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CU Around: Soundings

Bell in UMC

The Original Bell of the Original USS Colorado
  1. Cast in 1856
  2. Weighs 800 lbs.
  3. Found again 2015
  4. Arrived CU-Boulder November 2015
  5. New home: The UMC

Home Port

A long-lost warship bellhas reached its new homeport — one with a view ofthe Flatirons.

The 800-pound brassbell, cast in 1856 for theUSS Colorado, the first ina series of Navy ships tobear the name, settled inits new home at CU-Boulder’sUniversity MemorialCenter just before VeteransDay.

After a 1,700-milejourney from a navalwarehouse in Virginia,the bell joined variousother military artifactsin the UMC’s VeteransLounge, including laterUSS Colorado bells. TheUMC is Colorado’s officialveterans memorial.

Dick Cooper, a ColoradoSprings-based officerof the Navy League,learned in early 2015 thatthe original bell had beenfound in the warehouse.He and Norris Hermsmeyer(Acct’67), a CUNaval ROTC alumnusand Vietnam War veteran,helped bring it to CUon permanent loan fromthe Navy.

“I wanted to perpetuatethe memory of the shipsthat have worn the nameUSS Colorado — to sharewith the residents of thestate of Colorado,” saysHermsmeyer, a Boulderresident who paid for thebell’s transportation tocampus.

The original USSColorado bell was castin Philadelphia for athree-masted Civil War-erafrigate named after theColorado River. (Coloradowas not granted statehooduntil 1876.)

The bell was later moved to a Navy cruiser, alsocalled the USS Colorado,commissioned in 1905. Fora time it was on display inChicago, then wound up instorage in Virginia.

Someday, perhapsthere will be yet anotherUSS Colorado bell forthe UMC: The fourthship to carry the name, anuclear-powered attacksubmarine, is under constructionin Connecticut.

Photo by Jeremy Papasso/Boulder Daily Camera