Isaac Campbell Kidd was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 26, 1884 to Isaac and Jemima Kidd. He had at least three siblings, censuses are not readily available. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy from Cleveland, Ohio on September 23, 1902, graduating with the Class of 1906 in February of that year. He went aboard the USS Columbia and participated in the Panama Expedition of 1906.

Kidd then participated in the 1907-09 "Great White Fleet" cruise around the world while serving on the USS New Jersey. He was commissioned an Ensign in 1908. He served aboard the USS North Dakota until 1911, when he returned to Annapolis for duty. On April 29, 1911, he married Inez Gillmore.

He joined the USS Pittsburgh on June 30, 1913, and in May 1914, was transferred to duty as aide and flag secretary on the staff of Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, USS San Diego. He returned to the Naval Academy as an instructor in August 1916 and served there until 1917.

He assisted in fitting out the USS New Mexico in 1918 and served aboard her until July 1919, when he became flag lieutenant and aide on staff, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet. The 1920 census lists him as Lieutenant Commander aboard the USS Pennsylvania in May 1920.

He returned to the Naval Academy in 1921 where he served as Aide to Superintendent in charge of Buildings and Grounds until 1925. He then served as executive officer of the battleship USS Utah from 1925-1926, then commanded the USS Vega until becoming Captain of the Port at Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone from 1927-1930.

Promoted to Captain, he was Chief of Staff to Commander, Base Force, U.S. Fleet from 1930-1932. After three years at the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, D.C., he was Commander Destroyer Squadron One, Scouting Force, from 1935-1936. Kidd next attended the Naval War College and served on the College staff.

He was Commanding Officer of USS Arizona from September 1938 until February 1940. Now a Rear Admiral, from February 3, 1940, he was Chief of Staff and Aide, Commander Battleships Battle Force and Commander Battleship Division One.

According to the Navy’s biography on Franklin Van Valkenburgh, Captain of the USS Arizona (beginning February 1941), the Arizona, which served as the flagship of Battleship Division One, went to sea on December 4, 1941, along with the Nevada and Oklahoma for night surface practice. After conducting these gunnery exercises, the ships returned to Pearl Harbor independently on the 6th. The Arizona moored at berth F-7 alongside Ford Island. Both Captain Van Valkenburgh and Rear Admiral Kidd, spent the next Saturday evening, December 6, 1941, on board the Arizona.

On December 7, 1941, just before 8:00 a.m., Hawaiian time, Japanese aircraft from at least four fleet carriers struck the Pacific Fleet as it lay in port at Pearl Harbor. On board the USS Arizona, the ship’s air raid alarm went off about 7:55 am, and the ship went to general quarters soon thereafter.

The Arizona took at least two direct bomb hits. Some sources say four but the damage inflicted makes the exact number uncertain. The bomb that most likely caused the ship’s destruction came from an 800-kilogram bomb dropped by a Japanese carrier attack plane at approximately 8:10 am. The bomb glanced off the face plate of Turret II and penetrated the deck to explode in the black powder magazine, which in turn set off adjacent smokeless powder magazines. A cataclysmic explosion ripped through the forward part of the ship, touching off fierce fires that burned for two days. The once mighty Arizona sank in place, her foremast bowed.

Kidd’s actions during this time are not explicitly documented. The reports note that he “courageously discharged his duties as Senior Officer Present Afloat” until the Arizona, blew up from the catastrophic explosions which destroyed the ship and took his life.

Kidd’s award of the Medal of Honor was announced on March 15, 1942. His citation reads: “For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his own life, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. Rear Adm. Kidd immediately went to the bridge and, as Commander Battleship Division One, courageously discharged his duties as Senior Officer Present Afloat until the U.S.S. Arizona, his Flagship, blew up from magazine explosions and a direct bomb hit on the bridge which resulted in the loss of his life.”

Kidd was the first flag or general officer killed during World War II.

As were many of the early awards of the Medal of Honor during WWII, Kidds’ Medal was mailed to his widow in Maryland via register mail. To date, no other details about her receiving it have surfaced.

Kidd’s remains were not recovered; the damage inflicted on the Arizona was too severe. Rear Admiral Kidd is memorialized in the family plot at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland. Kidd received many posthumous honors which include not one but three ship namesakes.

The Destroyer USS Kidd (DD-661) was launched in February 1943 and was sponsored by Kidd’s widow. The Kidd was decommissioned December 1946 and recommissioned in March 1951 for the Korean war. She was decommissioned again in June 1964 and is now a museum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She received four battle stars for World War II service and four battle stars for Korean service.

The Destroyer USS Kidd (DD-993) was launched in October 1979 and was sponsored by one of Kidd’s granddaughters. Later redesignated DDG-993, the Kidd served until she was decommissioned in 1998. In 1999, she was transferred to Taiwan. She received 27 unit awards and many other awards, medals, and commendations during her time as the USS Kidd.

The Destroyer USS Kidd (DDG-100) was christened in January 2005 by two of Kidd’s granddaughters. Hurricane Katrina delayed her completion but she was commissioned in 2007 and is still in active service.

The damage to the Arizona was so severe that she was not salvaged but left where she sank and the bodies of those who died aboard her are intombed within. The ships history records that the “cataclysmic explosion ripped through the forward part of the ship, touching off fierce fires that burned for two days; debris showered down on Ford Island in the vicinity.” The twisted metal that stood above the water line was removed but most of the ship remains underwater.

Legislation during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations designated the Arizona a national shrine. In 1958, Samuel Fuqua, who was also awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions on the Arizona on December 7, 1941, appeared on the television show “This Is Your Life”. This launched a fundraising drive for what became the USS Arizona memorial which was erected over the Arizona. It was dedicated on May 30, 1962, Memorial Day.

Sources and additional reading for Isaac C. Kidd:

54th Annual Reunion Army and Navy Legion of Valor, New York, 1944 (contains short biographies of both posthumous and living recipients)

Pearl Harbor’s Hidden Heroes: The 18 Medals of Honor Awarded for Bravery in the Hawaiian Islands During World War II: 1941, 1942, and 1945, Colonel Charles A. Jones, USMCR, Retired, CreateSpace, 2017.

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/us-people/k/kidd- isaac-c.html

USS Arizona history

https://www.navsource.org/archives/01/39a.htm

USS Kidd - https://www.usskidd.com/

(DD-661)
www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/us-navy- ships/alphabetical-listing/k/uss-kidd--dd-661-0.html

http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/661.htm

http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/01100.htm (DDG-100)

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/k/kidd- ii.html (DDG-993)

http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/993.htm

Compiled by Gayle Alvarez, Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States

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Kidd, Isaac Campbell, Sr. (Cap), RADM