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Kidd-class destroyer

{{short description|U.S. class of guided-missile destroyers}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}

{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}

{{Infobox ship begin}}

{{Infobox ship image

| Ship image = File:USS Scott DDG-995.jpg

| Ship caption = USS Scott on 21 March 1986

}}

{{Infobox ship class overview

| Name = Kidd-class destroyer{{cite web |work=Global Security |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/ddg-993-specs.htm |accessdate=14 June 2023 |title=DDG-993 KIDD-class }}

| Builders = Ingalls Shipbuilding, MS (4)

| Operators = *{{Naval|United States}}

  • {{naval|Taiwan}} (as {{sclass|Kee Lung|destroyer|4}})

| Class before = {{sclass|Spruance|destroyer|4}}

| Class after = {{sclass|Arleigh Burke|destroyer|4}}

| Subclasses = {{sclass|Kee Lung|destroyer|4}}

| Built range = 1978–1982

| In commission range = *1981–1999 (United States Navy)

| Total ships building =

| Total ships planned =

| Total ships completed = 4

| Total ships cancelled =

| Total ships active = 4 (Taiwan)

| Total ships laid up =

| Total ships lost =

| Total ships retired =

| Total ships preserved =

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

| Ship type = Guided-missile destroyer

| Ship displacement = *Light: {{convert|7289|t|abbr=on}}

  • Full: {{convert|9783|t|abbr=on}}
  • Dead Weight: {{convert|2494|t|abbr=on}}

| Ship length = {{convert|563|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| Ship beam = {{convert|55|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| Ship draught = {{convert|31.5|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| Ship draft =

| Ship power = 3 × Allison 501-K17 Model 119 ship service gas turbine generators (7.5 MW)

| Ship propulsion = 4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 2 shafts, {{convert|80000|shp|MW|abbr=on}}

| Ship speed = {{convert|33|kn|lk=in|sp=us}}

| Ship range = *{{convert|6000|nmi|sp=us}} at {{convert|20|kn|sp=us}}

  • {{convert|3300|nmi|sp=us}} at {{convert|30|kn|sp=us}}

| Ship complement = 28 officers; 320 enlisted

| Ship sensors = *SPS-48E 3D Air Search Radar

  • SPS-49(V)5 2D Air Search Radar
  • 2 × SPG-51D Missile Control Radar{{Cite book |last=Jordan |first=John |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/13010345 |title=An illustrated guide to modern destroyers |date=1986 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=0-13-450776-2 |location=New York, N.Y. |oclc=13010345 |pages=58, 70, 77, 79, 134}}
  • 1 × AN/SPG-60 Gun Fire Control Radar
  • SPS-55 Surface Search Radar
  • SPQ-9A Gun Fire Control Radar
  • SQS-53 hull-mounted sonar

| Ship EW = *AN/SLQ-32(V)3 OUTBOARD II EW Suite

| Ship armament = *2 × 5-inch (127mm) 54 calibre Mark 45 dual purpose guns

| Ship armour =

| Ship armor =

| Ship aircraft = 1 SH-3 helicopter or 2 SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS helicopters

| Ship aircraft facilities = Flight deck and enclosed hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters

| Ship notes =

}}

The Kidd-class destroyers were a series of four guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) based on the {{sclass|Spruance|destroyer|4}}. In contrast to their predecessor's focus on anti-submarine warfare, the Kidds were designed as more advanced multipurpose ships with the addition of considerably enhanced anti-aircraft capabilities.{{citation|url=http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/ddg-993.htm|title=DDG-993 KIDD-class|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309182726/http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/ddg-993.htm|archive-date=9 March 2016}} Originally ordered for the former Imperial Iranian Navy, the contracts were canceled when the 1979 Iranian Revolution began, and the ships were completed for the United States Navy. They were decommissioned in 1999 and sold to Taiwan, where they have served in the Republic of China Navy as the Kee Lung class since 2005.

History

These destroyers were originally ordered by the last Shah of Iran for service in the Persian Gulf in an air defence role around 1973/74. The original order of six ships was tentatively assigned hull numbers DD 993–998 by the U.S. Navy but it was reduced to four ships after U.S. Congress declined to halt the original production run of 30 Spruance ships. Compared to the preceding Spruance class, they retained the former's anti-submarine capabilities while adding two Tartar-D missile launchers for the Mark 26/Standard anti-aircraft missile system. In order to operate more effectively in the Middle East, they also had four air conditioning plants to the Spruances' three, additional dust separators on their gas turbines' air intakes, and increased water distillation capacity. The Shah was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution, prior to Iran accepting delivery of the ships, causing the United States Navy to integrate the vessels into its own fleet in 1981–82 as the Kidd class.{{citation|url=http://destroyerhistory.org/coldwar/kiddclass/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314074122/http://destroyerhistory.org/coldwar/kiddclass/|archive-date=14 March 2016|title=Kidd Class|publisher=Destroyer History Foundation}}

File:Kidd class vs Spruance class.jpg

On 3 February 1979, the Iranian government canceled the second two ships in the class, signing a memorandum of understanding indicating that they were available for acquisition by the U.S. Navy. On 21 February. 1979, the Iranian Prime Minister notified the U.S. government that Iran intended to terminate the contract of the first two ships, officially cancelling delivery on 8 March 1979.{{citation|first=Christopher C. |last=Wright|title= U. S. Navy Shipbuilding Budgets, FY 1979/81|journal=Warship International|publisher=International Naval Research Organization|volume=17|number=2|date=1980|pages=124–127|jstor=44890726}}

