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USS Kentucky (BB-6)

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Revision as of 20:13, 5 January 2013 by Khazar2 (talk | contribs) (clean up, replaced: twenty year → twenty-year using AWB (8564))(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For other ships with the same name, see USS Kentucky.

USS KentuckyUSS Kentucky, circa 1905-08
History
US
BuilderNewport News SB&DD
Laid down30 June 1896
Launched24 March 1898
Sponsored byMiss Christine Bradley
Commissioned15 May 1900
Decommissioned28 August 1909
Refit1910
Recommissioned23 June 1915
Decommissioned29 May 1920
Stricken27 May 1922
FateSold for scrap, 23 March 1923
General characteristics
Class and typeKearsarge-class pre-dreadnought battleships
Displacement11,540 tons (10,450 tonnes)
Length375 ft 4 in (114.40 m)
Beam72 ft 3 in (22.02 m)
Draft23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)
Installed power10,000 hp (7,500 kW)
PropulsionVTE engines, 5 boilers
Speed16.9 kn (19.4 mph; 31.3 km/h)
Complement554 officers and men
Armamentlist error: mixed text and list (help)
  • 4 × 13 in (330 mm)/35 cal guns
  • 4 × 8 in (200 mm)/35 cal guns
  • 14 × 5 in (130 mm)/40 cal 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
Armorlist error: mixed text and list (help)
  • Belt: 5–16.5 in (127–419 mm)
  • Barbettes: 12.5–15 in (318–381 mm)
  • Turret (Mains): 15–17 in (381–432 mm)
  • Turret (secondary): 6–11 in (152–279 mm)
  • Conning tower: 10 in (254 mm)

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 15 May 1900.

In her twenty-year service, Kentucky participated in no major combat. Between 1901 and 1904 she served in East Asia, and from 1904 to 1907 she cruised the Atlantic. In 1907 she joined the Great White Fleet, with which she circumnavigated the world, until returning in 1909. She was modernized in 1910, but did not operate again until 1915, when she sailed to the Mexican cost, where she stayed until 1916. From 1917 till decommissioning in 29 May 1920, she served as a training ship.

Design

Main article: Kearsarge class battleship

Kentucky, like USS Kearsarge, had two double turrets, with two 13 in (330 mm) guns and two 8 in (200 mm) guns each, stacked in two levels. The guns and turret armor were designed by the Bureau of Ordnance, while the turret itself was designed by the Bureau of Construction and Repair. This caused the guns to be mounted far back in the turret, making the ports very large. This was claimed to be a problem since a shell fired into the port could reach the magazines below, disabling the guns. In addition to these guns, Kentucky carried fourteen 5 in (130 mm) guns, twenty 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) guns, eight 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) guns, four .30 in (7.6 mm) machine guns, and four 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes.

Construction

Kentucky was laid down on 30 June 1896 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia. In preparation for the christening of the Kentucky, the Navy asked Kentucky Governor William O. Bradley to select a member of his family to perform the ceremony. Bradley chose his daughter, Christine, who was attending school in Washington, D. C. The Bradleys as a family were teetotalers. Governor Bradley sent a bottle of water from Lincoln Spring in Hodgenville, Kentucky for Christine to use during the ceremony. Soon after Ms. Bradley broke the bottle of water over the Kentucky's bow, a delegation from the Women's Christian Temperance Union, led by Frances Beauchamp, presented Christine Bradley with a gift of a silver tray, water pitcher, and two goblets. The inscription read, "Kentucky Christian Temperance Union to Miss Christine Bradley, as a tribute to her loyalty to conviction in the christening of the Battleship Kentucky with water. March 10, 1898." Kentucky was commissioned for the first time on 15 May 1900, under the command of Captain Colby Mitchell Chester.

Service history

Early career

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 in the Far East, visiting principal ports of China and Japan including Chefoo, Woo Sung, Nanking, Taku, Hong Kong, Amoy, Nagasaki, Kobe, and Yokohama.

Rear Admiral Frank F. Wildes also selected Kentucky as his flagship upon relieving Admiral Kempff in 1902, but later he transferred his flag to Rainbow. Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, Commander in Chief of the Asiatic Fleet, chose Kentucky as his flagship in 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 passing through the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar she arrived New York City on 21 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. On 23 September 1906, while off Provincetown, she embarked Marines and landed them at Havana, Cuba on 1 October to protect American interests and property during the Cuban insurrection. She stood by to support forces ashore until 9 October before returning to New England.

