USS Kidd (DD-661)

One of 175 Fletcher-class destroyers commissioned, USS Kidd is the only one preserved in its World War II configuration. Named for Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd who died on the bridge of USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor, USS Kidd was commissioned in April 1943. After a short stint in the Atlantic, the destroyer sailed into the Pacific in support of the Allied island-hopping campaign during which a kamikaze attack killed 38 crew. Decommissioned in 1946, the ship was reactivated in 1951 and bombarded shore targets during the Korean War. The ship sailed on in Navy service until being decommissioned in 1964 before being selected to be preserved. Today, she is the center of the USS Kidd Veterans Museum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Detailed photos of the preserved ship are the major attraction of David Doyle’s USS Kidd (DD-661) — From WWII and Korea to Museum Ship, part of Schiffer’s Legends of Warfare Naval series. Nearly three-quarters of the pages are filled with color, beautifully reproduced photos of the destroyer, literally from stem to stern, that will be a boon for anyone planning to model USS Kidd or any of the other Fletchers in World War II. Sections covered include the hull, deck, superstructure, turrets and antiaircraft guns, torpedo tubes, gun directors, range finders, radars, masts, signal lamps, ladders, boats, winches, bridge, and depth charges. Detailed captions locate the items on the ship. Before these images, Doyle traces USS Kidd’s service in WWII, Korea, and after with plenty of contemporary photos that should inspire many builds.