Special
release from the U.S. Department of Defense
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England
has named DDG 100 in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Rear Adm.
Isaac Campbell Kidd.
Kidd was born in Cleveland, Ohio, March 26, 1884, and
graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1906. His distinguished
career included participation in the World Cruise of the "Great
White Fleet" 1907-1909 aboard the battleship USS New Jersey
(BB 16). He also served in the battleship USS North Dakota (BB
29), and the cruiser USS Pittsburgh (ACR 4). He served as aide
and flag secretary to the commander in chief, Pacific Fleet, the
first of his many staff assignments, and was an instructor at
the U.S. Naval Academy from 1916-17.
During and after the First World War, Kidd was stationed
aboard battleship USS New Mexico (BB 40), and later he had staff
and Naval Academy service. He was executive officer of the
battleship USS Utah (BB 31) and commanded the support ship USS
Vega (AK 17) until his assignment as Captain of the Port at
Chrisobal, Panama Canal Zone from 1927-30.
Promoted to the rank of captain, he was chief of staff to
commander, Base Force, U.S. Fleet in 1930-32. After three years
at the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, D.C., he was
commander, Destroyer Squadron 1, Scouting Force, in 1935-36.
Kidd next attended the Naval War College and served on the
college staff. He was commanding officer of the battleship USS
Arizona (BB 39) from September 1938 until February 1940. He was
promoted to rear admiral and assigned as commander, Battleship
Division 1 and chief of staff to commander, Battleships, Battle
Force.
Dec. 7, 1941, he was killed in action aboard Arizona during
the Japanese Navy’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Kidd was
posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during
the Pearl Harbor attack. He was the first flag officer to lose
his life in World War II, and the first in the U.S. Navy to meet
death in action against any foreign enemy.
Two previous U.S. Navy destroyers have been named in honor
of Kidd. USS Kidd (DD 661), 1943-1974, which is still afloat as
a memorial at Baton Rouge, La.; and USS Kidd (DDG 993), which
served the nation from 1981-1998.
DDG 100, the newest ship to bear the name Kidd, is being
built by North Grumman Ship Systems in Pascagoula, Miss. Kidd is
a Flight IIA variant of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile
destroyer, and incorporates a helicopter hangar facility into
the original design. The ship can carry two SH-60B/R
helicopters.
Guided-missile destroyers operate independently and in
conjunction with carrier strike groups, surface action groups,
expeditionary strike groups and replenishment groups.
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