USS ''Colorado'' (BB-45) was a battleship of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

that was in service from 1923 to 1947. She was the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of the of battleships. Her keel was laid down on 29 May 1919, by the

New York Shipbuilding Corporation The New York Shipbuilding Corporation (or New York Ship for short) was an American shipbuilding company that operated from 1899 to 1968, ultimately completing more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy, the United States Merchant Marine, the United ...

. She was launched on 22 March 1921, and commissioned on 30 August 1923. She was armed with eight guns and fourteen 5-inch (127 mm) deck guns; two 5-inch guns were removed in an overhaul. ''Colorado'' took her maiden voyage in 1923, to Europe. She later operated with the

Battle Fleet The United States Battle Fleet or Battle Force was part of the organization of the United States Navy from 1922 to 1941. The General Order of 6 December 1922 organized the United States Fleet, with the Battle Fleet as the Pacific presence. This f ...

and sailed through the Pacific during the interwar years. She also underwent a further refit, during which her four anti-aircraft guns were replaced with an equal number of /25 cal guns. During World War II, in May 1942, soon after USA's entry into the war, ''Colorado'' undertook a defensive patrol near the Golden Gate Bridge to stop a possible Japanese invasion. She then sailed to Fiji, to stop any further Japanese advance into the Pacific. Next, she supported the landings on

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Intern ...

, Saipan,

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, and

Tinian Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the ...

. On 24 July 1944, during the shelling of Tinian, ''Colorado'' received 22 shell hits from shore batteries, but continued to support the invading troops until 3 August. She later arrived in

Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the south of the bay is Mindanao ...

on 20 November 1944, to support American troops fighting ashore. On 27 November, she was hit by two ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending t ...

s'' which caused moderate damage. After that, ''Colorado'' sailed to

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

on 1 January 1945, where she participated in the preinvasion bombardments in Lingayen Gulf. She returned to

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

on 6 August and sailed from there to Japan for the occupation of the country, arriving in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

on 27 August. Departing Tokyo Bay on 20 September, she arrived at San Francisco on 15 October. She was placed out of commission in reserve in Pearl Harbor on 7 January 1947, and sold for scrapping on 23 July 1959. She won seven

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s during her service. Many of ''Colorado''s anti-aircraft guns are in museums across the state of Colorado (her bell and teak decking are also in museums and the USO in the Seattle-Tacoma airport) or mounted on the museum ship .

Design

In 1916, design work was completed on the next class of battleships to be built for the

beginning in 1917. These ships were nearly direct copies of the preceding , with the exception of the

main battery A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a gun or group of guns, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, this came to be turreted ...

, which increased from twelve guns to eight guns. The ''Colorado'' class proved to be the last class of battleships completed of the standard type. ''Colorado'' was

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and she had a beam of and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . She displaced as designed and up to at full load. The ship was powered by four

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

turbo-electric A turbo-electric transmission uses electric generators to convert the mechanical energy of a turbine (steam or gas) into electric energy, which then powers electric motors and converts back into mechanical energy that power the driveshafts. Tu ...

drives with steam provided by eight oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The ship's propulsion system was rated at for a top speed of , though on speed trials she reached and a speed of . She had a normal cruising range of at , but additional fuel space could be used in wartime to increase her range to at that speed. Her crew numbered 64 officers and 1,241 enlisted men. She was armed with a main battery of eight 16 in /45 caliber Mark 1 guns in four twin-

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

s on the centerline, two forward and two aft in superfiring pairs. The

secondary battery A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or pri ...

consisted of sixteen /51 caliber guns, mounted individually in casemates clustered in the superstructure

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th ...

. She carried an anti-aircraft battery of eight /50 caliber guns in individual high-angle mounts. As was customary for

capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic im ...

s of the period, she had a

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

mounted in her hull below the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

on each broadside. ''Colorado''s main armored belt was thick, while the main armored deck was up to thick. The main battery gun turrets had thick faces on

barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protectio ...

s. Her conning tower had thick sides.

Service history

Inter-war period

Her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 29 May 1919 by the

of Camden, New Jersey. Named for the 38th state, she was launched on 22 March 1921 and commissioned on 30 August 1923 for her initial

sea trials A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and i ...

and training. The ship's first commanding officer was Captain Reginald R. Belknap. On 29 December 1923, ''Colorado'' departed New York, bound for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in the United Kingdom. She thereafter sailed south to visit Cherbourg and then

Villefranche-sur-Mer Villefranche-sur-Mer (, ; oc, Vilafranca de Mar ; it, Villafranca Marittima ) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region on the French Riviera and is l ...

, France. She also stopped in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy, and the British naval base at

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. She arrived back in New York on 15 February 1924. There, the ship underwent repairs and further testing before getting underway on 11 July for the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

. She reached

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, California on 15 September, where she joined the

. She remained a part of this unit for the next fifteen years. Over the course of the 1920s and 1930s, ''Colorado'' took part in the series of

Fleet Problem The Fleet Problems are a series of naval exercises of the United States Navy conducted in the interwar period, and later resurrected by Pacific Fleet around 2014. The first twenty-one Fleet Problems — labeled with roman numerals as Fleet Proble ...

s, which were large-scale training exercises held annually. These took place in the Pacific and the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. During this period, she also took part in various ceremonies and

naval review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

s with the rest of the fleet. From 8 June to 26 September 1925, the ship participated in a voyage to visit

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

, Australia, and New Zealand with several other battleships of the fleet. She ran aground on the Diamond Shoals off

Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. Long stretches of beach, sand dunes, marshes, and maritime forests create a unique environment where wind and waves shap ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, on 1 May 1927, but was refloated on 2 May 1927. ''Colorado'' was overhauled in 1928–1929, during which her four anti-aircraft guns were replaced by eight /25 caliber guns. From 10 to 11 March 1933, the ship went to

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, California, to assist in relief efforts following an earthquake. In the summer of 1937 ''Colorado'' was the training ship for NROTC students from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

and

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. She embarked the University of Washington students in

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

on 15 June, and the University of California students four days later in San Francisco Bay. The ship arrived in Hilo, Hawaii, on 26 June and sailed two days later for

Lahaina Roads Lahaina Roads, also called the Lahaina Roadstead, is an anchorage in the ʻAuʻau Channel lying off the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui in the Hawaiian archipelago and U.S. state of Hawaii. It lies in the lee of the West Maui Mountai ...

, where the students practiced firing the 5"/51 caliber guns in whose casemates they were berthed in

hammock A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a wo ...

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

began on 1 July, but was interrupted the following day so ''Colorado'' could join the search for Amelia Earhart. She rendezvoused with the

United States Coast Guard cutter United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard. They carry the ship prefix USCGC. Histor ...

on 7 July; and launched seaplanes to search the

Phoenix Islands The Phoenix Islands, or Rawaki, are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs that lie east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, north of Samoa. They are part of the Republic of Kiri ...

. After holding a

line-crossing ceremony The line-crossing ceremony is an initiation rite that commemorates a person's first crossing of the Equator. The tradition may have originated with ceremonies when passing headlands, and become a "folly" sanctioned as a boost to morale,Robert Fitz ...

on 9 July, she returned the NROTC students to their schools on the west coast.

World War II

From 27 January 1941, ''Colorado'' was based in Pearl Harbor undergoing intensive training exercises and taking part in several war games until 25 June, when she departed Hawaii for the West Coast. Undergoing overhaul at the

Puget Sound Navy Yard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted u ...

, she was not present for the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December. During the refit, which was completed on 31 March 1942, two of the 12 original 5 in/51 caliber guns were removed, and were replaced by an equal number of 5 in/38 caliber guns. After refit ''Colorado'' carried out extensive training maneuvers along the West Coast. On 31 May, she and patrolled near Golden Gate Bridge to protect San Francisco from any Japanese attack. Some time after this she returned to Pearl Harbor to complete her final preparations for action. She operated in the vicinity of the

Fiji Islands Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...

from 8 November 1942 to 17 September 1943 to prevent any further Japanese expansion in the Pacific. She sailed from Pearl Harbor on 21 October 1943 to provide pre-invasion shelling and fire support for the invasion of

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Hawaiian Islands, on 21 January 1944 and sortied the next day for the

. She provided the pre-invasion bombardment and fire support for the invasions of

Kwajalein Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civil ...

