USS Kentucky (BB-6), was the second and final Kearsarge-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the United States Navy in the 1890s. Designed for coastal defense, the Kearsarge-class battleships had a low freeboard and heavy armor. The ships carried an armament of four 13-inch (330 mm) and four 8-inch (203 mm) guns in an unusual two-story turret arrangement. The Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Virginia laid down her keel on 30 June 1896. She was launched on 24 March 1898 and was commissioned on 15 May 1900.

The 8"/35 caliber gun Mark 3 and Mark 4 were used for the main batteries of the United States Navy's first armored cruisers and the secondary batteries for their first battleships, the Indiana-class. The 8"/40 caliber gun Mark 5 initially armed the Pennsylvania-class armored cruisers.