The USS Kidd, DD-661 was a late model Fletcher-class destroyer commissioned on 23 April 1943. She is notable for several facts...
When she was launched, she was one of four Fletchers that were launched within 14 minutes...a still-standing record.
Her first damage was the result of a friendly fire incident on 12 Sept 1943, when she was hit by two 5-inch illuminating projectiles fired by the battleship USS North Carolina, there were no crew losses, although the captain's cabin was badly damaged.
On 11 April, 1945, she was struck by a kamizaze in her forward fireroom, killing 38 and wounding another 55.
Repaired and returned to service, the Kidd enjoyed a quiet post-war career...until 21 April, 1853, when she was rammed by the Swedish freighter Hainan, which left a V-shaped hole in the CPO's quarters, no one was killed or injured.
She was finally decommissioned into the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in 1964.
In 1982, the Kidd was transferred to the Louisiana Naval Memorial Commission and she was carefully restored to her 1945 configuration and is permanently moored in the city of Baton Rouge.
Since the Kidd is moored on the Mississippi River, she is subject to the extreme flood levels that Old Man River provides. During the summer months, she rests on a concrete cradle. Her port side is clamped to four steel collars that wrap around two 24-inch steel dolphins. THis allows the Kidd to rise and fall some 28 feet. This arrangement is unique and is featured in "Ripley's Believe It or Not."
As of 1994, the Kidd has earned the reputation of being the most authentically restored naval warship in the country.
"The Floating Drydock Warship Data, USS Kidd"
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The reason that the American Army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the American Army practices chaos on a daily basis.
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