USS ''Kidd'' (DDG-100) is an '' Arleigh Burke-class'' ( Flight IIA)

Aegis The aegis ( ; ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a deity named Aex, a ...

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. She is the third Navy ship named after

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Isaac C. Kidd Isaac Campbell Kidd (March 26, 1884 – December 7, 1941) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy. He was the father of Admiral Isaac C. Kidd Jr. Kidd Sr. was killed on the bridge of during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The h ...

, who was on board during the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, and was the first American

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

to die in World War II. The ship is part of

Destroyer Squadron 1 Destroyer Squadron ONE, also known as ''Destroyer Squadron 1'' and often abbreviated at '' DESRON ONE'' or ''DESRON 1'', is a squadron of warships of the United States Navy. It is an operational component of Carrier Strike Group One and is admini ...

Carrier Strike Group 1 Carrier Strike Group One (CSG-1 or CARSTRKGRU 1) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. is the strike group's current flagship, which currently consists of Carrier Air Wing 2, the ''Ticonderoga''-class guided-missile cruiser USS ''Princeton'' a ...

which is currently headed by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) USS ''Carl Vinson'' (CVN-70) is the United States Navy's third supercarrier. She is named for Carl Vinson (1883–1981), a congressman from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, in recognition of his contributions to the U.S. Navy. The ship was launch ...

. USS ''Kidd'' is the only active ship in the Navy officially allowed to fly the

Jolly Roger Jolly Roger was the England, ensign flown by a piracy, pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century (the latter part of the Golden Age of Piracy). The vast majority of such flags flew the motif of a human skull, or � ...

Construction and career

''Kidd'' was christened by Admiral Kidd's granddaughters, Regina Kidd Wolbarsht and Mary Kidd Plumer on 22 January 2005, at

Ingalls Shipbuilding Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and, as of 2023, is the largest private em ...

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula metropolitan area, and is part of the Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi–Pascag ...

. Commander Richard E. Thomas of

Westwood, New Jersey Westwood (known as "The Hub of the Pascack Valley") is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Westwood is part of the New York metropolitan area. Many of its residents regularly commute to New York City for work and leisur ...

, served as her first commanding officer until February 2008. Commander Charles P. Good of

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...

, took ''Kidd'' on her maiden deployment. While in the midst of final outfitting, the ship was holed and partially flooded at the shipyard docks during

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

on the Mississippi

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

, requiring a return to dry dock for repairs, which included cutting out a turbine, delaying her commissioning and deployment with the Navy. She was commissioned at

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

on 9 June 2007. Kidd is currently homeported in Everett, Washington. On 5 January 2012, ''Kidd'' rescued the 13-member crew of the Iranian-flagged fishing vessel ''Al Molai'' from

Somali pirates Horn of Africa * Somali Peninsula, a region of East Africa, also known as "The Horn of Africa" * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Greater Somalia ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali culture ...

who had been holding them hostage for over 40 days, capturing fifteen pirates in the process with no casualties.

Search for Malaysia Airlines MH 370

On 10 March 2014, the ship joined the search for

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) was an international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared from radar on 8 March 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to its planned de ...

two days after it went missing over the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

. ''Kidd'' was the second Navy ship to be deployed in the search. It joined , and more than 40 other ships and 32 aircraft from

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

taking part in the search and rescue. On 14 March it was announced that ''Kidd'' would be relocated to the Indian Ocean in search of the plane, since new evidence pointed to the possibility of the plane being there.

2020 COVID-19 pandemic

On 24 April 2020, the

reported that a sailor assigned to ''Kidd'' had tested positive for the virus after being medically evacuated the previous day from operations at sea. After the sailor's test returned positive, the Navy sent a medical team to the ship to conduct

contact tracing In public health, contact tracing is the process of identifying people who may have been exposed to an infected person ("contacts") and subsequent collection of further data to assess transmission. By tracing the contacts of infected individua ...

and test sailors for the virus on board. By the morning of 24 April, 17 additional sailors tested positive, with additional cases expected as testing continued. The initial patient was stable and recovering at a medical facility in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It was planned for ''Kidd'' to return to port so that it could be disinfected. This was the second instance of the coronavirus being found aboard an American naval ship that had been deployed.

References

External links

Official ship's site
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidd (DDG-100) Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi 2005 ships Naval ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic