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The Colorado design of battleship was America’s answer to the Japanese 33,900-ton Nagato class. There were four ships in this class laid down, Colorado, Maryland, Washington and West Virginia. In order to comply with the naval limits of 1922, Washington had to be scrapped when she was 76 percent complete. Colorado’s maiden voyage from New York December 29th 1923 called at Portsmouth/England, Cherbourg/France, Naples/Italy and Gibraltar before returning to New York. Maryland and West Virginia were badly damaged by bombs and torpedoes during the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. Both ships had to have extensive repairs carried out before joining the US fleet in the Pacific War.

Colorado was being overhauled at Puget Sound Navy Yard at the time of the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Her first deployments in the Pacific War were to carry out shore bombardment and provide cover for troop landings at Tarawa, Marshal Islands, Kwatalein, Eniwetog, Saipan and Guam. Colorado took 22 hits from shore defenses during the following landings at Tinian. Even after sustaining heavy damage, her crew continued to provide cover for the troops throughout the operation. After repairs, she returned to support landings at Leyte Gulf, Minerdo, Okinawa and Japan. This class of battleship had become obsolete by the end of the war, as many larger battleships were built during the war. Colorado was decommissioned January 7th 1947 and scrapped at Seattle/Washington in 1959. Maryland was decommissioned April 3rd 1947 and scrapped at Oakland/California in 1959. West Virginia was decommissioned January 9th 1947 and scrapped at New York in 1959.