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USS Colorado, the Navy’s newest submarine, to enter active service Saturday

The $2.6 billion boat will be the first USS Colorado in the Navy since 1947

The Virginia class fast attack submarine ...
Dana Jensen, The Day
The Virginia class fast attack submarine USS Colorado passes the shore of Groton as it travels down the Thames River toward Long Island Sound on Jan. 9, 2018.
DENVER, CO - JUNE 16: Denver Post's Washington bureau reporter Mark Matthews on Monday, June 16, 2014.  (Denver Post Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon)
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Getting your player ready...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy plans to welcome the newest addition to its fleet on Saturday when it puts into active service the USS Colorado, a $2.6 billion nuclear-powered submarine.

To mark the occasion, the Navy has scheduled a commissioning ceremony at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn., and it has invited a mix of military personnel and Colorado politicians, including Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner.

“For decades, people will see her come and go and say ‘there goes the Colorado,’” said Bennet, D-Colo. “And I think thatap wonderful.”

The boat will be the fourth Navy vessel to bear the name USS Colorado and the first since the Pentagon decommissioned its predecessor in 1947.

The last USS Colorado, a battleship, fought in several major conflicts in the Pacific theater during World War II, and it was present in Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered. Before the war, the vessel participated in the failed search for pilot Amelia Earhart.

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Denver time. To watch a webcast of the proceedings, .

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