Colorado Class Battleship - Class History

Class History

With fiscal year 1917 appropriations, bids on the four Colorados were opened on 18 October 1916; though Maryland's keel was laid on 24 April 1917, the other three battleships were not until 1919–1920. With the cancellation of the first South Dakota class, the Colorados were the last U.S. battleships to enter service for nearly two decades. They were also the final U.S. battleships to use twin gun turrets—the North Carolinas and second South Dakota classes had nine 16"/45 caliber guns and the Iowas used nine 16 in/50 caliber in three triple turrets.

Planning for modernizations of the Tennessee and Colorado classes in October 1931. Included was some protection against chemical shells which contained poisonous gas, although the General Board stated in the late 1920s that decontaminating a battleship hit with these shells would not be possible—the ship would have to be scuttled. Also, the deck armor was to be bolstered with 80 lb (36 kg)-special treatment steel (STS)—which would add 1,319 long tons (1,340 t; 1,477 short tons) to the displacement of the ships—the armor on the tops of the main turrets was to be made thicker, fire controls were to be improved with the latest technology, and new shells for the main guns were to be designed. Two, later four, 1.1"/75 caliber machine cannons were to be added, and all of the machinery in place would be removed in favor of newer equipment so that the ships would not lose any speed with the great increase in weight. These improvements would cost about $15,000,000 per ship ($71,723,000 total), but with the country in the throes of the Great Depression, there was not much money available for the Navy; savings of $26,625,000 could be realized by reconditioning the propulsion machinery (rather than replacing it; this would lower the ship's speed), not adding the protection against chemical shells and not designing or producing the new shells, but the cost-saving elements of the later proposal were later dropped. The Navy asked the Secretary of the Navy to request money in the fiscal year 1933 to modernize the two classes from Congress, but the depression worsened and plans were put on hold and never carried out, although there were still proposals for modifications.

In the beginning of 1934, the Bureau of Construction and Repair proposed that the "Big Five"—the two Tennessees and three Colorados—be fitted with anti-torpedo bulges so that the ships could benefit from increased buoyancy; because of, among other factors, the normal procedure of leaving port with the maximum amount of fuel possible on board, the five ships were quite overweight and rode low in the water. For example, in June 1935, Tennessee had a normal operating displacement of 38,200 long tons (38,800 t; 42,800 short tons)—more than 2,000 long tons (2,000 t; 2,200 short tons) above the maximum emergency load her original design called for. This made her draft higher—meaning that the ship's waterline was down 5 ft 4 in (1,630 mm). Construction and Repair called for a bulge on the Colorados that would displace about 2,000 long tons (2,000 t; 2,200 short tons) and raise the ships' draft by 20 in (510 mm). Installing these would be a year's worth of work, with each ship spending six months of that in a dry dock—the first month docked so that the hull shape could be determined, the next six sailing while the bulge was built, and the last five back in the dock so it could be added to the ship.

Three years later (1937), the various Navy bureaus held a joint meeting to discuss a possible partial modernization of the Tennessee's and Colorado's. They were much different than the changes proposed in 1933; there were no provisions for extra deck armor, but many additions and replacements. To gain space for newer fire control systems, the ships were to be reboilered. The main and secondary battery fire controls were to be replaced, including new rangefinders and plotting room instruments for the main, while new Mark 33 anti-aircraft fire control directors were planned. The mainmast and M2 Browning machine guns would be removed, and studies of the feasibility of a torpedo bulge, the addition of which Construction and Repair believed to be paramount, which would increase the beam to 108 ft (33 m) and displacement to 39,600 long tons (40,200 t; 44,400 short tons). Varying plans for these were complete by October 1938. None was a full reconstruction; costs ranged from $8,094,000 to $38,369,000 per ship. However, as the money for the improvements would lessen the amount available for new battleship construction, and these would be better than even reconstructed old battleship, the Secretary of the Navy rejected these plans in November. Congress did appropriate $6,600,000 in 1939 for some of these improvements, including the bulges.

