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

through the ATutsu. By the conference treaty, no
more battleships are to be built before 1887 The
Colorado, the West Virginia and the Maryland
(this last commissioned in 1921 three sister ships,
are the most powerful and modern battleshtps In
the world. though one British battleship is close
rival.
The Colorado is 624 feet in length, 81 feet 31s
inches beam, 80 600 tons mean displacement. She
is driven at speed Of twenty-one knots (aDout
twenty-five land miles) hour by electrical drive
machinery She carries eight sixteen-inch guns
as her main battery, in addition to twelve five
inch, eight three-inch and two torpedo tubes. she
has about $4,000 horsepower Her complement
comprises SO officers, 1926 enlisted men and Is
marines Captain Reginald Rowan Belknap q. s.
NJ commanding officer desires to have as many
Colorado boys board possible.
Captain Belknap entered the Annapolis Naval
academy in 1884, served in the Spanish war, Philip
pine Instruction and Boxer campaign, was dec
Grated for services in connection with the Mes
sina earthquake relief in 1909 and was commander
of .mine-laying and mine-sweeping branch of the
Atlantic fleet from 1915 to 1917. He was promoted
to captain in May, 1917, and awarded the
navy distinguished service medal for service IN
connection with fitting out and afterwards COM
handing the American mine-laying squadron in
the northern barrage operation in the North sea-
During 1919 and 1920 he commanded the battle
ship Delaware and recently. he was on the staff
of the naval war. college. Com. Wilson Brown,
United States navy, is executive.
The new battIeshp Colorado is the third ship
in the American navy to bear that name. The
first named for the Colorado river, was wooden
steam frigate of 3,4O0 tons displacement, mount
ing forty guns launched at the Norfolk navy yard
on June 49, 1856. She was one of the larger YES
sells of her time in navy, corresponding to the
intermediate or f1fty-gun ship of the days before
steam and to the armored battle cruiser of lat
er periods.
Colorado 1 first saw war service as flagship OF
Commodore William Marvine, in establishing the
blockade of the Gulf of Mexico coast, from Key
West to the Rio Grande in the Civil war
Admiral Farragut wanted the Colorado for his
attack on the forts below New Orleans, in April,
1862 but her twenty-three feet draft was much too
deep to cross the Mississippi bar. Later the Col
orado became flagship of Commodore III. K. Thatch-
err in the North Atlantic bockading squadron.
After the Civil war the Colorado served as flag
shin on various stations, including the Asiatic.
Feb ID 1885, thirty-one years after the laying of
her keel she was sold to the usual fate of being
broken up and burned for her copper fastenings
and other salvage material.
Meantime the territory of Colorado organized
as such in 1861, had been admitted Aug. 1, 1876,
into the Union as a state. Acquired part with the
Louisiana purchase in 1903, part with Texas in
1915 and the remainder by cession from Mexico
in 1913, the country little known before 1858,
when. discovery of gold led to its settlement and
growth.
Man-of-war Colorado II was one of six armored