The USS Kidd, a storied World War II-era destroyer decorated with 12 battle stars, is slated for her first overhaul since 1962.
The destroyer’s restoration in Louisiana is set to cost $11 million and the project will include recreating the crew quarters to honor African-American World War Two contributions, Fox 8 reported Tuesday. (RELATED: USS Arizona Sailor Louis Conter Dies At 102)
The vaunted ship was stationed in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during World War Two and participated in a battle off the shores of Okinawa where she sustained heavy damage from a Japanese kamikaze attack that left 38 of her crew dead, according to the outlet. The ship also served during the Korean War, the USS Kidd Veteran Museum website noted.
The USS Kidd remains the “only destroyer left in a WW2 configuration,” leading to her being employed as a filming location for the 2018 movie “Greyhound” that starred Tom Hanks, the museum wrote. She earned the nickname “Pirate of the Pacific” due to “her daring exploits during World War II.” She secured eight of her battle stars during that war and four more during the Korean War, according to the America’s Navy website.
The ship sustained damage in her time at the museum and needed repairs. “What we’re finding is she’s flooding more than she was in Baton Rouge. We knew the time to come it had to be this year. We needed to get her patched to fix the leaks,” USS KIDD Veterans Museum Executive Director Parks Stephenson told Fox 8.
Fox 8 shared a video of the warship being tugged into dry dock.
Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors LLC was selected to carry out the repairs on the aged destroyer, Fox 8 reported. “I am loving the care and attention that Thoma-Sea shipyards is given to this ship. My whole staff has a personal investment in this ship and we all feel that the ship could not be in better hands,” Bill Purvis, General Manager for Thoma-Sea Marine’s Repair Division, told the outlet in a video.
“We are going to paint it and its going to be painted to the World War Two configuration camouflage paint, which we think would be pretty neat,” Stephenson told the outlet in the video.
“Today’s the day we have been waiting for and in particular, the focus for my being here. USS KIDD is going into drydock today,” the executive director wrote on Facebook Tuesday.
The USS Kidd “was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986” and has been housed at the museum that honors “Louisiana veterans of all service branches who have served this country throughout its history,” the museum website said. The warship is set to return to its role as a public museum piece in the Spring of 2025.
