US Battleship USS Kentucky Battleship BB-6

US Pre-Dreadnought Battleship USS Kentucky Battleship BB-6

USS Kentucky Battleship BB-6 was the second and last of the Kearsarge-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the US Navy. Laid down on 30 June 1896 and launched on 24 March 1898, she was commissioned on 15 May 1900. An unusual design aspect was the positioning of the 8-inch guns in a two-story arrangement on top of the 13-inch turrets.

Between 1901 and 1904, Kentucky served in East Asia, and from 1904 to 1907 she cruised the Atlantic. In 1907, she joined the Great White Fleet on its world tour, returning to the United States in 1909. She was modernized between 1909 and 1911, but did not operate again until 1915, when she sailed to the Mexican coast to participate in the American intervention in the Mexican Revolution, where she stayed until 1916. From 1917 until her decommissioning on 29 May 1920, she served as a training ship. She was sold for scrap on 24 March 1923.

USS Kentucky BB-6, March 24th, 1898 prior to launching

View from the bridge of the Kentucky BB-6 alongside the outfitting pier at Newport News Shipbuilding, in the foreground is the Kearsarge BB-5. Dates to Jan of 1900

USS Kentucky BB-6 on sea trials, November 1899. Note that her broadside 5-inch guns have not yet been installed

USS Kentucky BB-6 on trials in November 1899. Note that her broadside 5-inch guns have not yet been installed.

USS Kentucky BB-6 in 1900, when first completed

USS Kentucky BB-6 leaving the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. Yard upon completion, 31 May 1900

USS Kentucky BB-6, July 1900, a few months after she was commissioned

USS Kentucky BB-6 in October 1900, after repainting the entire superstructure buff colour

Prior to USS Kentucky BB-6’s 25 October 1900 departure for the Far East

USS Kentucky BB-6 May 1901

USS Kentucky BB-6 from bow in 1901

USS Kentucky Battleship BB-6 in the early 1900s

USS Kentucky BB-6 during the early 1900s

USS Kentucky BB-6

USS Kentucky BB-6 un the early 1900s, while painted with buff coloured superstructure down to the main deck

USS Kentucky BB-6 circa 1905-08, after being repainted with buff colour above the first superstructure deck and white below that level

USS Kentucky BB-6 on 2 May 1907, after removal of her hull-casemate 6-pounders and torpedo tubes

USS Kentucky BB-6

USS Kentucky BB-6 in Sydney Harbor, Australia, in late August 1908 during the Great White Fleet

USS Kentucky BB-6 off New York City during a Naval Review, circa 1912

USS Kentucky BB-6 circa 1918, while serving as a training ship. Most of her main deck 5-inch guns have been removed

July 7, 1919 USS Kentucky BB-6 in the Panama Canal

December 1919 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard by the Public Ledger Co. From left to right USS Illinois (BB-7), Wisconsin (BB-9), Iowa (BB-4), Massachusetts (BB-2), Indiana (BB-1), Kearsarge (BB-5), Kentucky (BB-6) and Maine (BB-10)