_underway_c1951.jpeg) USSKidd underway, 1951 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Kidd |
| Namesake | Isaac C. Kidd |
| Builder | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company |
| Laid down | 16 October 1942 |
| Launched | 28 February 1943 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Isaac C. Kidd |
| Commissioned | 23 April 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 10 December 1946 |
| Recommissioned | 28 March 1951 |
| Decommissioned | 19 June 1964 |
| Stricken | 1 December 1974 |
| Identification |
|
| Nickname(s) | Pirate of the Atlantic & Pacific |
| Honors and awards | SeeAwards |
| Status | Museum ship inBaton Rouge,Louisiana |
| Badge | _insignia%2c_in_the_1960s_(NH_64750-KN).png) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Fletcher-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 2,050 tons |
| Length | 376 ft (115 m) |
| Beam | 39 ft 8 in (12.09 m) |
| Draft | 17 ft 9 in (5.41 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 329 |
| Armament |
|
USSKidd (DD-661) | |
_in_Baton_Rouge%2c_Louisiana_(USA)%2c_on_26_February_2015.jpg) Kidd serves as part of the Louisiana Veterans Memorial. | |
  | |
| Location | 305 South River Road,Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Coordinates | 30°26′40″N91°11′29″W / 30.44431°N 91.19151°W /30.44431; -91.19151 |
| Built | 1943 |
| Architect | US Navy |
| NRHP reference No. | 83000502[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 9 August 1983 |
| Designated NHL | 14 January 1986[2] |
USSKidd (DD-661), aFletcher-classdestroyer, was the first ship of theUnited States Navy to be named afterRear AdmiralIsaac C. Kidd, who died on the bridge of hisflagshipUSS Arizona during the 1941 Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor. Admiral Kidd was the first USflag officer to die duringWorld War II and the first American admiral ever to be killed in action.[3] ANational Historic Landmark, she is now amuseum ship, berthed on theMississippi River inBaton Rouge, Louisiana. Along with USS Slater (DE 766), Kidd is only one of two surviving US destroyers preserved in her World War II configuration. She is one of four remainingFletcher-class destroyers remaining in the world.
Kidd waslaunched on 28 February 1943 byFederal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. at its yard inKearny, New Jersey,sponsored by Mrs. Isaac C. Kidd, widow of Rear Admiral Kidd. The destroyer wascommissioned on 23 April 1943. During her initial cruise to theBrooklyn Navy Yard, she sailed acrossNew York Harbor with theJolly Roger flying from the foremast. Subsequently, during outfitting, her crew adopted thepirate captainWilliam Kidd as their mascot and commissioned a local artist to paint a pirate figure on the forward smokestack. After shakedown out ofCasco Bay,Maine, in June,Kidd cruised in the Atlantic Ocean andCaribbean Sea escorting large combatant vessels until she departed for the Pacific Ocean in August 1943 in company with thebattleshipsAlabama andSouth Dakota. Arriving atPearl Harbor,Hawaii, on 17 September 1943,Kidd got underway on 29 September, escortingaircraft carriers towardWake Island for the heavy air attacks conducted on 6 October on Japanese installations located there, returning to Pearl Harbor on 11 October 1943.
In mid-OctoberKidd was underway with a task force tostrikeRabaul and support theBougainville landings. Upon reaching a strike position south of Rabaul on the morning of 11 November, the task force launched attacks upon Japanese positions on the island.Kidd was ordered to rescue the crew of an aircraft fromEssex, which had ditched astern of the formation. During this rescue, a group of Japanese aircraft attacked the destroyer;Kidd shot down three attacking aircraft and completed the rescue while maneuvering to dodgetorpedoes and bombs. Cmdr. Roby, her commanding officer, received theSilver Star for gallantry during this action. The destroyer returned toEspiritu Santo on 13 November.
_underway_off_Roi_on_12_June_1944.jpg)
Kidd next screened carriers making air attacks onTarawa during theGilbert Islands invasion from 19 to 23 November. On 24 November, she spotted 15 low-flying enemybomber aircraft heading toward the heavy ships, gave warning, and shot down twoAichi D3A "Val"dive bombers. After Tarawa was secure,Kidd remained in the Gilbert Islands to support cleanup operations before returning to Pearl Harbor on 9 December. On 11 January 1944Kidd sailed for the forward area at Espiritu Santo, then sailed the next day forFunafuti, arriving on 19 January. During the invasion of theMarshall Islands from 29 January to 8 February,Kidd screened heavy ships and bombardedRoi andWotje, then anchored atKwajalein 26 February. From 20 March to 14 April,Kidd guarded anairstrip under construction on Emirau and supported the occupation ofAitape andHollandia inNew Guinea 16 April to 7 May. She fought in theMarianas campaign from 10 June to 8 July and performedshore bombardment atGuam between 8 July and 10 August.