Great White Fleet

The Kentucky at Sydney, as part of the Great White Fleet, late August 1908. The Kentucky shows the white hull after which the fleet was named.

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. Rear Admiral Evans, Kentucky's former Flag Officer, commanded the fleet. The voyage left from Hampton Roads on 16 December, passed by Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro, and then passed through the Straits of Magellan. From there she passed by the west coast of South America, visiting Punta Arenas and Valparaíso, Chile, Callao Bay, Peru, and Magdalena Bay, Mexico. The fleet reached San Diego on 14 April 1908 and moved on to San Francisco on 6 May. Two months later the warships sailed for Honolulu, Hawaii, and from their to Auckland, New Zealand, arriving 9 August. The fleet made Sydney, Australia on 20 August and after a week sailed for Melbourne.

Kentucky departed Albany, Western Australia on 18 September for ports in the Philippine Islands, Japan, China, and Ceylon before transiting the Suez Canal. The fleet split at Port Said on 8 January 1909, with Kentucky visiting Tripoli and Algiers before reforming with the fleet at Gibraltar. She returned to Hampton Roads on 22 February.

1909–1916

After local operations and repairs at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Kentucky decommissioned 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. From July till September she trained militiamen near Block Island and Boston. On 11 September she sailed to Mexico, arriving at Veracruz 28 September. She remained there to watch over American interests during the Mexican Revolution, staying there until 2 June 1916 (except for a visit to New Orleans, Louisiana for Mardi Gras in March 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.

Fate

Kentucky entered Boston Navy Yard on 20 December 1918 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 in compliance with US commitments under the Washington Naval Treaty. Kentucky was sold for scrap to Dravo Construction Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 23 January 1924.

References

Public Domain This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

  1. ^ "Kentucky is Launched" (PDF). Houston Daily Post. 25 March 1898. p. 4. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  2. ^ Chesneau, Roger; Koleśnik, Eugène M.; Campbell, N.J.M. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. p. 141. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
  3. ^ Bogart, Charles H. (March 2010). "USS Kentucky (BB 6) at Vera Cruz, Mexico 1915-1916" (PDF). Universal Ship Cancellation Society Log. Universal Ship Cancellation Society: 14–16. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  4. ^ "The Kentucky in Commission" (PDF). Alexandria Gazette. 15 May 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  5. ^ Harris, James Russell (1992). "Kentucky, U.S.S.". In Kleber, John E. (ed.). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. The University Press of Kentucky. p. 489. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  6. ^ Toppan, Andrew. "World Battleships List: US Predreadnought Battleships". Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  7. ^ "Scrapped American Battleship To Sink With Honors of War" (PDF). New York Tribune. 15 January 1922. p. 12. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
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  9. ^ Friedman, Norman (1985). U.S. Battleships, An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-715-1.
  10. ^ Clark, Thomas D.; Lane, Margaret A. (2002). The People's House: Governor's Mansions of Kentucky. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 65–66. ISBN 0-8131-2253-8. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
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  15. ^ "Washington Notes" (PDF). The Saint Paul Globe. 15 October 1901. p. 1. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
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  23. ^ "Kentucky Breaks Record of World" (PDF). Daily Public Ledger. Maysville, Kentucky. 26 May 1904. p. 3. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  24. ^ "Go to Meet the Prince" (PDF). The Salt Lake Tribune. 31 October 1905. p. 10. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
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  28. Crawford, Michael J. (12 May 2008). The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet: Honoring 100 Years of Global Partnerships and Security. Government Printing Office. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-945274-59-9. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  29. "Many States Send Naval Militiamen for Practise Cruise on Battleships" (PDF). The Ogden Standard. 25 July 1916. p. 9. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  30. "Civilians Off on Navy Practice Cruise" (PDF). The Ogden Standard. 19 August 1916. p. 3. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  31. "Naval Training Cruise" (PDF). Kentucky Irish American. 2 September 1916. p. 4. Retrieved 2 January 2013.

Bibliography

External links

Kearsarge-class battleships
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