# USS Kidd (DDG-100)
The USS Kidd (DDG-100) is a guided-missile destroyer of the [Arleigh Burke](https://www.edgepedia.org/arleigh-burke) class serving in the [United States Navy](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-navy), and she is the third Navy vessel to bear the name of Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who lost his life aboard [USS Arizona](https://www.edgepedia.org/uss-arizona) in the Pearl Harbor attack, making him the first American flag officer killed in World War II.[1](https://www.usskidd.com/uss-kidd-ddg-100/) She is a Flight IIA variant of the class and is homeported in Everett, Washington.[1](https://www.usskidd.com/uss-kidd-ddg-100/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Class and flight | Arleigh Burke-class, Flight IIA; 509.5 feet (155.29 meters) long, 59 feet (18 meters) beam, speed in excess of 30 knots[2](https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2169871/destroyers-ddg-51/destroyers-ddg-51/) |
| Crew | Flight IIA complement of 329 (32 officers, 27 chief petty officers, 270 enlisted)[2](https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2169871/destroyers-ddg-51/destroyers-ddg-51/) |
| Armament | Standard Missile family, Tomahawk, Vertical Launch ASROC, Evolved Sea Sparrow, 5-inch MK 45 gun, CIWS, torpedoes; 96-cell MK 41 Vertical Launching System[2](https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2169871/destroyers-ddg-51/destroyers-ddg-51/) • [3](https://www.surfpac.navy.mil/Warships/By-Class/US-Navy-Destroyer-Ship-Class-DDG/) |
| Aviation | Two LAMPS MK III MH-60R helicopters[2](https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2169871/destroyers-ddg-51/destroyers-ddg-51/) |
| Christened / commissioned | 22 January 2005 at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi; commissioned 9 June 2007 at Galveston, Texas[1](https://www.usskidd.com/uss-kidd-ddg-100/) • [4](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2007/06/mil-070606-dod02.htm) |
| Homeport | Naval Station Everett, Washington[5](https://www.southcom.mil/MEDIA/NEWS-ARTICLES/Article/2356222/uss-kidd-completes-counternarcotics-deployment/) |
| Current modernization | FY2025 Depot Modernization Period at Vigor Marine, Seattle, under a $277,010,546 contract; SEWIP Block III electronic warfare upgrade with no SPY-6 radar backfit[6](https://news.usni.org/2025/01/16/navy-identifies-first-destroyer-to-receive-full-set-of-ddg-mod-2-0-upgrades) • [7](https://www.highergov.com/contract/N0002425C4402/) |
## Namesake and construction
The ship honors Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd, Sr., who was killed aboard his flagship USS Arizona (BB-39) in the Japanese attack on [Pearl Harbor](https://www.edgepedia.org/pearl-harbor) on December 7, 1941.[8](https://www.usskidd.com/explore-the-kidd/meet-the-man/) Three Navy ships have carried his name: the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Kidd (DD-661) of World War II, the Kidd-class destroyer USS Kidd (DDG-993) transferred to Taiwan in 1999, and DDG-100.[8](https://www.usskidd.com/explore-the-kidd/meet-the-man/) • [9](https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/k/kidd-ii.html)
Kidd was christened by Admiral Kidd's granddaughters, Regina Kidd Wolbarsht and Mary Kidd Plumer, on 22 January 2005 at [Ingalls Shipbuilding](https://www.edgepedia.org/ingalls-shipbuilding) in [Pascagoula, Mississippi](https://www.edgepedia.org/pascagoula-mississippi).[1](https://www.usskidd.com/uss-kidd-ddg-100/) Still undergoing final outfitting, Kidd suffered hull damage and partial flooding at the shipyard piers on the Mississippi Gulf Coast when [Hurricane Katrina](https://www.edgepedia.org/hurricane-katrina) struck, forcing her back into dry dock for repairs—including the removal of a turbine—and pushing back both her commissioning and her deployment.[1](https://www.usskidd.com/uss-kidd-ddg-100/) The Navy commissioned her at Galveston, Texas, on 9 June 2007.[1](https://www.usskidd.com/uss-kidd-ddg-100/) • [10](https://media.defense.gov/2007/Nov/08/2001712970/-1/-1/1/FY2007_Navy_FS.pdf) Commander Richard E. Thomas served as her first commanding officer until February 2008, and Commander Charles P. Good took the ship on her maiden deployment.[1](https://www.usskidd.com/uss-kidd-ddg-100/)
