Colorado III

The Commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Captain Martin E. Trench, visited Camden, N. J. There officials of the New York Shipbuilding Corporation met him on the bridge of a new battleship, formally turned the ship over to the Government. Captain Trench signed a receipt and read an order from the Secretary of the Navy commissioning the Colorado as a battleship of the U. S. Navy. The colors were hoisted and Captain Reginald Rowan Belknap took command. A new fighter had been added to the U. S. fleet.

The Fleet. With the commissioning of the Colorado, only one more capital ship, the West Virginia, may to be added to our Navy until the expiration of the Limitation of Armaments Treaty. The Delaware will be scrapped to make way for the Colorado, and later, when the West Virginia is commissioned, the North Dakota will be scrapped. In this way the number of capital ships will remain fixed at 18, named after various states. No more capital ships will be laid down till 1931; none completed until 1934.

The Colorado, or " Battleship No. 45," is a 32,600-ton ship, 624 feet long and 97 feet abeam, and draws 31 1/2 feet of water.

Her armament consists of 1,400 officers and men.

She burns oil, and her boilers furnish steam to two 15,000-horsepower electro-turbines. Her four propellers are driven by as many 8,000-horsepower motors, giving her a speed of 21 knots.

Her History. The Colorado was authorized by act of Congress in 1916, along with two others of her class, the Maryland, the West Virginia. She was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, on a "cost plus fee" basis, the total expense of construction being about $27,000,000.

Her Strength. With her sister ships, the Maryland (in commission for some time) and the West Virginia (to be commissioned about December 1), the Colorado ranks as the most formidable of our fleet units. These three ships are our only first line vessels built since the Battle of Jutland, and embody all that was there learned of naval architecture.

As compared with the leading post-Jutland ships of other nations, the Mutzu (and her sister ship, the Nageto) of Japan and the British battle cruiser Hood, the Colorado (and her sister ships) are slightly inferior.

Length: Colorado, 624 ft.; Mutzu, 700 ft.; Hood, 860 ft..

Beam: Colorado, 97 ft.; Mutzu, 95 ft.; Hood, 105 ft.

Displacement: Colorado, 32,600 tons; Mutzu, 33,800 tons; Hood, 41,200 tons.

Speed: Colorado, 21 knots; Mutzu, 23 knots; Hood, 32 knots.

Main battery: Colorado, eight 16-inch guns; Mutzu, eight 16-inch guns; Hood, eight 15-inch guns.

Secondary battery: Colorado, 12 5-inch guns; Mutzu, 20 5 1/2-inch guns; Hood, 12 5 1/2-inch guns.

Armor protection: Colorado and Mutzu about the same; Hood much lighter.

Her Commander, Captain Reginald Rowan Belknap, D.S.M., entered Annapolis in 1887. Since then he has seen service in the Spanish War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Boxer Rebellion, the European War (during which he commanded the American Mine-laying Squadron in the North Sea). Following the War he commanded the Delaware and more recently served on the staff of the Naval War College at Newport.

Her Name. The Colorado is the third of her name. The first Colorado was a 3,400-ton steam screw frigate, named after the Colorado River. During the Civil War she took part in the blockade first of the Gulf and later the Atlantic Coast, and served as flagship of the first division of the North Atlantic Squadron. She was sold in 1886. The second Colorado was an armored cruiser of 13,680 tons, launched in 1903. She served with the Atlantic Fleet, and later became flagship of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She had been named after tne State of Colorado, but in 1916 was re-named Pueblo (after Pueblo, Colo.). During the War she served as a cruiser and transport, and in 1921 was made receiving ship at New York. The present Colorado is named after the state, in accordance with the present practice of naming capital ships.