With the beginning of World War II in Europe, the Navy began to apply lessons learned by the British there to U.S. ships. The King Board of 1940–1941 proposed sweeping changes to the secondary armament of the battleships to increase their defense against air attacks. These included the removal of all 5 in (130 mm)/25 caliber guns and 5 in/51 in favor of the dual-purpose 5 in/38, the addition of six quadruple 1.1 in (28 mm) machine cannons, and the cutting away of superstructure to clear arcs of fire for the new anti-aircraft weapons. An ultimate secondary battery of sixteen 5"/38 in dual mounts, sixteen Bofors 40 mm in quadruple mounts and eight single Oerlikon 20 mm was called for by the board in 1941, although they were not certain the ships could handle the added weight and it would take a large amount of time in dry dock for these modifications to take place. With these concerns, an interim measure of four 1.1 in guns was proposed by the board; however, the gun was not being produced in any great number very quickly, so a second interim solution was implemented. 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber guns were added to all of the U.S.' battleships except for Arizona and Nevada by June 1941; these were replaced on the three battleships in the Atlantic by the 1.1 in by November—they received them first because they were closer to a war zone.

As these modifications were carried out upon the various battleships, much additional weight was added onto the already overweight ships, forcing torpedo bulges to be added so that a decent freeboard could be maintained. These would cost $750,000 and around three or four months in a dry dock. The King Board suggested that the deck armor be bolstered and 5 in/38 dual-purpose guns be added, but the Chief of Naval Operations decreed that any major changes such as these had to wait due to the wars raging around the world at the time. The addition of bulges, however, was approved for the "Big Five", with each ship spending three months in dry dock at the Puget Sound Naval Yard. Maryland would be first (17 February 1941 to 20 May), followed by West Virginia (10 May to 8 August), Colorado (28 July to 28 October), Tennessee (19 January 1942 to 21 April) and California (16 March to 16 June). However, the estimates for how long the addition of bulges would take were too low; Puget Sound believed that they could complete work on Maryland in 123 calendar days (about four months)—if the work would be given a priority equal to that of Saratoga's refit and higher than new construction.

Only two of the ships had bulges added to them through this program, Maryland (completed 1 August 1941) and Colorado (26 February 1942); the attack on Pearl Harbor interrupted the refits intended for West Virginia and the two Tennessees. The surprise strike did not touch Colorado, which was at Puget Sound, and did not hurt Maryland very badly; however, West Virginia was severely damaged and needed a major refit at minimum.

Little to no major modifications were made to the two active Colorados in the opening months of the U.S.'s entry into the war; all of the battleships in the Pacific Fleet had a constant order to be ready to sail within 48 hours in case of a Japanese attempt to invade Hawaii or the West Coast and could not be spared for any major yard work. Colorado was hurried through the rest of her refit with the addition of essential items like radar, splinter protection, 14 Oerlikon 20 mm and four 1.1 in light anti-aircraft guns; Maryland received a similar treatment later, the only difference being 16 20 mm's and no 1.1 in. Although tower masts were constructed for Colorado and Maryland and a majority of the old cage masts were cut down by the ships' crews in the beginning of 1942, the ships could not be spared the time needed to install the new masts. The tower masts were placed into storage and not used until early 1944.

Colorado and Maryland were greatly needed in the war zone, and as such did not undergo a major refit until 1944, although minor additions and removals, mainly to the anti-aircraft weaponry, were made in-between. Throughout the war, both ships saw their anti-aircraft battery changed constantly. Beginning in 1942, they carried eight 5 in/25, four quadruple-mounted 1.1 in guns, a greatly varying number of 20 mm, and eight .50 caliber machine guns. In June 1942, Colorado had fourteen 20 mm; just five months later, this was upped to twenty-two, with thirty-six temporarily approved for a later time. By February 1943, both Colorado and Maryland had two more quad 1.1 in added (for a total of 6) and forty-eight total 20 mm; a month later she was given an additional ten .50 caliber machine guns. November 1943 saw the removal of two of the single-purpose 5 in/51, the six quad 1.1 in, and a small number of 20 mm (six in Colorado, eight in Maryland) in favor of thirty-two Bofors 40 mm—six quad and two twin.

Both ships finally underwent major refits in 1944. Here the remaining cage masts were taken off in favor of the tower masts, the two twin 40 mm replaced by quads, a quadruple 20 mm added, and a new radar fitted. Although more extensive refits were proposed by Admiral Ernest J. King, including the addition of eight twin 5 in/38, more advanced fire control systems, and a second protective deck plating, the Bureau of Ships, after demonstrating what would have to be removed as compensation for the weight added for King's ideas, counter-proposed that a smaller reconstruction, like the ones given to the New Mexico class, would be more desirable. However, no action was taken until Maryland was struck by a kamikaze aircraft. While undergoing repair, eight twin 5 in/38 were added, but nothing else; her conning tower was removed and replaced by a 50 lb (23 kg) special-treated steel structure to balance the additional weight of the 5 in guns.