## Operations
**Counter-piracy rescue, 2012.** On 5 January 2012, Kidd rescued the 13-member crew of the Iranian-flagged fishing vessel Al Molai, who had been held hostage by Somali pirates for over 40 days; the boarding team captured fifteen pirates with no casualties.[1](https://www.usskidd.com/uss-kidd-ddg-100/)
**MH370 search, 2014.** On 10 March 2014, two days after [Malaysia Airlines Flight 370](https://www.edgepedia.org/malaysia-airlines-flight-370) went missing over the [South China Sea](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-china-sea), Kidd joined the search as the second Navy ship deployed, operating alongside [USS Pinckney](https://www.edgepedia.org/uss-pinckney) and more than 40 other ships and 32 aircraft from a dozen nations. On 14 March the ship was relocated to the Indian Ocean as the search area shifted.[1](https://www.usskidd.com/uss-kidd-ddg-100/)
**COVID-19 outbreak, 2020.** While deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area in support of U.S. Southern Command, a sailor assigned to Kidd tested positive for COVID-19 after being medically evacuated from operations at sea on 23 April 2020. The Navy sent a specialized medical team to conduct contact tracing and onboard testing; by the morning of 24 April, 17 additional sailors had tested positive, and the total reached 33 by 25 April.[11](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/2283748/uss-kidd-evacuates-sailor-embarks-covid-19-medical-response-team/) • [12](https://www.axios.com/2020/04/24/uss-port-18-sailors-test-positive-coronavirus) The ship arrived at [Naval Base San Diego](https://www.edgepedia.org/naval-base-san-diego) on 28 April to provide medical care, quarantine, and monitoring for its sailors and to clean and disinfect the ship.[13](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/2284547/uss-kidd-departs-on-deployment/) A Department of Defense Inspector General report noted that as of 1 August 2020, Kidd was the only Navy warship on an overseas deployment with a confirmed outbreak, and crew members were offered serology blood testing.[14](https://media.defense.gov/2021/Feb/08/2002577798/-1/-1/1/DODIG-2021-049_REDACTED.PDF) Kidd departed San Diego on 10 June 2020 to resume the deployment.[13](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/2284547/uss-kidd-departs-on-deployment/)
**Assistance and counternarcotics, 2020.** On 30 June 2020, Kidd towed a distressed fishing vessel whose engine failure had left it unable to operate at sea.[15](https://www.southcom.mil/MEDIA/NEWS-ARTICLES/Article/2246194/uss-kidd-renders-assistance-at-sea/) She later returned to her homeport of Naval Station Everett following the counternarcotics deployment to the U.S. 4th Fleet area.[5](https://www.southcom.mil/MEDIA/NEWS-ARTICLES/Article/2356222/uss-kidd-completes-counternarcotics-deployment/)
**2021 Indo-Pacific deployment.** In 2021, Kidd came back to Washington's Puget Sound after a deployment covering 30,000 nautical miles across the [Pacific Ocean](https://www.edgepedia.org/pacific-ocean), the [Philippine Sea](https://www.edgepedia.org/philippine-sea), the [San Bernardino Strait](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-bernardino-strait), the Luzon Strait, the South China Sea, and the East China Sea; this included passing through the Taiwan Strait on a routine transit in August.[16](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/2789848/uss-kidd-returns-home-from-deployment/)
## Modernization
In October 2024, Vigor Marine LLC of Portland, Oregon, was awarded a $277,010,546 firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract action for the repair, maintenance, and modernization of Kidd during her Chief of Naval Operations Fiscal Year 2025 Depot Modernization Period (DMP).[6](https://news.usni.org/2025/01/16/navy-identifies-first-destroyer-to-receive-full-set-of-ddg-mod-2-0-upgrades) • [7](https://www.highergov.com/contract/N0002425C4402/) The work, performed at Vigor's Seattle shipyard, includes overhaul of the starboard stern tube shaft seal, air conditioning plant, and steering gear, firemain valve replacement, and the SEWIP Block 3 upgrade installing the AN/SLQ-32(V)7 surface electronic warfare system.[7](https://www.highergov.com/contract/N0002425C4402/)
