PASCAGOULA, Miss., April 29, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) authenticated the keel of Kidd (DDG 100), the U.S. Navy's newest Aegis guided missile destroyer, during a ceremony here today.
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The event featured brief remarks delivered by Isaac C. "Cappy" Kidd III, keel authenticator for DDG 100 and director of International Trade for Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector. Kidd is also the grandson of the ship's namesake, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Isaac Campbell Kidd, (1884-1941), and son of U.S. Navy Adm. Isaac C. Kidd Jr., (1920-1999). Kidd's wife, Pam, and brother, Chris, joined him at the ceremony.
In welcoming the Kidd family to the shipyard, Dr. Philip A. Dur, president, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems said, "This is another great milestone in shipbuilding. We built four ships in this shipyard in the 1970s and 1980s that were named after flag officers who had won the Congressional Medal of Honor in World War II. The first of those killed in action was Adm. Isaac C. Kidd. The fact that this ship is going to bring that name back to the fleet is, in my estimation, one of the smartest moves the people who name Navy ships have made in a long time."
"This is a great honor for our Navy and for our family today," said Cappy Kidd. "But it is far more an honor for the likes of you out there wearing those hard hats. You're the giants of this yard that breathe life into that which will carry our family name. I'm awful proud that our yard here is going to launch another Kidd."
Adm. Kidd was commander of battleship division one and senior officer present afloat during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. From the bridge of his flagship USS Arizona (BB 39), Adm. Kidd directed the counterattack against enemy aircraft until the magazine of Arizona was exploded by enemy ordnance, eventually sinking the ship, and a direct hit to the bridge took his life. Adm. Kidd was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on that day.
Two other ships have borne the name Kidd. The Fletcher-class destroyer, DD 661, was in service from 1943-1974, and is now a floating museum in Baton Rouge, La. The Kidd-class destroyer, DDG 993, was also built at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems and was delivered to the Navy in 1981. DDG 993 served until 1998.
The ship is the 24th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.
Northrop Grumman Ship Systems includes primary operations in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss.; and in New Orleans and Tallulah, La., as well as in a network of fleet support offices in the U.S. and Japan. Ship Systems is one of the nation's leading full-service systems companies for the design, engineering, construction and life cycle support of major surface ships for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and international navies, and for commercial vessels of all types.
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