USS Kidd (DDG-993)

USS Kidd off Norfolk in December 1987
History
United States
NameKidd
NamesakeIsaac C. Kidd
Ordered23 March 1978
BuilderIngalls Shipbuilding
Laid down26 June 1978
Launched11 August 1979
Acquired4 May 1981
Commissioned27 March 1981
Decommissioned12 March 1998
Stricken12 March 1998
Identification
Motto
  • Nil Sine Magno Labore
  • (Nothing without hard work)
Badge
FateSold to the Taiwanese navy; currently active as ROCS Tso Ying
General characteristics
Class and typeKidd-class destroyer
Displacement9,783 tons full
Length171.6 m (563 ft)
Beam16.8 m (55 ft)
Propulsion4 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines, 80,000 shp total
Speed33 kn (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement
  • 31 officers
  • 332 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys
AN/SLQ-32(V)3
Armament
Aircraft carried

USS Kidd (DDG-993) was the lead ship in her class of destroyers operated by the U.S. Navy. Derived from the Spruance-class, these vessels were designed for air defense in hot weather. The vessel was the second named after Medal of Honor recipient Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who was aboard USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and was the first American flag officer to die in World War II.

Originally named Kouroush, the ship was ordered by the Shah of Iran but was undelivered when the 1979 Iranian Revolution occurred. After this, the U.S. Navy elected to commission the Kidd-class for service in the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean, as they were equipped with heavy-duty air conditioning and were also well suited to filtering sand, and the results from NBC warfare. Kidd-class ships were known in the fleet informally as the "Ayatollah" or "dead admiral" class.