The Colorado Class of battleships was part of the massive 1916 naval building program. Essentially the class used the design of the preceding Tennessee class but substituted twin 16-inch guns for triple 14-inch guns. Four ships were ordered in the class. Colorado BB-45 and Washington BB-47 New York Ship Building and Maryland BB-46 and West Virginia were built at Newport News . As the newest class of American battleships under construction, much haggling in the Washington Arms Reduction conference of December 1921 to February 1922 concerned these vessels. Only Maryland had been completed but the other three had been launched before the start of the conference. As a result of negotiations the USN agreed that Washington would not be completed. Washington was expended as a target on November 25, 1924. The other three were not scrapped until 1959.

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The Navis model of Colorado (300N) shows the ship as completed. Although the date shown is 1920, actual completion dates for the ships were July 1921 for Maryland , August 1923 for Colorado and December 1923 for West Virginia . The Navis USS Colorado, 300 N, is available from Galerie Maritim.

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