Colorado, Meet The Colorado
The USS Colorado will be commissioned next month.
The latest addition to the U.S. fleet is a new Virginia-class attack submarine named The USS Colorado. This submarine will be the 15th attack sub to join the fleet. The ship is scheduled for commission at the Naval Submarine Base in New London, Connecticut on March 17th, 2018.
This baby is an amazing piece of machinery. This submarine is as much at home in shallow coastal waters as it is in a deep ocean environment. The USS Colorado is designed to carry out the core missions of the U.S. submarine force: anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, delivery of Special Operations Forces, strike warfare, irregular warfare, intelligence & surveillance, reconnaissance gathering, and mine warfare.
The USS Colorado has 12 individual Vertical Launch System tubes with two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes. Each of these can launch up to six Tomahawk cruise missiles. The sub also has a special feature including a special torpedo room which can accommodate a large number of personnel and all their equipment for prolonged overseas deployments.
The specs of this beast are incredible. It weighs in at 7,800 tons and is 377 feet in length. It's 34 feet across and operates at more than 25 knots while submerged. It has a specially designed nuclear reactor that never requires refueling during the entire life of the ship.
The submarine will be the fourth U.S. Navy vessel to bear the Colorado name. The first was the USS Colorado (Screw Frigate) named after the Colorado River. The second USS Colorado was an armored cruiser commissioned way back in 1905. The third USS Colorado (BB 45) was the lead ship of its class and was commissioned in 1923.