1936 - Texas celebrates its Centennial.
The Navy rebuilds the first of the Pecos Class light cruisers, with mixed results:
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88793161/Republic%20of%20Texas%20Navy/RTX%20CL-16%20Pecos%201936.png)
Like their older cousins, the Nueces Class, the limitations of their design were painfully evident when it came time to rebuild them.
The greatest problem was with the secondary battery. The Pecos Class had been built with 3"50 anti-aircraft guns; the Design Bureau wanted to replace them with the new 5"/38s that were available and install a director to control them. But the ship's internal arrangement could not be adapted for protected magazines and the ammunition hoists. That part of the plan had to be deleted and the 3"/50s retained.
The compromise was to adopt a newer 6" dual purpose gun in the main battery and modify the turrets to allow greater elevation. The director for the 5"/38 was modified and installed. The adaptations worked under test conditions, but would only be marginally effective in combat. The British would have the same problems with the 6" guns on the Nelson and Rodney - they could not train or elevate quickly enough to target aircraft.
The bright spot was improved cruising speed - increased from 12 to 17 knots thanks to new turbogenerators and motors. The maximum speed approached 30 knots but they were very wet over the bow and difficult to handle above 27.
The Naval Staff considered declaring them obselete and replacing them when the construction moratorium ended in 1937, but the hulls were only 10 years old and still had plenty of life in them. Faced with maintaining 5 marginally effective light cruisers, designs were drawn up to start replacing the existing ships when the Pecos Class reached 15 years of service.