Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1923-10-25

hundred and fifty Colorado boys are among the
crew and more are going. Reproductions of Col
orado scenery adorn her. The silver service pre-
scented by the state to the old Colorado (now the
Pueblo) is on board.
For other reasons the Colorado is Of particular
interest to the nation-and to the world. "a vast
experimental laboratory of marine engineering"
she has been called, and it is said of her: Though
she is primarily fighting machine. she need never
fire shot at the enemy to earn her cost of $27,-
100000 many times over for her country" It ap-
pears that the most advanced designs of ship
equipment have been installed in the Colorado
and the results of their test will be placed at the
disposal of American shipbuilders for their guild
ance in building the national merchant marine and
the future navy.
Electric motor-driven propellers, 18,O00horse-
power turbine generators, and oilburning boilers
are part Of the advanced construction that is said
to make this 32,6O0ton superdreadnaught signif-
cant to marine engineers. Further unusual fea-
lures include these From a forward speed of
twenty-one knots the Colorado can be brought up
standing in three minutes. Her eghteen-inch ar
mor-plate is supposed to be proof against sub
marines and air bombs, as well as direct fire. With
a veritable honeycomb of water-tight compartments
she must be literally shot to pieces before she can
be sunk. Eight 16inch guns in two forward and
two after turrets (the largest permitted by the
Washington conference) drop eight tons of
steel and high explosives on the deck of an. enemy
sion anything afoat A captive observation bal
loon and several scout airplanes are also carried
Six men in the contro-room far down between the
two $4,000 horsepower turbo-electric generators
and the four S.000-hOrsepower electric propeller
motors control every movement of these two gil
gantic mechanisms, and every other important ma
chine, on orders from the bridge.
Another thing that adds to the interest in the
Colorado is the fact that she with her sister Ship
the West Virginia, is the last superdreadnaught
which the United States will undertake for four
teen years, under the Ffve-Power Naval treaty.
That means that she may be the last of her kind
either because of universal peace or because by
that time the capital ship may be wholly futile
for the purposes of war.
The third Colorado was designated as Battle
ship No. As Counting from the first in the new
navy, authorized in the building program of Aug
90 1916 to be of $4,000 tons trial displacement
eight sxteen-nch guns in four center line turrets
twelve fve-inch guns for torpedo defense, eight
antiaircraft guns and two torpedo tubes. Her
main machinery is designated to attain twenty
one knots with about $4,000 horsepower, two main
turbine generators of Westinghouse type driving
motors on four shafts, one screw on each. She is
armored on the waterline, turrets, coming tower
and smoke uptakes. She uses only fuel oil and her
steering engine anchor windass and most other
auxiliary machinery electric driven She will
mount catapult for launching airplanes and gem
orally have all improvements of the best naval
practice.
At the Washington conference on the reduction
of ornaments the Colorado and the West Virginia
were on the list offered of uncompleted ships to
be strapped, but the Japanese were so bent on re-
tanning their newest battleship Mutsu at the time
all but completed, that new scrapping program
was made by which the Colorado and West Vir5
ginia were to be completed and the two oldest
dreadnaughts, Delaware and North Dakota, much
smaller vessels. would then be scrapped the re-
sulting tonnage offsetting the Japanese increase