Can the USS Texas beat HMS Hood?

Answer 1

No, not likely. Hypothetically, the HMS Hood battle cruiser would have had the better chance to defeat a USS Texas class battleship. The Hood was completed in 1920 and the Texas was completed in 1914. The Hood's design, structural integrity & armor took into account the valuable lessons learned at the 1916 naval Battle of Jutland. The Texas was an early dreadnought design. The Hood carried eight 15"/42 guns as the main battery that fired 1,938 lb shells. The Texas carries ten 14"/45 guns as the main battery firing 1,500 lb shells. The Hood had a faster rate of fire for the main battery. Also the Hood was significantly faster at full speed than the Texas (31 kts versus 21 kts). The Hood had better armor protection overall. The Texas did have slightly better deck protection than the Hood (the Hood's fatal weakness that led to her destruction in May 1941). The Hood's higher speed in combat would have made it much more difficult for the Texas to hit it, and the slower Texas would have been conversely easier to hit by the Hood. The Texas would have done very well against enemy ships in the First World War, however advances in technology & ship design (based on actual combat experiences) after World War One were significant. Even so, the HMS Hood was eventually itself outclassed by the later fast battleships of the 1930's & 40's.