Gallery
A Brief History
USS Kidd (DDG-100) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is the third Navy ship named after Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who was on board Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and was the first American flag officer to die in World War II. The ship is part of Destroyer Squadron 9 of Carrier Strike Group 3 which is currently headed by the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis.
Kidd was christened by Admiral Kidd’s granddaughters, Regina Kidd Wolbarsht and Mary Kidd Plumer on 22 January 2005 at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Commander Richard E. Thomas of Westwood, New Jersey, served as her first commanding officer until February 2008. Commander Charles P. Good of Huntington Beach, California, 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 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, 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 on 9 June 2007. She 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 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 two days after it went missing over the South China Sea. Kidd was the second Navy ship to be deployed in the search. It joined USS Pinckney, and more than 40 other ships and 32 aircraft from Malaysia, Australia, China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, and the
The Philippines 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 points to the possibility of the plane being there.
USS Kidd in San Diego popular culture
In the 2009 science fiction film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, USS Kidd fires at and destroys a Decepticon named Devastator with a railgun (mounted in place of the standard cannon) during the movie’s climactic battle in Egypt. Moments earlier in the film the captain of USS John C. Stennis queues USS Kidd into action but the hull of USS Preble is shown instead. The footage of the combat information center and the forecastle with the railgun was shot on the USS Kidd.
Captains
| Name | Dates Served | Link |
| Capt. Charles P. Good | February 2008 – December 2009 | |
| Capt. Paul Bieraugel | June 2009 – June 2011 | |
| Capt. Jennifer L. Ellinger | June 2011 – January 2013 | |
| Capt. Gabe Varela, USN | January 2013 – June 2014 | |
| Comm. T.J. Zerr | June 2014 – December 2015 | |
| Comm. Timothy Long | December 2015 – May 2016 | |
| Comm. M. Williams | May 2016 – August 2018 | |
| Comm. Matthew A. McNealy | August 2018 – Current |