The USS KIDD (DD-661) is a Fletcher-class destroyer, the six hundred sixty-first destroyer built by the United States Navy. In the traditional system of naming destroyers after Naval heroes, she was named after Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd, Sr. who was killed aboard his flagship, USS ARIZONA (BB-39) during the surprise attack by the Japanese on the American fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Built at Federal Shipbuilding & Dry-dock Company of Kearny, New Jersey, KIDD was one of four destroyers [USS BULLARD (DD-660), USS THORN (DD-647), and USS TURNER (DD-648)] launched on February 28, 1943 in a record-breaking fourteen minutes. Mrs. Inez Kidd, widow of RADM Kidd, served as the ship's sponsor, christening her and presenting her crew with a handsome wardroom guest book in which she wrote: "May the destiny of the USS KIDD be glorious! May her victories be triumphant and conclusive!"
The KIDD's first voyage was one of some notoriety. Under the command of Cdr. Allan B. Roby, the destroyer moved across New York Harbor for delivery to the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards . . . flying the skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger high from the foremast. The edition of TIME magazine that week carried a photo of KIDD, announcing that it had been one hundred years since the Jolly Roger had flown in New York Harbor. The crew quickly adopted the pirate Captain Kidd—who ironically hailed from New York—as their mascot and hired a local cartoonist to paint the famed buccaneer's image high of the forward smokestack. Not wishing to dishonor RADM Kidd, however, the crew obtained permission from Mrs. Kidd first. The Admiral's nickname at the Naval Academy had been "Cap" (as in "Captain Kidd") and he had gone by this nickname his entire life. So on the crew's behalf, Mrs. Kidd obtained official permission from the powers-that-be in the Navy for them to paint the pirate on the stack and fly the Jolly Roger. The KIDD would become the only vessel in the history of the United States Navy to ever have such leave granted to fly the flag of piracy.
Another unique distinction about KIDD's first voyage was the make-up of her crew. Anne Randle was the first member of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) to be assigned to the Office of Shipbuilding in New York City. Ordered to take a training tour of the Kearny Shipyards, her name was placed on the list of personnel that were scheduled to report on board KIDD for the purpose of accompanying the destroyer across the harbor to the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards. Her name was listed as "Ens. A. Randle", omitting any mention of her gender. At that time, there was still an uneasy tradition that having a woman aboard a naval ship was to invite bad luck. However, when KIDD arrived at the Brooklyn yards, the official message sent back to the yards in Kearny read: "The WAVE delivered The Kidd at 2:30 today."
Commissioned into service two months later on April 23, KIDD commenced her shakedown cruise at Casco Bay, Maine. She saw her first duty covering the North Atlantic sea lanes near Argentia, Newfoundland. She then provided escort for new carriers during their shakedown cruises from Norfolk to Trinidad. In August of 1943, she transited the Panama Canal along with three other destroyers providing escort for USS ALABAMA (BB-60) and SOUTH DAKOTA (BB-57) and proceeded to Pearl Harbor.
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Ship's Statistics
Class: Fletcher
Keel Laid: October 16, 1942
Launched: February 28, 1943
Commissioned: April 23, 1943
Final Decommissioning: June 19, 1964
Displacement: 3,050 tons (full load)
Length: 376 ft., 5 in.
Beam (width): 39 ft., 7 in.
Draft (depth): 17 ft., 9 in. (maximum)
Speed: 37 knots
Propulsion: Four B&W three-drum boilers (565 psi @ 850° F) Two sets of General Electric geared turbines(60,000 hp total)
Crew: 330 officers & enlisted (wartime)
Armament: -five 5"/38-cal. single-barreled gun mounts
-two 40mm quad-barreled anti-aircraft mounts
-three 40mm twin-barreled anti-aircraft mounts
-six 20mm twin-barreled anti-aircraft mounts
-one 21" quintuple torpedo tube mount
-six K-gun depth charge projectors
-two depth charge tracks
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