In need of repairs,Kidd sailed for Pearl Harbor, arriving on 26 August 1944. On 15 September, she departed Pearl Harbor, reachedEniwetok on 26 September and arrived atManus on 3 October. There, she became part of the giant Philippines invasion fleet and enteredLeyte Gulf on 20 October, where she screened the initial landings and provided fire support for soldiers who fought to reconquer the island until she sailed on 14 November forHumboldt Bay, New Guinea, arriving on 19 November. On 9 DecemberKidd headed towardMare Island Navy Yard for overhaul and moored atMare Island onChristmas Day.
Kidd sailed 19 February 1945 to joinTask Force 58 (TF 58) for theinvasion of Okinawa. She played a key role during the first days of the Okinawa campaign, screening battleships, bombarding shore targets, rescuing downed pilots, sinking floatingmines, providing early warning of raids, guarding the heavily damaged aircraft carrierFranklin, and helping to shoot downkamikazes. While on picket station 11 April 1945,Kidd and her division mates,Black,Bullard, andChauncey, with the help ofCombat Air Patrol, repelled three air raids. That afternoon, a single enemy plane crashed intoKidd, killing 38 men and wounding 55. As the destroyer headed south to rejoin thetask group, her fire drove off further enemy planes that were trying to finish her off. Stopping atUlithi for temporary repairs, she got underway on 2 May for theWest Coast, arriving atHunter's Point Naval Shipyard on 25 May. On 1 August 1945,Kidd sailed to Pearl Harbor and returned toSan Diego, California, on 24 September 1945 for inactivation. Shedecommissioned on 10 December 1946 and entered thePacific Reserve Fleet.
_dropping_depth_charges%2c_in_1958.jpg)
When North Korea attacked South Korea, the United States called up a portion of its reserve fleet.Kidd was a part of that call and was recommissioned on 28 March 1951. The destroyer sailed to the Western Pacific on 18 June and arrived atYokosuka, Japan, on 15 July. She joined Task Force 77 and patrolled off the Korean coast until 21 September, when she sailed for the East Coast of Korea. From 21 October to 22 January 1952,Kidd bombarded targets of opportunity fromWan-Do Island to belowKoesong. She then sailed with Destroyer Division 152 to San Diego, arriving on 6 February 1952.
Kidd again got underway for Korea on 8 September 1952, joined the screen of a hunter-killer group nearKojo, and in November was back on bombardment missions off North Korea. Shortly after that, truce talks began.Kidd continued to patrol the Korean coast during negotiations. She departed the Far East on 3 March 1953 viaMidway and Pearl Harbor and arrived in San Diego for overhaul on 20 March. Once the overhaul was completed,Kidd proceeded toLong Beach, California, on 20 April 1953. The next day, the Swedish freighterHainan collided withKidd in Long Beach Harbor, requiring repairs that lasted until 11 May 1953.
With the onset of theCold War, from late 1953 to late 1959,Kidd alternated between West Pacific anti-Soviet submarine patrols with operations on the West Coast, making stops at Pearl Harbor and various ports in Japan,Okinawa,Hong Kong, and the Philippines. She visitedSydney, Australia, on 29 March 1958 and later that year entered theTaiwan Strait.
Kidd got underway on 5 January 1960 for the East Coast via thePanama Canal, arriving atPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, on 25 January. From there, she madeNaval Reserve training cruises to variousEast Coast ports. She joined fleet operating forces during theBerlin Crisis in 1961. December 1961 foundKidd patrolling off the Dominican Republic in a "show of force" patrol to provide an element of security in the troubled Caribbean.
Kidd arrived atNorfolk, Virginia, on 5 February 1962 and joined Task Force Alfa forantisubmarine warfare exercises. On 24 April, she was assigned to the Naval Destroyer School atNewport, Rhode Island. After a cruise to the Caribbean, on 1 July 1962, she resumed Naval Reserve training.Kidd was decommissioned on 19 June 1964, entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, and was berthed at thePhiladelphia Shipyard.
_at_Baton_Rouge_on_dock_2008.jpg)
The Navy set aside threeFletcher-class ships for use asmemorials:The Sullivans,Cassin Young, andKidd.Louisiana CongressmanWilliam Henson Moore selectedKidd to serve as a memorial for Louisiana World War II veterans. The otherFletcher-class museum ships are:The Sullivans inBuffalo, New York;Cassin Young inBoston, Massachusetts; and inPalaio Faliro,Greece, HSVelos, formerlyCharrette.
