Gobs and Guns. A scene aboard the USS Texas, just back from foreign waters, showing the sailors enjoying a little fun on the big guns. Gobs is slang for Navy enlisted person (sailor in the U.S. Navy). USS Texas (BB-35), is a New York-class battleship. The ship was launched on May 18, 1912 and commissioned on March 12, 1914. Soon after her commissioning, Texas saw action in Mexican waters following the "Tampico Incident" and made numerous sorties into the North Sea during World War I. Photo taken by Underwood and Underwood, circa 1918.