) Where are your primary naval and air bases at this point (Depression era) in Texas? I've been reading up on some of the air bases in Texas for a history podcast I'm working on, and it would seem that some of the names (though not the locations) would become problematic in your timeline. Most of the extant airfields in the 1920s were named after Army aviators who were killed in crashes, and many of them, such as Love, Dodd, Ellington, etc got their names from aviators who died in places other than in Texas. I'm not sure if you've thought to this level of detail, but its food for thought. I'm also interested to see if the explosion of air bases in Texas that began as the US prepared to enter World War 2 will still occur in this timeline.

I really enjoy seeing someone put this much effort into fleshing out this alternative Lone Star Nation, and look forward to what the 1930s and 40s may bring!

[Redhorse]

All good questions, macseann. Here's the short answers:

What was the trigger event that shifted Texas away from annexation efforts with the US and towards a British negotiated peace/recognition of independence with Mexico?

There really isn't a trigger event, since support for annexation was almost universal in Texas. But the Texas Secretary of State, Ashbel Smith was working on a treaty through the British, known as the Cuevas-Smith Treaty, that would have resolved the border question peacefully. You can find it on-line in a few places (I have it in a book) it's very short, the language is very broad and made a great place to start for an AU since Texas already had a navy in real life.

Quite a few towns and counties are named after American heroes, but I wonder if that would have started to taper off after the Mexican War, or would continued immigration from the US still have brought with it attachment to the mother country?

I try not to change place names. Besides, it's easy to change the backstory for a place name. My ancestors settled around Thorndale it what became Lee County. I've been through Normangee a few times.

3) Where are your primary naval and air bases at this point (Depression era) in Texas? I've been reading up on some of the air bases in Texas for a history podcast I'm working on, and it would seem that some of the names (though not the locations) would become problematic in your timeline. Most of the extant airfields in the 1920s were named after Army aviators who were killed in crashes, and many of them, such as Love, Dodd, Ellington, etc got their names from aviators who died in places other than in Texas.

The primary naval base is the Galveston Navy Yard, with a submarine annex in Texas City. Corpus Christi and Houston will get added during WWII. Airfield names don't change so they're easy to find; I just change the backstory for whom they're named. If you want a good on-line reference for some of the pre-WWII airfields in Texas, look here:

http://www.niehorster.orbat.com/013_usa ... coast.html

[macseann]

There really isn't a trigger event, since support for annexation was almost universal in Texas. But the Texas Secretary of State, Ashbel Smith was working on a treaty through the British, known as the Cuevas-Smith Treaty, that would have resolved the border question peacefully. You can find it on-line in a few places (I have it in a book) it's very short, the language is very broad and made a great place to start for an AU since Texas already had a navy in real life.

Fair enough. I guess in your timeline, Tyler doesn't act quick enough to push annexation through before the treaty through, or maybe Cuevas bends on the Rio Grande/Nueces boundary question. I think if WH Harrison hadn't died, he probably wouldn't have risked war pushing for annexation like Tyler did.

I try not to change place names. Besides, it's easy to change the backstory for a place name. My ancestors settled around Thorndale it what became Lee County. I've been through Normangee a few times.

That's also fair... easier to change back stories. Plus its still reasonable that there would be legit reasons to name Texas places after American presidents. Cripes, there's literally no reason that they named a railroad water stop in the Texas desert after a Ukrainian port on the Black Sea. I echo an earlier statement that was made about using some of the more interesting Texas town names, like Cut & Shoot, Gunbarrel City, Dimebox (Old or New), and Bug Tussle.

The primary naval base is the Galveston Navy Yard, with a submarine annex in Texas City. Corpus Christi and Houston will get added during WWII. Airfield names don't change so they're easy to find; I just change the backstory for whom they're named. If you want a good on-line reference for some of the pre-WWII airfields in Texas, look here:

http://www.niehorster.orbat.com/013_usa ... coast.html

I've seen that site before, its a good one.