Kidd was towed from Philadelphia and arrived atBaton Rouge on 23 May 1982, where she was transferred to the Louisiana Naval War Memorial Commission. She then went on public view as a museum vessel and hosts youth group overnight encampments.Kidd was never modernized and is the onlyFletcher-class museum ship to retain its World War II appearance; she was restored to her August 1945 configuration and armament.Kidd's special mooring in theMississippi River is designed to cope with the annual change in river depth, which can be up to 40 feet. Half the year, she floats as the river rises; the other half, she sits on keel blocks, and her entire hull can be visible as the water is so low.
In February 2020, the museum announced plans to takeKidd to drydock to deal with four small hull leaks that had appeared in September 2019. The ship had last been drydocked for structural maintenance in Philadelphia in 1962.[4] In 2023, the Louisiana legislature approved approximately $10 million to fund the drydocking, based on an economic impact survey showing that the museum contributes significantly to the local and state economy through its impact on tourism.[5][6] In 2025, the legislature approved an additional appropriation of approximately four million dollars to complete unanticipated repairs of issues that were discoverable only after blasting of the hull had taken place.[7]
On 25 April 2024,Kidd was removed from her mooring cradle and moved to a berthing one mile downstream for Coast Guard inspection. On 29 April, she began a three-day journey down the Mississippi River, through the Gulf of Mexico, and up the Houma Navigational Canal to Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors in Houma, Louisiana. She entered drydock on 13 August 2024. Work included measures to preserve her hull and superstructure. The ship's rudder which had been modified and enlarged by the U.S. Navy in 1951 to overcome a design flaw affecting her turning radius was backfit to its original size while in drydock. Along with repairs and preservation work on the ship's hull and structural framework, the museum took the opportunity afforded by the shipyard visit to backfit two areas of the ship's interior, removing Cold War era modifications and equipment. This will allowKidd to move even closer to an authentic 1945 configuration by being the only destroyer capable of presenting and interpreting the segregated sleeping space for African American and other minority crew members that existed prior to 1948. The ship was repainted in her Measure 32/10D "dazzle" camouflage from 1944 as part of a limited period rotating educational effort that will see her ultimately return to her 1945 Measure 22 camouflage. Restoration of her cradle mooring system in Baton Rouge was accomplished while she was away.Kidd left drydock on 11 November 2025. She will remain in the shipyard until Spring of 2026 when the Mississippi River rises high enough to allow her entrance back into her mooring cradle in Baton Rouge.[8][9]
In 1986,Kidd was designated aNational Historic Landmark, as the best-preserved World War II destroyer of her class.[10]
On September 12-13 of 1957, while serving as part of Destroyer Division 152 based out of San Diego,Kidd was used for the filming ofRun Silent Run Deep. She portrayed the Japanese destroyerAkikaze, nicknamed "Bungo Pete" in the movie's fictional storyline.[11]
Kidd briefly appeared in the Louisiana Public Broadcasting scholastic seriesEnviro-Tacklebox in the October 2001 episode "Non-Native Invasion."[12]
Kidd appears in the History Channel documentary seriesBattle Stations in a 2001 episode entitled "The Destroyer."[13] She also appeared in the documentary seriesModern Marvels in a 2007 episode similarly entitled "The Destroyers."
In November 2011,Kidd's IC-Plot (Internal Communications & Plotting) doubled for that ofUSSMissouri during the filming ofBattleship. Three of her volunteers appear on screen with Rihanna in the scenes where her character leads fire control during the final battle.[14]
In August 2014,Kidd was used in filming Season 1, Episode 2 (titled "Carrier") ofNCIS: New Orleans. Close-in camera shots were used to hide her World War II configuration. A CGI overlay portrayed her asUSS Geronimo, a modernArleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, for distance shots. Her World War II armament does appear in the background of some mid-distance shots.[15]
In 2018,Kidd was used as a stand-in for the fictionalFletcher-class USSKeeling (codenamed "Greyhound"), from C.S. Forester's novelThe Good Shepherd, in its appearance in the book's cinematic adaptation,Greyhound.[16][17]
In 2022,Kidd and her shoreside museum appeared on theDisney+ seriesNational Treasure: Edge of History.[18]
Kidd has been used in the creation of several video games, includingDestroyer Command,World of Warships, andDestroyer: The U-boat Hunter.[19][20][21]
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This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere. This article incorporatespublic domain material fromKidd (DD-661) at theNaval Vessel Register.
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