ISAAC C. KIDD, RADM, USN
Isaac Kidd '06
Lucky Bag
From the 1906 Lucky Bag:
Isaac Campbell Kidd
Cleveland, Ohio
"Cap"
A fat blond with an appetite. His emblem is the meal pennant and three-repeater hoisted in the most conspicuous place. Fasted to reduce weight first class year, but claims he did it on a bet. Has a striking figure and a sweet-toned voice that won him the adjutantcy of the second battalion. Adviser of all the three-stripers and aide to the O.C. Rooms with Mula in close proximity to Tammany Hall, but in spite of such influences is not contaminated. Born to command and captain of the all-biscuit team.
Battalion Adjutant (1); Full dinner pail.
Isaac Campbell Kidd
Cleveland, Ohio
"Cap"
A fat blond with an appetite. His emblem is the meal pennant and three-repeater hoisted in the most conspicuous place. Fasted to reduce weight first class year, but claims he did it on a bet. Has a striking figure and a sweet-toned voice that won him the adjutantcy of the second battalion. Adviser of all the three-stripers and aide to the O.C. Rooms with Mula in close proximity to Tammany Hall, but in spite of such influences is not contaminated. Born to command and captain of the all-biscuit team.
Battalion Adjutant (1); Full dinner pail.
Loss
Isaac was killed in action on December 7, 1941 when USS Arizona (BB 39) was destroyed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the commanding officer of Battleship Division One; Arizona was his flagship.
Other Information
From Wikipedia:
Kidd was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1884. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1902, graduating with the Class of 1906 in February of that year. He was commissioned an ensign in 1908. Kidd participated in the 1907–1909 Great White Fleet cruise around the world while serving on the battleship New Jersey. Following service on the battleship North Dakota and armored cruiser Pennsylvania, Kidd became the Aide and Flag Secretary to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, the first of his many flagstaff assignments. He was an instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1916–1917.
During and after World War I, Kidd was stationed on New Mexico, and then he had further staff and Naval Academy service. He was the executive officer of the battleship Utah in 1925–1926, then commanded Vega until becoming the Captain of the Port at Cristóbal, Panama Canal Zone from 1927 to 1930. Promoted to the rank of captain, he was the Chief of Staff to the Commander, Base Force, United States Fleet in 1930–1932. After three years at the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, D.C., he was the Commander of Destroyer Squadron One, Scouting Force, in 1935–1936.
During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Rear Admiral Kidd was the Commander of Battleship Division One and the Chief of Staff and Aide to the Commander, Battleship Battle Force. At his first knowledge of the attack, he rushed to the bridge of USS Arizona, his flagship, and "courageously discharged his duties as Senior Officer Present Afloat until Arizona blew up from a magazine explosion and a direct bomb hit on the bridge which resulted in the loss of his life."[2]
Admiral Kidd's body was never recovered and to this day he is considered missing in action. U.S. Navy salvage divers located his Naval Academy ring fused to a bulkhead on Arizona's bridge.[3] A trunk containing his personal memorabilia was found in the wreck and sent to his widow.[4] Rediscovered in the attic by his children, both the trunk and its contents are now displayed in the museum at the USS Arizona Memorial.
From Naval History and Heritage Command:
Isaac Campbell Kidd was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on 26 March 1884. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1902, graduating with the Class of 1906 in February of that year, and was commissioned an Ensign in 1908. Kidd participated in the 1907-09 "Great White Fleet" cruise around the World while serving in USS New Jersey (BB-16). Following service in USS North Dakota (BB-29) and USS Pittsburgh (Armored Cruiser # 4), he became Aide and Flag Secretary to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, the first of his many flag staff assignments. He was an instructor at the Naval Academy in 1916-17.
During and after the First World War, Kidd was stationed on USS New Mexico (BB-40), then had further staff and Naval Academy service. He was executive officer of the battleship Utah (BB-31) in 1925-26, then commanded USS Vega (AK-17) until becoming Captain of the Port at Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone in 1927-30. Promoted to the rank of Captain, he was Chief of Staff to Commander, Base Force, U.S. Fleet in 1930-32. After three years at the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, D.C., he was Commander Destroyer Squadron ONE, Scouting Force, in 1935-36.
Captain Kidd next attended the Naval War College and served on the College staff. He was Commanding Officer of USS Arizona (BB-39) from September 1938 until February 1940, when he was promoted to Rear Admiral and assigned as Commander Battleship Division ONE and Chief of Staff to Commander, Battleships, Battle Force. On 7 December 1941, he was killed in action on board Arizona during the Pearl Harbor Raid. Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Pearl Harbor attack.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Isaac graduated from West high school in 1902. He was president of the Dorian literary society and chairman of the executive committee of his class. At graduation, he spoke on the “Yellow Terror.” He held the position of the Chinaman in the Boxer movement and deplored the invasion of the armed and missionary forces of foreign countries. In May 1901, he conducted the junior class german at Trostler's hall.
He received his appointment to the Naval Academy through Senator Mark Hanna. After graduation, Isaac was quoted in The Cleveland Leader as saying: “Most of the talk about hazing at Annapolis was due to newspaper agitation . . . He said Admiral Sands recently inaugurated a new kind of honor system, by which students were expected to make reports on themselves.”
