USS Kentucky (BB-6) - Pre-World War I

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 on 14 April 1908 and moved on to San Francisco 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.