| USS Colorado CA7. (We would like to thank Wayne for
supplying the following text)
The second Colorado (CA-7) was launched 26 April 1903 by
William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Co., Pennsylvania, Pa.-
sponsored by Miss C. M. Peabody, and commissioned 19 January 1905, Captain
D. Kennedy in command.
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 until 7 September 1906, when she sailed for
duty on the Asiatic Station. After cruising to Japan and China to
represent American interests in the Far East, she returned to the west
coast 27 September 1907 for exercises along the Californian and Mexican
coasts, in the Hawaiian Islands, and off Central and South America. She
served again in the Far East between September 1909 and February 1910.
Ceremonial Visits and receptions for dignitaries highlighted the next 2
years, and from November 1911 to July 1912 Colorado returned to the Far
East for duty. Between August and November, she sailed to land and support
expeditionary troops at Corinto, Nicaragua then patrolled Mexican waters
until placed in reduce commission at Puget Sound Navy Yard 17 May 1913.
Once more in full commission from 9 February 1915 to 26 September, she
continued on active duty as flagship of the Pacific Reserve Fleet,
patrolling in Mexican waters during the revolution and then returned to
reserve status. She was renamed Pueblo 9 November 1916 while in overhaul,
after which she returned to Mexico, to blockade interned German ships. She
returned to full commission upon the entry of the United States into World
War I, and as flagship of the Scouting Force patrolled the South Atlantic,
protecting shipping, paying diplomatic calls to South American ports, and
preventing the sailing of German and Austrian ships interned at Bahia,
Brazil.
Pueblo returned to Norfolk 18 January 1918, and between 5 February and 16
October made seven voyages to escort convoys carrying men and supplies to
England. After carrying the Brazilian ambassador to the United States to
Rio de Janeiro, she returned to transatlantic duty, making six voyages
between Hoboken and Brest, France, to bring veterans of the American
Expeditionary Force home. She arrived at Philadelphia 8 August 1919 and
was placed in reduced commission until decommissioned 22 September 1919.
In commission for the last time between 2 April 1921 and 28 September
1927, Pueblo served as receiving ship in the 3d Naval District. She was
scrapped 2 October 1930.
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ARMORED CRUISER "COLORADO"
Length, 502 feet. Breadth, 69 feet 6 1/2
inches. Mean Draft, 24 feet 1 inch. Displacement, 13,680
tons. Speed, 22.24 knots. Bunker Capacity, 1,825 tons. Batteries:
Main Battery, four 8 inch breech-loading rifles, fourteen 6-inch rapid
fire guns. Secondary battery, eighteen 3-inch rapid fire guns, twelve
3-pounder semi-automatic guns, two 1-pounder rapid fire guns, two 3-inch
field pieces, six automatic guns, caliber .30, two 18-inch submerged
torpedo tubes. Armor: Belt, 6 inches; turrets, 6 1/2 inches;
barbettes, 6 inches; deck, 4 inches. Complement: 41 officers, 850
men. Built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Launched April 25, 1903.
From "The Owl, December 17, 1900" vol 1
No.2" a school newspaper.
NEW BATTLE SHIPS.
The commonwealth of Colorado is to be represented in Uncle Sam's navy
by two new cruisers, the Colorado and the Denver. The Colorado will be one
of the six ordered by congress during its last session. Her sisters will
be the California, The South Dakota, the Nebraska, the West Virginia and
the Maryland. They will be the most up-to date fighting machines of their
class and will be capable of attaining a speed of twenty-two knots an
hour. Each cruiser will cost $4,250,000.
The Denver is one of another six protected cruisers now undergoing
construction in the ship yards at Philadelphia. Four of them are named
after trans-Mississippi cities. They are besides the Denver, the
Galveston, the Tocoma, the DesMoines, the Cleveland and the Chattanooga.
These six are a type less than the Colorado and her companions, costing
$1,080,000 and having a speed of seventeen knots per hour. The Denver is
contracted to be completed sometime in June 1902. |
