Under overhaul in Houma, a former Navy destroyer holds a hallowed history

The following information has been culled from U.S. government archives and records from the U.S.S. Kidd Veterans Museum.The retired Navy destroyer that will call Houma its home for the next year while undergoing renovations is heavy with the history of its service during two wars and is a living testament to the men who lived and died on board during its 20 years of protecting the nation.

“Kidd served with great distinction in the South Pacific during World War II, earning eight battle stars while participating in such historic engagements as the air raids on Wake Island, the strikes against Rabaul and Bougainville, the Gilbert Islands invasion at Tarawa, the Marshall Islands, the occupation of Aitape and Hollandia in New Guinea, the occupation of Saipan, the bombardment of Guam, the invasion of the Philippines, the raids against the Japanese home islands, and the invasion of Okinawa,” said Sen. John Warner during a 2002 congressional memorial to the ship and its crews.

The Kidd arrived at the Thoma-Sea shipyard in Houma, towed by Crosby tugs from Baton Rouge, where it serves as an integral part of a veteran’s museum. The ship will undergo extensive overhauling and shall return to its home next spring.

The Fletcher Class destroyer had a historic hook before its hull ever hit water, when the Navy chose to name is after a true hero of WWII.

Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd Sr. was on board the U.S.S. Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese planes strafed Pearl Harbor. Kidd was posthumously lauded for “courageous discharge of duties as fleet commander until a direct hit from the enemy struck the ship’s bridge.” He was the highest-ranking sailor killed during the attack.

Kidd’s widow, Inez, christened the 2,000-ton namesake ship when it entered service in 1943, bound for duty with the Pacific Fleet. Inspired by the name of the fearsome Capt. William Kidd, the ship’s first crew adopted a pirate theme, painting a pirate caricature on a smokestack and receiving permission from the Navy to fly the Jolly Roger pirate flag. Inez Kidd gave her blessing. The Jolly Roger flew on the ship as it traveled toward Houma, along with two U.S. flags and the flag of Louisiana. Naval historians have written that the Kidd – and other ships later named for it – is the only Navy ship authorized to fly the pirate pennant at sea.

Traveling enemy-infested Pacific waters at the height of the war, the Kidd escorted battleships as part of a destroyer group, under heavy Japanese aircraft fire as they joined a U.S. strike off New Guinea, rescuing downed airmen and knocking three Japanese planes out of the sky with its anti-aircraft guns.

The Kidd performed valiantly throughout the Pacific, at Tarawa, the Marshall Islands and Guam.

On April 11, 1945, a kamikaze plane crashed into the vessel’s starboard side, killing 38 sailors. A total of 55 were wounded. The Kidd, struggled back to safety, warding off Japanese planes trying to sink it. After stateside repairs the Kidd started out for further Pacific duty, but the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki obviated the need.

Five years later the U.S. was at war again, in Korea, and in 1951 the Kidd was back at work, bombarding land-based targets and aiding various naval operations, joining a U.S. hunter-killer group. Awarded four battle stars for service in Korea, the vessel docked at San Diego and was officially retired in 1964.

Two other destroyers subsequently bore its name, first a guided missile destroyer that operated from 1981 to 1998, and an Arleigh-Burke class vessel similarly armed that hit the water in 2007 and still serve the United States.

This article originally appeared on Gonzales Weekly Citizen: Former Navy destroyer U.S.S. Kidd holds a hallowed history