and

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with i ...

until 23 February, when she headed for the Puget Sound Navy Yard for another overhaul. She joined other units going for the Mariana Islands at the harbor at San Francisco. She departed on 5 May passing Pearl Harbor and Kwajalein to the pre-invasion shelling at Saipan,

, and

after 14 June. During the shelling of Tinian on 24 July she was damaged, 43 men were killed, and 198 wounded by 22 shell hits from 150mm Japanese shore batteries; she continued shelling the island and providing fire support for the invasion troops. After undergoing extensive repairs along the West Coast, she arrived in

to begin the invasion of Leyte. A week after her arrival she was struck by two ''

'' bombers, which killed 19 crewmembers, injured 72, and moderately damaged the ship. Despite the damage, she bombarded

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...

on schedule from 12 to 17 December 1944. She then proceeded to

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...

for urgent repairs. She returned to

on New Year's Day 1945 to participate in the pre-invasion shelling of Lingayen Gulf. She was hit by accidental gunfire eight days later. The gunfire hit her superstructure, and caused 69 casualties (18 killed, 51 wounded). After a few repairs at the island of

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the larges ...

, she joined Task Force 54 (TF 54), the pre-invasion shelling group for the invasion of Okinawa, at

Kerama Retto The are a subtropical island group southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Geography Four islands are inhabited: Tokashiki Island, Zamami Island, Aka Island, and Geruma Island. The islands are administered as Tokashiki Village and Zamami Vill ...

. She stayed at Okinawa until 22 May, providing anti-aircraft cover and fire support for the invasion troops. On 6 August, she returned to the occupied

to sail to Japan for its occupation. On 27 August, she covered the airborne occupation of Atsugi Airfield. ''Colorado'' was awarded seven battle stars for her World War II service.

Post war

''Colorado'' departed

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous ...

on 20 September 1945 for San Francisco. She arrived there on 15 October, and then sailed for

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

for

Navy Day Several nations observe or have observed a Navy Day to recognize their navy. By country Argentina The Argentine Navy day is celebrated on May 17, anniversary of the victory achieved in 1814 in the Battle of Montevideo. Bahrain The R ...

(27 October). She was part of the

Operation Magic Carpet Operation Magic Carpet was the post-World War II operation by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and Asian theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory ships ...

force, making three runs to Pearl Harbor to transport 6357 soldiers home, before returning to Bremerton Navy Yard for her deactivation. She was placed out of commission in reserve on 7 January 1947 and was sold for scrap on 23 July 1959.

Artifacts on display

The ship's bell is currently on display in the University Memorial Center (UMC) at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

. A /51 cal deck gun from ''Colorado'' was donated to the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society in 1959, and is displayed at the

Museum of History and Industry The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) is a history museum in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest private heritage organization in Washington state, maintaining a collection of nearly four m ...

in Seattle. It was one of eight such guns on ''Colorado''. Six of ''Colorado''s 5/51 cal guns were put aboard the protected cruiser , after she became a museum in Philadelphia in 1957. Boards from her teak-wood deck were re-purposed to form a wall in the main lounge of Haggett Hall at the University of Washington. A plaque commemorates the source. Deck boards are also used in a wall in the Legends Room of the

Washington Athletic Club The Washington Athletic Club, founded in 1930, is a private social and athletic club located in downtown Seattle. The 21-story WAC clubhouse opened in December 1930, and was designed in the Art Deco style by Seattle architect Sherwood D. Ford. ...

, having originally been preserved within the club at the behest of two former officers of the ship who were club members. On 7 February 2014,

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

donated some decking from ''Colorado'' to the USO Northwest SeaTac Center to serve as the new center's entry flooring. Her helm is in the collection of the Colorado Springs Museum. It was donated to the museum in 1961 by Rear Admiral G. R. Luker and other naval officers. Admiral Luker served on ''Colorado''. The donation also included a bronze plaque and other historical materials.

Footnotes

Explanatory notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * * *

External links

MaritimeQuest USS Colorado BB-45 photo gallery
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colorado (BB-45) 1921 ships Colorado-class battleships Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation World War II battleships of the United States Maritime incidents in 1927 Maritime incidents in January 1945 Friendly fire incidents of World War II