USS Kentucky ( BB - 6 ) USS " Kentucky " ( BB - 6 ) , the second and last pre - dreadnought battleship , was a United States Navy ship . The Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Virginia laid down her keel on 30 June 1896 . She was launched on 24 March 1898 , sponsored by Miss Christine Bradley , daughter of Kentucky Governor William O ' Connell Bradley . She was commissioned on 15 May 1900 . In her twenty years of 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 , returning in 1909 . She was modernized in 1910 , but did not operate again until 1915 , when she sailed to the Mexican coast , where she stayed until 1916 . From 1917 until her decommissioning in 29 May 1920 , she served as a training ship . She was sold for scrap on 24 March 1923 . Design . The " Kearsarge " - class battleships were designed to be used for coastal defense . They had a displacement of , an overall length of , a beam of and a draft of . The two 3 - cylinder vertical triple - expansion steam engines and five Scotch boilers , connected to two propeller shafts , produced a total of , and gave a maximum speed of . " Kentucky " was manned by 40 officers and 514 enlisted men , a total of 554 crew . " Kentucky " , like , had two double turrets , with two guns and two guns each , stacked on 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 . The configuration caused the guns to be mounted far back in the turret , making the ports very large . Admiral William Sims claimed that as a result of the gun mounting , a shell fired into the port could reach the magazines below , disabling the guns . In addition to these guns , " Kentucky " carried fourteen guns , twenty 6 - pounder ( ) guns , eight 1 - pounder ( ) guns , four machine guns , and four torpedo tube s . " Kentucky " had a very low freeboard , often making her guns unusable during bad weather . The ship ' s waterline armor belt was thick . Her main gun turrets were protected by of armor , while the secondary turrets had of armor . The barbette s were thick , and the conning tower had of armor . The ship ' s armor was made of harveyized steel . Construction . " Kentucky " was authorized on 2 March 1895 . The contract for her construction was awarded on 2 January 1896 , and her keel was laid down on 30 June 1896 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Virginia . The total cost was $ 4 , 998 , 119 . 43 . In preparation for the " Kentucky " s christening , the Navy asked Kentucky Governor William O ' Connell 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 were a family of teetotalers , so Governor Bradley sent a bottle of water from Lincoln Spring in Hodgenville , Kentucky , for Christine to use during the ceremony . " Kentucky " was christened on 24 March 1898 , the same day as her sister ship , " Kearsarge " . Soon after Miss 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 the Governor ' s daughter with a gift of a silver tray , a 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 on 15 May 1900 , under the command of Captain Colby Mitchell Chester . Service history . During the summer of 1900 , " Kentucky " was fitted out in the New York Navy Yard . On 26 October , during the Boxer Rebellion , she left Tompkinsville , Staten Island for China , passing through Gibraltar and the Suez Canal . On 5 February 1901 she arrived at Manila , and on 23 March she replaced the as the flagship of Rear Admiral Louis Kempff . Between 1901 and 1904 , " Kentucky " visited numerous ports in China and Japan , including Chefoo , Wusong , Nanking , Taku Forts , Hong Kong , Xiamen , Nagasaki , Kobe , and Yokohama . In 1902 , " Kentucky " became the flagship of Rear Admiral Frank Wildes , although he moved his flag to the distilling ship on 12 April 1902 . In November 1902 , she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Robley D . Evans . On 13 March 1904 she sailed from Manila , passing through the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar , and arriving at New York City on 21 May . After receiving upgrades at the New York Navy Yard , including the addition of smoke ejectors , " Kentucky " joined the North Atlantic Squadron . The battleship participated in the welcome of the British North Atlantic Squadron at Annapolis , Maryland , in October 1905 . During the 1906 Cuban Insurrection , she carried Marines to Cuba , embarking them from Provincetown on 23 September , and landing them at Havana , Cuba , on 1 October . She remained there until 9 October , and then returned to New England . " Kentucky " attended the Jamestown Exposition at Norfolk , Virginia , on 15 April 1907 , and then participated in exercises off the New England coast . In 1907 , the Great White Fleet was ordered by U . S . President Theodore Roosevelt to circle the world , as a demonstration of the might of the United States Navy . " Kentucky " was attached to the Fourth Division of the Second Squadron , and was commanded by Captain Walter C . Cowles , while the fleet as a whole was commanded by Rear Admiral Evans , " Kentucky " s former flag officer . On 16 December 1907 , the fleet saluted the presidential yacht , and left from Hampton Roads . The fleet then sailed south , passing Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro , and going through the Straits of Magellan . From there she passed the west coast of South America , visiting Punta Arenas and Valparaíso , Chile , Callao , Peru , and Magdalena Bay , Mexico . The fleet arrived at San Diego on 14 April 1908 and continued to San Francisco on 6 May . Two months later it arrived at Honolulu , and from there sailed to Auckland , New Zealand , arriving on 9 August . On 20 August , the fleet reached Sydney , Australia , and a week later sailed for Melbourne . " Kentucky " departed Albany , Western Australia , on 18 September , passing through ports in the Philippine Islands , Japan , China , and Ceylon before traveling through the Suez Canal . The fleet split at Port Said on 8 January 1909 , with " Kentucky " visiting Tripoli and Algiers before rejoining the other ships at Gibraltar . She returned to Hampton Roads on 22 February , and was inspected by President Roosevelt . As with most of the Great White Fleet ships , the " Kentucky " was modernized on her return . She was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 28 August 1909 , and her modernization was completed in 1911 , at a cost of $ 675 , 000 . The ship received cage masts , new water - tube boilers , and another four 5 - inch guns . The 1 - pounder guns were removed , as were sixteen of the 6 - pounders . On 4 June 1912 , she was recommissioned in the Second Reserve , and on 31 May 1913 she was transferred to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in Philadelphia . She was recommissioned again at Philadelphia on 23 June 1915 . On 11 September that year , following the United States occupation of Veracruz , she sailed to Mexico , arriving at Veracruz on 28 September . She remained there during the Mexican Revolution , staying until 2 June 1916 , except for a visit to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras festival in March 1916 . The battleship stopped at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Santo Domingo on her way back to Philadelphia , arriving there on 18 June 1916 . From July until September , she trained militiamen near Block Island and Boston . On 2 October " Kentucky " returned to New York , and entered the New York Naval Shipyard on 2 January 1917 , remaining there until the United States entered World War I . She arrived at Yorktown , Virginia on 2 May , and trained recruits along the Atlantic coast , from Chesapeake Bay to Long Island Sound . During the war , she trained several thousand men , in 15 groups of recruits . " Kentucky " was overhauled at the Boston Navy Yard , beginning on 20 December 1918 . On 18 March 1919 , she left for exercises in Guantanamo Bay , Norfolk , and along the New England coast . Between 29 May and 30 August 1919 , " Kentucky " trained United States Naval Academy midshipmen . Following World War I , the United States agreed to the Washington Naval Treaty , which was aimed at preventing a naval arms race by limiting the size of the signatories ' fleets . As a result , many old and obsolete ships were scrapped , including the " Kentucky " . She was decommissioned on 29 May 1920 . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 27 May 1922 and she was sold for scrap to Dravo Corporation on 24 March 1923 . Bibliography . Books Newspapers Journals Online resources