USS Kentucky (BB-66)

Kentucky under construction; the round barbettes which would have held her 16-inch (406 mm) main battery are prominent
History
United States
NamesakeState of Kentucky
Ordered9 September 1940
BuilderNorfolk Naval Shipyard
Laid down7 March 1942
Launched20 January 1950
CompletedNot completed
ReclassifiedBBG-1 from BB-66
Stricken9 June 1958
FateSold for scrapping 31 October 1958
General characteristics (as planned)
Class and typeIowa-class battleship
Displacement
  • 45,000 long tons (46,000 t) light
  • 55,250 long tons (56,140 t) full load
Length887 ft 3 in (270.43 m)
Beam108 ft 2 in (32.97 m)
Draft35 ft 10 in (10.92 m) (full load)
Installed power212,000 shp (158,000 kW)
Speed33 kn (38 mph; 61 km/h)
Complement151 officers, 2,637 enlisted
Armament
Armor
  • Belt: 12.1 in (307 mm)
  • Bulkheads: 14.5 in (368 mm)
  • Barbettes: 11.6 to 17.3 in (295 to 439 mm)
  • Turrets: 19.5 in (495 mm)
  • Decks:
  • main 1.5 in (38 mm)
  • second 6.0 in (152 mm)
Aircraft carried3 × Vought OS2U Kingfisher/Curtiss SC Seahawk floatplanes

USS[a] Kentucky (BB-66) was an uncompleted battleship intended to be the last ship of the Iowa class. Hull BB-66 was originally to be the second ship of the Montana-class battleships. However, the urgent need for more warships at the outbreak of World War II and the U.S. Navy's experiences in the Pacific theater led it to conclude that rather than battleships larger and more heavily armed than the Iowa class, it quickly needed more fast battleships of that class to escort the new Essex-class aircraft carriers being built. As a result, hulls BB-65 and BB-66 were reordered and laid down as Iowa-class battleships in 1942.

As such, she was intended to be the sixth and final member of the Iowa-class constructed. At the time of her construction she was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Like her sister ship Illinois, laid down as one of the last pair of Iowa-class ahead of her, Kentucky was still under construction at the end of hostilities and became caught up in the post-war draw-down of the armed services. Her construction was suspended twice, during which times she served as a parts hulk. In the 1950s, several proposals were made to complete the ship as a guided missile battleship, abandoned primarily due to cost concerns and the rapid pace of evolving missile technology. Kentucky ultimately was sold for scrap in 1958.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).