We are sorry to report the passing of one of the few remaining veterans of battleship USS Colorado (BB-45). Charlie Henry Ripper passed away yesterday (March 10) in La Grange, Texas at the age of 96. He would have turned 97 on March 20. Charlie Ripper attended the submarine Colorado christening and commissioning events with his other BB-45 shipmates.
The following information was provided by his friend, associate of the former BB-45 Alumni Association, and USS Colorado Submarine Association member Michael Reither.
Seaman 1st Class (S1C); started as S2C
Enlisted July 20, 1943
Boarded the USS Colorado in Pearl Harbor October 1943
Division: 1st Division, Deck Division, Turret #1
Battle station: operating Turret #1 (16 inch gun); hoisted 16" shells up to the firing room
Campaigns:
Gilbert Islands and Marshall Islands
Tarawa November 20, 1943
Kwajalein January 31, 1944
Eniwetok February 17, 1944
Mariannas (Saipan, Tinian, Guam) 1944
Philippines:
Leyte Gulf November 19, 1944
Mindoro December 18, 1944
Luzon January 2, 1945
Okinawa March 21, 1945
First Kamikaze attacks
On September 2, 1945 - Eyewitness to the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay from the observation tower (crow's nest) of the USS Colorado