Under the Navy's Destroyer Modernization program, Kidd was identified as the first of a handful of ships to receive only a SEWIP Block III upgrade and no SPY-6 radar backfit, unlike the full DDG MOD 2.0 package that pairs the new electronic warfare system with the AN/SPY-6 air and missile defense radar and Baseline 10 Aegis Weapon System.[6](https://news.usni.org/2025/01/16/navy-identifies-first-destroyer-to-receive-full-set-of-ddg-mod-2-0-upgrades)
## In popular culture
In the 2009 science fiction film *Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen*, during the climactic battle set in Egypt, Kidd brings down a [Decepticon](https://www.edgepedia.org/decepticon) called Devastator by firing a railgun that has replaced her usual 5-inch gun. Footage of the combat information center and the forecastle with the railgun was shot aboard Kidd, although the hull of USS Preble is shown in one earlier shot.[1](https://www.usskidd.com/uss-kidd-ddg-100/)
## References
1. [USS KIDD DDG 100, USS Kidd Veterans Museum](https://www.usskidd.com/uss-kidd-ddg-100/)
2. [Destroyers (DDG 51) Fact File, United States Navy](https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2169871/destroyers-ddg-51/destroyers-ddg-51/)
3. [U.S. Navy Destroyer (Ship Class - DDG), Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet](https://www.surfpac.navy.mil/Warships/By-Class/US-Navy-Destroyer-Ship-Class-DDG/)
4. [Navy to Commission New Guided Missile Destroyer KIDD, GlobalSecurity.org](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2007/06/mil-070606-dod02.htm)
5. [USS Kidd Completes Counternarcotics Deployment, U.S. Southern Command](https://www.southcom.mil/MEDIA/NEWS-ARTICLES/Article/2356222/uss-kidd-completes-counternarcotics-deployment/)
6. [Navy Identifies First Destroyer to Receive Full Set of DDG MOD 2.0 Upgrades, USNI News](https://news.usni.org/2025/01/16/navy-identifies-first-destroyer-to-receive-full-set-of-ddg-mod-2-0-upgrades)
7. [USS KIDD (DDG 100) FY25 Depot Modernization Period (DMP) contract N0002425C4402, HigherGov](https://www.highergov.com/contract/N0002425C4402/)
8. [Meet the Man, USS Kidd Veterans Museum](https://www.usskidd.com/explore-the-kidd/meet-the-man/)
9. [Kidd II (DDG-993), Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval History and Heritage Command](https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/k/kidd-ii.html)
10. [FY2007 Navy Fact File, Department of the Navy](https://media.defense.gov/2007/Nov/08/2001712970/-1/-1/1/FY2007_Navy_FS.pdf)
11. [USS Kidd Evacuates Sailor, Embarks COVID-19 Medical Response Team, United States Navy](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/2283748/uss-kidd-evacuates-sailor-embarks-covid-19-medical-response-team/)
12. [USS Kidd reports jump in coronavirus cases, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2020/04/24/uss-port-18-sailors-test-positive-coronavirus)
13. [USS Kidd Departs on Deployment, United States Navy](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/2284547/uss-kidd-departs-on-deployment/)
14. [Report No. DODIG-2021-049, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General](https://media.defense.gov/2021/Feb/08/2002577798/-1/-1/1/DODIG-2021-049_REDACTED.PDF)
15. [USS Kidd Renders Assistance at Sea, U.S. Southern Command](https://www.southcom.mil/MEDIA/NEWS-ARTICLES/Article/2246194/uss-kidd-renders-assistance-at-sea/)
16. [USS Kidd Returns Home from Deployment, United States Navy](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/2789848/uss-kidd-returns-home-from-deployment/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Transport and spaceflight › Water transport › Warships and naval vessels › Destroyers, frigates, and corvettes › Titles Sh to Z*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
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