USS Kentucky (BB-6)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Kentucky.

USS Kentucky
Career (United States)
Laid down:	30 June 1896
Launched:	24 March 1898
Commissioned:	16 May 1900
Decommissioned:	29 May 1920
Fate:	Sold for scrap in 1924
General characteristics
Displacement:	11,520 tons (10,450 tonnes)
Length:	375.3 ft (114.4 m)
Beam:	72.2 ft (22.0 m)
Draft:	37 ft (11 m)
Speed:	16.9 kn (19.4 mph; 31.3 km/h)
Complement:	554 officers and men
Armament:	4 × 13 in (330 mm)/35 cal guns, 4 × 8 in (200 mm)/35 cal guns, 14 × 5 in (130 mm) guns, 20 × 6-pounders (57 mm (2.2 in)), 8 × 1-pounders (37 mm (1.5 in)), 4 × .30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns, 4 × 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes

USS Kentucky (BB-6), a Kearsarge-class battleship, was launched on 24 March 1898 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company of Newport News, Virginia sponsored by Miss Christine Bradley, daughter of Governor William O'Connell Bradley of Kentucky, and commissioned on 16 May 1900, Captain Colby M. Chester in command.

Pre-World War I

After fitting out in New York Navy Yard during the summer, Kentucky sailed on 26 October 1900 for the Far East via Gibraltar and the Suez Canal. She joined the other American ships on the Asiatic Station at Manila in February 1901 and six days later sailed for Hong Kong where she became flagship of the Southern Squadron under Rear Admiral Louis Kempff on 23 March. Throughout the following year, the battleship led her squadron as it watched over American interest in the Far East, visiting principal ports of China and Japan including Chefoo, Taku, Nanking, Woosung, Hong Kong, Amoy, Nagasaki, Kobe, and Yokohama.

Rear Admiral Frank F. Wildes also selected Kentucky as his flagship upon relieving Admiral Kempff on 1 March 1902, but he transferred his flag to Rainbow on 7 April. Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet, chose Kentucky as his flagship at Yokohama on 4 November; and he continued to direct American naval operations in the Far East from her until she sailed from Manila for home on 13 March 1904. After retracing her steps through the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar she arrived New York City on 23 May.

Upon completing overhaul in New York Navy Yard on 26 October, Kentucky devoted the following year for tactics and maneuvers off the Atlantic coast with the North Atlantic Fleet. The battleship joined the welcome of the British Squadron at Annapolis, Maryland, and New York City in the fall of 1905 and then cruised along the eastern seaboard until 23 September 1906. On that day off Provincetown, she embarked Marines from Maine, Missouri, and Kearsarge and landed them at Havana, Cuba, 1 October to protect American interests and property during the Cuban insurrection. She stood by to support forces ashore until 9 October before resuming battle practice and tactics in the North Atlantic.

Kentucky visited Norfolk, Virginia on 15 April 1907 to attend the Jamestown Exposition, and, after more exercises off the New England coast, she returned to Hampton Roads to join the "Great White Fleet" of 16 battleships for a world cruise that brought great prestige and honor to the Navy and the Nation. Rear Admiral Evans, Kentucky's former Flag Officer, commanded the fleet as it circumnavigated the globe receiving warm and enthusiastic welcomes at each port of call. As the famous voyage got underway from Hampton Roads on 16 December, Kentucky passed in review before President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt as a unit in the Second Squadron. After calling at Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro, the warships passed in order through the Straits of Magellan to visit Punta Arenas and Valparaíso, Chile. A stop at Callao Bay, Peru was followed by a month of target practice out of Magdalena Bay, Mexico. The fleet reached San Diego, California on 14 April 1908 and moved on to San Francisco, California on 7 May. Exactly two months later the spotless warships sortied through the Golden Gate and sailed for Honolulu, Hawaii. From Hawaii, they set course for Auckland, New Zealand, arriving 8 August. The fleet made Sydney, Australia on 20 August and, after a week of warm and cordial hospitality, sailed for Melbourne.

Kentucky departed Albany, Western Australia on 10 September for ports in the Philippine Islands, Japan, China, and Ceylon before transiting the Suez Canal. She departed Port Said on 8 January 1909 to visit Tripoli and Algiers with the 4th Division before reforming with the fleet at Gibraltar. Underway for home on 6 February, she again passed in review before President Roosevelt upon entering Hampton Roads on 22 February, ending a widely-acclaimed voyage of good will in which she and her sister ships subtly but effectively demonstrated American strength to the world.

After local operations and repairs at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Kentucky decommissioned at Norfolk on 28 August. She recommissioned in the Second Reserve on 4 June 1912, but except for a run to New York, did not operate at sea before being placed in ordinary in Philadelphia Navy Yard on 31 May 1913.

The veteran battleship recommissioned at Philadelphia on 23 June 1915 and sailed on 3 July to train New York militia in a cruise from Long Island to ports in New England and Chesapeake Bay. She debarked the militia at New York and sailed to Portland, Maine, to embark Maine militia for a training cruise. Returning to Philadelphia on 31 August, she sailed on 11 September for the coast of Mexico to watch over American interests during the unrest caused by the Mexican Revolution. She reached Veracruz on 28 September, and but except for a visit to New Orleans, Louisiana for Mardi Gras in March 1916, she remained on patrol off the Mexican coast until 2 June 1916.

World War I

The battleship called at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Santa Domingo en route home to Philadelphia, where she arrived on 18 June. Following maneuvers and tactics ranging north to Newport, Rhode Island during the summer, Kentucky arrived New York on 2 October and remained in the North River until the end of the year. She entered New York Naval Shipyard for repairs on 1 January 1917 and was still there when the United States entered World War I. She arrived at Yorktown, Virginia on 2 May for duty as a training ship and trained recruits on cruises in Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast as far north as Long Island Sound. When the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918, she was training her 15th group of recruits, having already trained several thousand men for service in ships of the war-expanded Navy.

Inter-war period

Kentucky entered Boston Navy Yard on 20 December for overhaul. She sailed on 18 March 1919 for refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay and then participated in fleet maneuvers and exercises ranging north from Norfolk to the New England coast. She arrived at Annapolis, Maryland on 29 May to embark midshipmen and got underway on 9 June for a summer practice cruise that took her to Cuba, the Virgin Islands, Panama, New York, Boston, and Provincetown. She returned to Annapolis on 27 August to debark her midshipmen and entered Philadelphia Navy Yard on 30 August. She remained there until decommissioning on 29 May 1920. Kentucky was sold for scrap to Dravo Construction Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 23 January 1924 in compliance with US commitments under the Washington Naval Treaty.

References

• Alden, John D. American Steel Navy: A Photographic History of the U.S. Navy from the Introduction of the Steel Hull in 1883 to the Cruise of the Great White Fleet. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989. ISBN 0870212486
• Friedman, Norman. U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0870217151
• Reilly, John C. and Robert L. Scheina. American Battleships 1996-1923: Predreadnought Design and Construction. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1980. ISBN 0870215248
• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Maritimequest USS Kentucky BB-6 Photo Gallery
• NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive BB-6 USS KENTUCKY 1896 - 1899
• NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER USS Kentucky (Battleship # 6, BB-6), 1900-1924, Selected Views