Battleships: Colorado Class

[designeraccd]

Here is COLORADO, late war......... DFO

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship USS Colorado pictured off lower Manhattan in 1932.

[Brian James]

Colorado Class Battleship USS Maryland pictured at Puget Sound Navy Yard on July 2nd 1941.

[Brian James]

Colorado Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Maryland pictured on July 4th 1927...She was commissioned in 1921, and serving as the flagship of the fleet, cruised to Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil....During World War II, she was on Battleship Row during the Attack on Pearl Harbor, and was lightly damaged by Japanese bombs. Returning to duty in 1942, she saw service in the Pacific War, first supporting the rest of the fleet at the Battle of Midway, and then patrolling the Fiji Islands to guard against Japanese incursion. Next, she went on the offensive, commencing shore bombardments in the Battle of Tarawa and later in the Battle of Kwajalein. During the Battle of Saipan she took torpedo damage to her bow, necessitating repairs and refits. She then participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf where she was hit by a kamikaze. She took another kamikaze hit at the Battle of Okinawa, and was under repair toward the end of World War II. The USS Maryland had completed repairs at Bremerton, WA and was sailing back to the Pacific Theater when word was received that the war had ended. She turned around and returned to the Port of Long Beach, CA.
After service in Operation Magic Carpet, she was decommissioned in 1947, and sold for scrap in 1959. She received seven battle stars for World War II service.

[Brian James]

Colorado Class Dreadnought Battleship USS West Virginia pictured in March 1926.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship USS Colorado pictured in the late 1920's.

[designeraccd]

The never completed WASHINGTON at her launch and then being destroyed as a target for USN gunfire......to honor the Washington Naval Treaty terms...... DFO

[Brian James]

Colorado Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Washington pictured during launching, at New York Shipbuilding Corporation Shipyard, Camden, New Jersey, September 1st 1921. Sister USS Colorado is fitting out in the wet basin at the end of the covered shipways building. The two 535-foot passenger liners fitting out in the upper left are S.S. Southern Cross (later USS Wharton) and S.S. Hoosier State. Washington's construction ceased in February 1922, under the terms of the Naval Limitations Treaty, and she was sunk by Battleships Texas and New York as a target in 1924.

[Brian James]

The uncompleted Colorado Class Battleship USS Washington pictured at New York Shipbuilding Corp Shipyards, Camden, New Jersey on September 30th 1921...She was towed out in November 1924, to be used as a gunnery target. On the first day of testing, she was hit by two 400-pound torpedoes and three 1 tonne near-miss bombs causing minor damage and a list of three degrees. She then had 400 pounds of TNT detonated on board, but remained afloat. Two days later, she was hit by fourteen 14-inch shells, but only one penetrated. She was finally sunk by Texas and New York with fourteen more 14-inch shells. Invaluable lessons were gained from her demise concerning future Battleship design and armour technology.

[Brian James]

Colorado Class Dreadnought Battleship USS West Virginia pictured post her reconstruction refit, off Puget Sound Navy Yard, Washington, July 2nd 1944.