USS Colorado (ACR-7)

	USS Colorado (ACR-7), port side view September 1907.
History
United States
Name	USS Colorado (1903–1916); USS Pueblo (1916–1930);
Namesake	State of Colorado; City of Pueblo, Colorado;
Ordered	7 June 1900
Awarded	10 January 1901
Builder	William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cost	$3,780,000 (contract price of hull and machinery)
Yard number	316
Laid down	25 April 1901
Launched	25 April 1903
Sponsored by	Miss C. M. Peabody
Commissioned	19 January 1905
Decommissioned	28 September 1927
Renamed	Pueblo, 9 September 1916
Reclassified	CA-7, 17 July 1920
Identification	Hull symbol: ACR-7; Hull symbol: CA-7;
Fate	Sold for scrap, 2 October 1930
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser
Displacement	13,680 long tons (13,900 t) (standard); 15,138 long tons (15,381 t) (full load);
Length	504 ft (154 m) oa; 502 ft (153 m) pp;
Beam	69 ft 6 in (21.18 m)
Draft	24 ft 1 in (7.34 m) (mean)
Installed power	32 × Niclausse boilers; 23,000 kW);
Propulsion	2 × vertical triple expansion reciprocating engines; 2 × screws;
Speed	22 kn (41 km/h; 25 mph); 22.24 kn (41.19 km/h; 25.59 mph) (Speed on Trials);
Complement	80 officers 745 enlisted 64 Marines
Armament	4 × breech-loading (BL) rifles(2×2); 14 × 6 in (152 mm)/50 cal Mark 6 BL rifles; 18 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal rapid-fire guns; 12 × 3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)) Driggs-Schroeder guns; 2 × saluting guns; 2 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes;
Armor	Belt: 6 in (152 mm) (top & waterline); 5 in (127 mm) (bottom); Deck: 1+1⁄2 in (38 mm) - 6 in (amidships); 4 in (102 mm) (forward & aft); Barbettes: 6 in; Turrets: 6 - 6+1⁄2 in (165 mm); Conning Tower: 9 in (229 mm);
General characteristics (Pre-1911 Refit)
Installed power	16 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers
Armament	4 × 8 in/45 cal Mark 6 BL rifles (2×2); 14 × 6 in/50 cal Mark 6 BL rifles; 18 × 3 in/50 cal rapid-fire guns; 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm) Driggs-Schroeder saluting guns; 2 × 18 in torpedo tubes;
General characteristics (Pre-1921 Refit)
Armament	4 × 8 in/45 cal Mark 6 BL rifles (2×2); 14 × 6 in/50 cal Mark 6 BL rifles; 10 × 3 in/50 cal rapid-fire guns; 2 × 3 in/50 caliber anti-aircraft guns; 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm) Driggs-Schroeder saluting guns; 2 × 18 in torpedo tubes;

USS Colorado (ACR-7), also referred to as "Armored Cruiser No. 7", and renamed USS Pueblo (CA-7) in 1916, was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser. She was the second US Navy ship named Colorado, and the first to be named after the State of Colorado. The first, Colorado, was named for the Colorado River.^[3]

Construction

Colorado was laid down on 25 April 1901,

James H. Peabody; and commissioned on 19 January 1905.^[4]

Service history

Pre-World War I

Colorado sailed on her

Solomons Island, Maryland, from 23 to 24 June 1905.^[4]

Colorado participated in a fleet problem in the Caribbean, from 10 January–17 April 1906. Captain Kennedy died while the armored cruiser maneuvered at sea. He was buried ashore at

Joseph L. Jayne, assumed command of the ship on 12 April 1906.^[4]

President

Asiatic Station, on 7 September 1906. After cruising to Japan and China to represent American interests in the Far East, she returned to San Francisco, on 27 September 1907, for exercises along the Californian and Mexican coasts, in the Hawaiian Islands, and off Central and South America.^[4]

The running aground of Colorado on 15 August 1908, lead to the upgrading and improvements of lighthouses in

West Seattle and Seattle, with minor damage.^[6] She served again in the Far East, from September 1909 – February 1910.^[4]

Ceremonial visits and receptions for dignitaries highlighted the next two years, and from November 1911 – July 1912, Colorado returned to the Far East for duty. Between August and November, she sailed to land and support expeditionary troops at

Puget Sound Navy Yard on 17 May 1913.^[4]

Once more in full commission on 9 February 1915, she sailed as the

Pacific Reserve Fleet, patrolling in Mexican waters and observing and keeping in touch with interned merchant ships during the revolution. She returned to reserve status on 26 September 1915.^[4]

World War I

She was renamed Pueblo, in order to free up her original name for use with the Colorado-class battleship Colorado, on 9 November 1916, while in overhaul.^[4]

After Submarine H-3 ran aground in Humboldt Bay, California, on 14 December 1916. USS Milwaukee (C-21) sailed for Eureka, to assist in salvaging the boat on 5 January 1917. While she attempted to float the submarine on 13 January, the cruiser stranded in the first line of breakers at Samoa Beach, off Eureka. Her crewmen reached shore safely. Pueblo made for the area and stood by Milwaukee on 24 January, but attempts to salvage the stricken cruiser proved unsuccessful. Milwaukee was decommissioned on 6 March 1917, and a storm in November 1918, broke the ship in two.^[4]

Pueblo returned to full commission upon the entry of the United States into

South Atlantic, protecting shipping, paying diplomatic calls to South American ports, and preventing the sailing of German and Austrian ships interned at Bahia, Brazil.^[4]

Pueblo returned to

American Expeditionary Force.^[4]

Post war

Pueblo arrived at Philadelphia, on 8 August 1919, and was placed in reduced commission until decommissioned on 22 September. She was redesignated CA-7 in 1920. In commission for the last time from 2 April 1921 – 28 September 1927, she served as

3rd Naval District. She was scrapped on 2 October 1930.^[4]

In popular culture

A plaque commemorating the crew of USS Colorado was shown briefly in season 13, episode 1 of American Pickers.

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b Ships' Data.
^ US Navy.
^ Chamberlain 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l DANFS.
^ "Bush Point Lighthouse".
^ Penn State.

Bibliography

"Ships' Data, U. S. Naval Vessels". US Naval Department. 1 January 1914. pp. 24–31. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
"Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels". US Navy. 1921. p. 50. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
Chamberlain, Ken (17 March 2018). "Taking a look at the USS Colorado - All of them". navytimes.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
"Colorado II (Armored Cruiser No. 7)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
"Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1910". Penn State University. Retrieved 12 January 2020.

External links

Photo gallery of Colorado at NavSource Naval History

[FOOTNOTEShips'_Data-1] Ships' Data.

[FOOTNOTEUS_Navy-2] US Navy.

[FOOTNOTEChamberlain2018-3] Chamberlain 2018.

[FOOTNOTEDANFS-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l DANFS.

[5] "Bush Point Lighthouse".

[FOOTNOTEPenn_State-6] Penn State.

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v t e Pennsylvania-class cruisers
Pennsylvania / Pittsburgh West Virginia / Huntington California / San Diego Colorado / Pueblo Maryland / Frederick South Dakota / Huron
Preceded by: USS Brooklyn Followed by: Tennessee class
List of cruisers of the United States Navy