Per The News-Messenger, Fremont, Ohio, November 11, 1938: “In 1906, he served on the cruiser Columbia which carried marine expeditionary forces to the Canal Zone.
“Malaria broke out during the expedition, incapacitating so many that he was assigned duty assisting medical officers. He saw duty on the Columbia during its extensive participation in the Cuban pacification campaign.
“During the Mexican campaign of 1913 to 1916, he served as first lieutenant on the Pittsburgh on the staff of Thomas Benton Howard, commander in chief of the Pacific fleet, and on the personal staff of his successor, Admiral Cameron McRae Winslow.
“During the World War, Captain Kidd was on duty as gunnery officer of USS New Mexico, and later on the staff of the commander in chief of the Atlantic fleet, Admiral Henry Braid Wilson.”
Isaac married Inez N. Gillmore on April 29, 1911, at her home in Cleveland. She graduated from East High School in 1906. She played Cynisca, Pygmalion's wife in the play “Pygmalion and Galatea” performed on November 3, 1905. A member of the Athenaeum Society, she was enrolled in the Scientific (Latin) program.
In September, 16, 1915, Isaac and his wife attended a dinner party at the Café Cristobal in San Diego honoring ex-president William Howard Taft.
While at the Naval Academy in December 1922, Isaac helped host and tour a group of 30 delegates from the Central American states who had been attending conferences in Washington, D. C.
In September 1928, Inez and son Isaac sailed from Cristobal, Canal Zone to New York City.
Isaac's father had a wholesale liquor business, and he also owned a fine set of carriage horses. He invented the lightning drop harness apparatus used by the Cleveland fire department. Isaac's brother Alexander ('18) was aid to Admiral Carl Vogelgesang in July 1925.
His wife was listed as next of kin. He was also survived by a son, Isaac C. Kidd, Jr., USNA '41, and future Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. "As Time Magazine described the event, when Kidd received his commission as Ensign 'the U.S. Naval Academy and its guests broke into a thunderous cheer—an unprecedented demonstration in honor of Ensign Kidd and his father.'"
He has a memory marker in the Naval Academy Cemetery.
Photographs
"Portrait in oils by Heiter. It was received from USS Kidd (DD-661) after she was decommissioned in 1964. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC." From the Naval History and Heritage Command.
"Photographed on board USS Argonne (AS-10), circa 1931. He was then serving as Chief of Staff to the Commander, Base Force, U.S. Fleet, Rear Admiral Henry H. Hough, USN." From the Naval History and Heritage Command.
"Photographed circa 1939. Present are (from left to right): Major General Louis McC. Little, USMC; Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN; Captain Isaac C. Kidd, USN; Brigadier General John C. Beaumont, USMC; and Colonel Thomas S. Clarke, USMC." From the Naval History and Heritage Command.
"With officers of his staff, on board USS Argonne (AS-10), circa 1932. Seated in the front row are (left to right): Commander Leo L. Lindley, Aide & Force Material Officer; Captain Issac C. Kidd, Chief of Staff; Rear Admiral H.H. Hough, ComBaseFor; Captain Ellsworth H. Van Patten, (SC), Aide & Force Supply Officer; and Lieutenant Commander Jacob H. Jacobson, in charge of Battle Force Camera Party. Among those in the rear row are (in no particular order): Lieutenant Thomas F. Darden, Jr., Aide & Flag Secretary; Lieutenant Walter E. Moore, Aide & Force Personnel Officer; and Lieutenant Llewellyn J. Johns, Aide and Flag Lieutenant." From the Naval History and Heritage Command.
"Portrait photograph in Full Dress uniform, taken circa the later 1920s, when he held the rank of Commander, or during the early 1930s, when he was a Captain. The original photograph was in Bureau of Personnel officer records." From the Naval History and Heritage Command.
"Photographed on the deck of his ship, circa 1939. Captain Kidd has inscribed the original print: To my able gunnery officer and friend Commander Abercrombie. Sincerely, Isaac Campbell Kidd. Lieutenant Commander Laurence A. Abercrombie was assigned to Arizona during the latter part of Kidd's tour as her Commanding Officer." From the Naval History and Heritage Command.
From the Cleveland Leader on May 4, 1902
From the Cleveland Leader on February 22, 1906
From the San Diego Union February 26, 1935
From the Evening Tribune on August 27, 1935
From the Boston Herald on January 26, 1941
Medal of Honor
From Hall of Valor:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd (NSN: 0-5715), United States Navy, for conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his own life, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. Rear Admiral 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 (BB-39), his Flagship, blew up from magazine explosions and a direct bomb hit on the bridge which resulted in the loss of his life.
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. Arizona (BB-39)
The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.
The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.
The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.
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LTjg Ralph Beacham '35 (Observation Squadron (VO) 4)
ENS Henry Graham, Sr. '40 (USS West Virginia)
Namesakes
Camp Kidd—known now as Balboa Park, San Diego—was named in his honor for the duration of the war.
USS Kidd (DD 661) was named for Isaac; the ship was sponsored by his widow. USS Kidd (DDG 993) and USS Kidd (DDG 100) were also named for him; the latter is sponsored by his granddaughters, Regina Kidd Wolbarsht and Mary Kidd Plumer.
Isaac is one of 8 members of the Class of 1906 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
