Supporting USS Colorado (SSN 788) Commissioning and Crew
Welcome to USS Colorado (SSN-788) Commissioning Committee web site. USS Colorado (SSN-788) is the 15th Virginia Class submarine. She was delivered to the Navy on September 21, 2017. Having completed shakedown operations, she was commissioned on March 17, 2018 at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, CT. The Committee's purposes are to promote awareness within the state, provide support for the crew, and to help organize and raise money for the events surrounding commissioning.
The latest information we have on the boat’s schedule is that Christening will likely be August or September of this year. Commissioning will occur probably in late April or early May of 2017.
When the dates have been finalized we will have a link on the web site for interested persons to sign up for invitations.
On Tuesday, the last day of their visit, snow came to Denver and forced cancellation of the day’s events. The sailors were scheduled to visit two schools, Century Middle School in Thornton and Campus Middle School in Greenwood Village. Schools throughout Denver were closed due to the snow.
In the evening a reception had been scheduled at Balistreri Vineyards with about 80 persons signed up to attend. This event was also canceled due to the weather. Please check back as we are making plans for events to be held in spring 2016.
Chief of the Boat Brett Jackson participated in an interview on KOA Radio in the morning by phone. He provided some details about the state of the ship’s construction, and crew preparations to take the ship to sea.
On Monday December 14, Left Hand Brewing Company in Longmont hosted the four visiting crew members to a VIP tour of their brewery after the school visits. The sailors tasted some of the Left Hand beers, and then were hosted to dinner at a local restaurant. The brewery delivered the sailors back to their hotel in Denver in their special Left Hand Brewing stretch limousine.
Left Hand Brewing is planning on having on having limited release USS Colorado beer issued around the occasions of both the ship’s Christening and Commissioning. A portion of the profits from those sales will be donated to the USS Colorado Committee Commissioning Fund.
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On Monday afternoon the crew members visited two local schools. Master Chief Brett Jackson and YN2 James Brown visited Ricardo Flores Magon Academy in Denver. MM1 Ryan Zabka They spoke to 383 students, Kindergarten through 8th grade. The students loved the idea of a Colorado boat, and they asked numerous, interesting questions. The COB showed a DVD which included pictures of subs and many of the crews activities since they started.
MM2 Derrick Altenburger visited Red Hawk Elementary School in Erie where they spoke to over 100 students about USS Colorado and answered numerous questions from the students about life on a submarine.
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