| U. S. Battleship Kentucky |
| The Kentucky is one of the battleships of the Atlantic Fleet under Admiral Henry T. Mayo, and, at the opening of the present war, was in the second line or line of inner defense. |
| It is one of the older warships, its keel having been laid in 1896. It has a displacement of 11,520 tons, a speed of nearly 17 knots and an armament of 4 13-inch, 4 8-inch and 18 5-inch guns. It carries 35 officers and 616 men. It cost $4,998,119. |
| The Kentucky was one of nine battleships designated by the government to be used last summer, -- the summer of 1916, -- as naval training ships for civilians. At that time hundreds of men from all over the United States took advantage of the four weeks naval training cruise offered. The men did the work of the regular seamen. They dressed in regulation sailor clothes, slept in hammocks, ate, drilled, cleaned ship, scrubbed clothes and followed the daily routine of work just as if they were regulars. They learned as much as possible about the working of the ship's machinery and the ship's armament and had considerable drill practice. |
| It has been said that it takes two years of the hardest and most conscientious work and study to make a seaman. The last congress authorized an increase of 26,000 men in the navy. These men must be fitted as soon as possible for war. While the training cruise of last summer was but one small step toward preparedness, yet it showed that American civilians are very apt in naval lessons and can speedily be trained to fill positions in the Marine Corps. |
| Stereoview by Keystone View Company, Manufactures, Publishers, Meadville, Pa., New York, N.Y., Portland, Oregon, London, Eng., Sydney, Aus. Coyright 1907. |
