USS Colorado
This is a tribute to both Rodger Cole aka halfyank and the fine state of Colorado.
General Statistics
Displacement: 13,680 tons
Length: 504 feet
Beam: 69 6 in feet
Draft: 26 1 in feet
Speed: 22.24 knots
Complement: 891 officers and men
Armament: 4 x 8 inch guns
14 x 6 inch guns
18 x 3 inch guns
The second USS Colorado (ACR-7), also referred to "Armored Cruiser No. 7", and later renamed Pueblo (CA-7), was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser.
She was launched 25 April 1903 by William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; sponsored by Miss C. M. Peabody; and commissioned 19 January 1905, Captain Duncan Kennedy in command.
A picture of Captain Duncan Kennedy, Colorado’s first commander
Joining the Atlantic Fleet 11 October 1905, Colorado trained and took part in drills along the East Coast and in the Caribbean, as well as participating in ceremonies. In the last week of October 1905 President Teddy Roosevelt was in New Orleans and took transportation back to Washington D.C. on board the West Virginia, which was Admiral Brownson’s flagship. The President aboard the West Virginia was convoyed through the Gulf of Mexico and up the Atlantic East coast with the rest of the Armored Cruiser Squadron consisting of the Maryland, Pennsylvania and Colorado. On the 29th of October the Squadron was fighting a rough northwest gale off the South Carolina coast in which the seas were very high. Admiral Brownson decides that he should put his squadron out to sea to avoid the dangerous waters of the shoals near the coast. The squadron delivered president Roosevelt safely to his destination, although later than planned.
In 1905, the Navy selected the mouth of the Patuxent River as the best site in the tidewater to test the famous Dewey floating dry dock, recently constructed at Sparrow's Point, Baltimore, and completed at Solomon’s Island by the Maryland Steel Company. This mammoth vessel needed deep water for its test and the waters off Solomon’s Island fit the bill. In the final test for the craft the cruiser USS Colorado was dry-docked on Friday June 23rd, followed by the battleship USS Iowa. In both cases, the Dewey passed with flying colors. In the first test with the Colorado the Dewey lifted the Colorado, which her displacement was estimated at 13,500 tons, in two-hours and fifteen minutes a full six feet above the surface of the river.
During 1906 she made an Around the World Cruise. Below are the stops she made:
Port Visited Distance (miles steamed)
Newport, RI
Gibraltar, Spain 3, 420
Naples, Italy 980
Piraeus, Greece 670
Port Said, Egypt 600
Suez, Egypt 87
Bombay, India 1,630
Colombo, Ceylon 895
Singapore S.S. 1,585
Manila, P.I 1,367
Hong Kong 628
Manila, P.I. 628
Shanghai, China 1,360
Nanking, China 190
Shanghai, China 190
Olongapo, P.I. 1,315
Manila, P.I. 73
Kobe, Japan 1,557
Yokohama, Japan 356
Kobe, Japan 356
Chefoo, China 822
Manila, P.I. 1,584
Yokohama, Japan 1,760
Honolulu, T.H. 3,400
San Francisco, CA 2,100
Total Miles Steamed 28,873
During the latter parts of the summer and early fall 1906 the Armored Cruiser Squadron, under command of Rear Admiral Brownson sailed to Mediterranean waters. Brownson’s squadron consisted of the Colorado, Pennsylvania, Maryland and his flagship USS West Virginia. It was reported that on October 9, 1906 all four cruisers were anchored in the harbour at Port Said, Egypt having made their voyage there from Phalerum Bay, Greece.
Colorado returned to the East Coast and anchored at Oyster Bay, New York, during the Presidential Naval Review held on 4 September 1906. President Teddy Roosevelt reviewed the fleet anchored there. Some of the ships that were reviewed by President Roosevelt were her sister ship the USS Pennsylvania, along with the USS Virginia BB-13, USS New Jersey B-16, USS Florida Monitor No. 9, USS Denver C-14, USS Des Moines C-15, the Auxiliary Cruiser USS Yankee, USS Hopkins. From 1906 to 1909, the Marine Detachment onboard the USS Colorado was commanded by Captain Douglas C. McDougal, MC. McDougal would later become a Major General, and retired from military service on 1 January 1940 with the rank of Major General. On 7 September 1906, she sailed for duty with the Asiatic Fleet. She visited Bombay and Manila during 1906.
To be continued
Credit to Joe Hartwell
Cheers
Sean
