The Story of USS Kidd
USS Kidd (DD-661), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named after Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who died on the bridge of his flagship USS Arizona during the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Admiral Kidd was the first US flag officer to die during World War II and the first American admiral ever to be killed in action. A National Historic Landmark, she is now a museum ship, berthed on the Mississippi River in Baton 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 remaining Fletcher-class destroyers remaining in the world. == Service history == === World War II === Kidd was launched on 28 February 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. at its yard in Kearny, New Jersey, sponsored by Mrs. Isaac C. Kidd, widow of Rear Admiral Kidd. The destroyer was commissioned on 23 April 1943. During her initial cruise to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, she sailed across New York Harbor with the Jolly Roger flying from the foremast.