9685. Isaac Campbell
Kidd was born on 14 Aug 1919 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. He
died on 27 Jun 1999 in Alexandria, Virginia.(786)
Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, Jr. ended a naval career spanning over 40 years
of service when he retired October 2, 1978. He served twenty-three years at
sea---fifteen of which were in command of destroyers, destroyer divisions and
squadrons, a flotilla and three U.S. Fleets in the Pacific, Mediterranean and
Atlantic.
Born in Cleveland on August 14, 1919, Admiral Kidd attended St. Albans, the National
Cathedral School for Boys in Washington, D.C.; St. George's School in Newport,
R.I.; Columbian Preparatory School, also in Washington; and Ohio State University,
prior to his presidential appointment, by President Roosevelt, to the U.S. Naval
Academy in 1938. He distinguished himself on his Naval Academy competitive entrance
examination by attaining the highest grade in history, which was announced as
"virtually 100 percent."
While a midshipman, he was a member of the football, wrestling, and lacrosse
teams. He graduated from the Academy on December 14, 1941 and commissioned an
Ensign on December 19, 1941, just 12 days after his father, Rear Admiral Isaac
C. Kidd, was killed on board his flagship, the battleship ARIZONA, during the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Admiral Kidd, senior, was posthumously awarded
the Congressional Medal of Honor. Following his commissioning, Ensign Kidd remained
at the Academy until May 1942 as Company Officer for Reserve Officers, Assistant
Wrestling Coach, Assistant Football Coach, and Executive Officer of the V-5 Physical
Instructors Classes.
His first duty at sea was as First Lieutenant and then Gunnery Officer of the
destroyer COWIE where he took part in North Atlantic convoy duty, and, the invasions
of North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. During the Sicilian Invasion, COWIE directly
engaged, at point blank range, German "tiger" tanks on the beach.
He next served as Gunnery Officer and later as Executive Officer in the destroyer
PUTNAM, seeing action in the Leyte Gulf, Saipan and Tinian operations; Iwo Jima;
radar picket duty and gunfire support off Okinawa; the rescue of the few survivors
of the destroyer TWIGGS, sunk by kamikaze attack, and, assisted in salvage of
the battleship PENNSYLVANIA, hit at Buckner Bay.
Admiral Kidd reported to the staff of Commander Destroyer Force, U.S. Atlantic
Fleet, in April 1946, and while there organized and started the Afloat Destroyer
Gunnery and Engineering Schools. Following a tour of duty with the Bureau of
Naval Personnel in Washington as the Destroyer and later Warrant Detail Officer,
he returned to sea as Gunnery Officer and later as Operations Officer in the
new heavy cruiser SALEM.
During his tour in SALEM, that heavy cruiser won the Fleet Battle Efficiency
pennant two consecutive years and set a precedent which followed him throughout
his career. Each department which he headed in ships served in, won the Fleet
Trophy for Excellence each year, and each ship he commanded won the Fleet Battle
Efficiency Trophy every year as "first in the force." In May 1952,
he assumed command of the destroyer-minesweeper ELLYSON. While deployed in
ELLYSON to the Mediterranean, he commanded all of the U.S. mine forces in the
Sixth Fleet.
Following a tour as Aide to the Superintendent of the Naval Academy, Admiral
Kidd returned to sea in command of the newly commissioned destroyer BARRY. Under
his command, that ship was the first destroyer to make a clean sweep with Efficiency
"Es" in all departments, in addition to the Battle Efficiency Pennant.
He next served as Assistant Head of the China-Northeast Asia Strategic Plans
and Policy Division on the Joint Staff of the Commander in Chief Pacific, after
which he attended the National War College in Washington.
Returning to sea in 1961, he commanded Destroyer Divisions 322 and 182 and Destroyer
Squadron 32. He then activated and assumed command of Destroyer Squadron 18,
the Navy's first all guided missile destroyer squadron. In August 1962, he became
Executive Assistant to Senior Aide to the Chief of Naval Operations. During
his four year tour in this capacity under two Chiefs of Naval Operations, he
distinguished himself and was cited for his work during the Cuban missile crisis,
the loss of the submarine THRESHER, the Tonkin Gulf incidents, the Dominican
Republic crisis, and the ongoing reorganization of the Navy.
He reported as Assistant Chief of Staff for Logistics to the Commander in Chief
Allied Forces, Southern Europe in June 1966 with the rank of Rear Admiral. During
this tour he served as On-Scene Commander and Salvage Officer after the grounding
of the destroyer BACHE at Rhodes, Greece, and, served as President of Courts
of Inquiry of that incident and the Israeli attack on the technical research
ship LIBERTY.
Admiral Kidd subsequently served as Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla 12.
Promoted to Vice Admiral, he then commanded FIRST Fleet, followed by command
of SIXTH Fleet, and was then promoted to Admiral in 1971 as Chief of Naval Materiel.
As the Chief of Naval Materiel, Admiral Kidd functioned as the Navy's top Procurement
and Logistics Officer with a civilian and military workforce of over 350,000
men and women. He became Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, Commander in Chief
Western Atlantic Area, Commander in Chief Atlantic and Commander in Chief U.S.
Atlantic Fleet on May 30, 1975.
His decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf
Cluster; four Navy Distinguished Service Medals; three Legions of Merit; the
Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" and numerous foreign decorations.
Isaac Campbell Kidd and Living De Golian had the following
children:
10483 i.
Living Kidd.
10484 ii.
Living Kidd.
10485 iii.
Living Kidd.
+10486 iv.
Living Kidd.
+10487 v.
Living Kidd.
+10488 vi.
Living Kidd.