Isaac Campbell Kidd |
Rear Admiral - Commander of Battleship Division One |
USS Kidd (DD-661) Destroyer |
Three years prior to the attack, Captain Isaac Kidd took command of the USS Arizona. He was the 19th captain of the ship. Kidd was not only commander of the ship, but to many of the men of the Arizona, he was a kind father figure. While in port on one occasion in 1939, Fireman Second Class Everett Reid was on the quarterdeck of the Arizona awaiting a motor launch. He was wearing his dress blue uniform. Captain Kidd happened to walk by and asked Reid why he was dressed as such. A bugler on watch sounded the call for the gig, and soon it came alongside the captain's gangway. Thereupon, Kidd said, "Everett, be my guest." Reid saluted and thanked the captain for the opportunity to travel in style on his wedding day. In February 1940, Captain Kidd was promoted to Rear Admiral. He took command of Battleship Division One and remained on the Arizona which became his flagship. (Besides the Arizona, he oversaw the battleships USS Nevada and USS Oklahoma.) Being an admiral never stopped him from showing kindness to his men. Now, as general quarters sounded at about 7:55 a.m., on the Arizona on December 7, 1941, Admiral Kidd was in his quarters. (His cabin was at the stern, second deck, on the right side.) He immediately rushed to his general quarters station on the flag bridge. A few minutes after 8 a.m., an armor-piercing bomb penetrated the deck on the right side between gun turrets one and two. The bomb ignited the forward magazines below. The intense blast of fire and shock waves that ensued swept back to the foremast and superstructure. Everything and anyone in its path was instantly incinerated. After the fires were out, over two days later, salvage crews boarded the Arizona. One of them found a Naval Academy class ring fused to the steel top of the conning tower. There were no human remains, but the ring was from the Class of 1906 - Kidd's graduation year. Kidd was the first U.S. Navy flag officer killed in action during World War II. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, our country's highest military medal, and the Purple Heart. In 1943, the destroyer, USS Kidd (DD-661), was commissioned in his honor. |
Written by Neal Niiyama (USS Arizona Memorial Park Ranger). Reprinted with permission from the author and the Arizona Memorial Museum Association Originally published in the Fall/Winter 2000 Membership Newsletter "Remembrance". |
Class: Fletcher Type: Destroyer Launched: 28 February 1943 At: Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey Commissioned: 23 April 1943 Length: 376 feet, 5 inches Beam: 39 feet, 7 inches Draft: 18 feet Displacement: 2,952 tons Armament: Five 5-inch/38 caliber guns; five 21-inch torpedo tubes; 40mm and 20mm guns; depth charges Address: Louisiana Naval War Memorial 305 South River Road Baton Rouge, LA 70802 Tel: (225) 342-1942 Fax: (225) 342-2039 Email: kidd661@aol.com http://www.usskidd.com/index.html From I-10 or I-12 (heading west): I-10 and I-12 merge. Follow I-10/I-12 to I-110 North, take the Government Street exit, and turn left at bottom of ramp and go straight to the Mississippi River. Representative of the Fletcher class destroyers that formed the backbone of U.S. destroyer forces in World War II, USS Kidd is named for Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who was killed aboard his flagship, USS Arizona, when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Kidd saw heavy action in World War II, participating in nearly every important naval campaign in the Pacific, winning eight battle stars. Kidd and her crew fought gallantly during the invasion of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, the Philippines at Leyte Gulf, and off Okinawa, where she survived a kamikaze attack. In 1951, the destroyer was deployed to Korean waters, where it won another four battle stars for service. Decommissioned in 1964, Kidd entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and was berthed at Philadelphia until 1982, when ownership was transferred to the Louisiana Naval War Memorial Commission. Never modernized, Kidd is the only destroyer to retain its World War II appearance. She is now on public view as a museum vessel in Baton Rouge. Kidd conducts youth group overnight encampments. USS Kidd is a National Historic Landmark. |