Each ship in the class was named after a U.S. Navy Admiral who had died in combat in the Pacific in World War II:

  • {{USS|Kidd|DDG-993}} was named after Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who died on the bridge of his flagship, {{USS|Arizona|BB-39|6}}, during the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
  • {{USS|Callaghan|DDG-994}} was named after Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan, who was killed during a surface action at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942, aboard {{USS|San Francisco|CA-38|6}}.
  • {{USS|Scott|DDG-995}} was named after Rear Admiral Norman Scott, who was killed during the same surface action that killed Admiral Callaghan at the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, aboard {{USS|Atlanta|CL-51|6}}.
  • {{USS|Chandler|DDG-996}} was named after Rear Admiral Theodore Chandler, who died on 7 January 1945, as a result of burns received from a kamikaze crashing into his flagship, {{USS|Louisville|CA-28|6}}, the previous day.

Because they were equipped with heavy-duty air conditioning and other features that made them suitable in hot climates, they tended to be used in the Middle East, specifically the Persian Gulf itself. During their service with the U.S. Navy from the 1980s to the late 1990s, the ships were popularly known as the "Ayatollah" class.{{cite book|editor=Chris Bishop|title=The Encyclopedia of World Sea Power|year=1988|publisher=Crescent Books|location=New York|isbn=0-517-65342-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000unse_v9e5/page/94 94]|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000unse_v9e5/page/94}}

In 1988–90, the Kidds received the "New Threat Upgrade", which allowed cooperative engagement with Aegis {{sclass|Ticonderoga|cruiser|0}} cruisers, enabling the cruisers to control the Kidds{{'}} surface-to-air missiles in flight while the destroyers remained electronically silent. However, the arrival of the Aegis-equipped {{sclass|Arleigh Burke|destroyer|0}} destroyers led to the accelerated retirement of the Kidd class.{{citation|url=http://destroyerhistory.org/coldwar/spruanceclass/|title=Spruance Class|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314030402/http://destroyerhistory.org/coldwar/spruanceclass/|archive-date=14 March 2016}}

All four ships were decommissioned from the U.S. Navy in the late 1990s and were initially offered for sale to Australia in 1997 for A$30 million each.{{cite news |first=Ian |last=McPhedran |author-link=Ian McPhedran|title=Navy told US ships too risky |work=Herald Sun |page=26 |date=5 November 1999 }} The Royal Australian Navy was a strong supporter of buying the Kidd-class destroyers to replace the Perth class as their air warfare ships.{{Cite web|url=https://www.afr.com/companies/manufacturing/ran-loses-battle-for-kidd-class-destroyers-20000525-k9ep0|title=RAN loses battle for Kidd class destroyers|date=25 May 2000|website=Australian Financial Review}} In 1999, the offer was rejected, based on extensive problems the Royal Australian Navy had encountered during the acquisition of two surplus {{sclass|Newport|tank landing ship|1}}s from the U.S. Navy in 1994. In the early 1990s the Labor government of Paul Keating chose to maintain the Royal Australian Navy's existing Adelaide-class frigates instead of replacing them with the more expensive and much more labour-intensive, but more capable Kidd-class destroyers. Under the succeeding Liberal government of John Howard, in the mid-1990s they commenced the SEA 1390, also known as the FFG Upgrade Project, to improve the Adelaide frigates' capabilities; however, this project ran over costs and was behind schedule.Australia's Hazard(ous) Frigate Upgrade, in Defense Industry Daily [https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/australias-hazardous-frigate-upgrade-04586/]McPhedran, Frigates 'can't go to war' despite $1.4bn upgrade

After the Australian refusal, the four ships were offered to Greece, which also refused.

Sale and reactivation

{{Infobox ship begin

}}

{{Infobox ship image

| Ship image = File:ROCS Ma Kong (DDG-1805).jpg

| Ship caption = ROCS Ma Kung in 25 August 2018

}}

{{Infobox ship class overview

| Name = Kee Lung-class destroyer{{cite web |work=Global Security |accessdate=14 June 2023 |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/taiwan/kidd-specs.htm |title=DDG 1801 Keelung / Chi Teh / Kidd-class destroyers }}

| Builders = Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi

| Operators = *{{Naval|United States}} (as {{sclass|Kidd|destroyer|4}})

  • {{naval|Taiwan}}

| Class before = {{sclass|Spruance|destroyer|4}}

| Class after = {{sclass|Arleigh Burke|destroyer|4}}

| Subclasses =

| Built range = 1978–1982

| In commission range = *1981–1999 (United States Navy)

| Total ships building =

| Total ships planned =

| Total ships completed = 4

| Total ships cancelled =

| Total ships active = 4 (Taiwan)

| Total ships laid up =

| Total ships lost =

| Total ships retired =

| Total ships preserved =

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

| Ship type = Guided-missile destroyer

| Ship displacement = *Light: {{convert|6950|t|abbr=on}}

  • Full: {{convert|9574|t|abbr=on}}
  • Dead Weight: {{convert|2624|t|abbr=on}}

| Ship length = {{convert|563|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| Ship beam = {{convert|55|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| Ship draught = {{convert|33.1|ft|m|abbr=on}}{{cite web |url=http://www.navypedia.org/ships/usa/us_dd_kidd.htm |work=Navypedia |accessdate=14 June 2023 |title=KIDD Missile Destroyers (1981 - 1982) }}

| Ship draft =

| Ship propulsion = 4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 2 shafts, {{convert|80000|shp|MW|abbr=on}}

| Ship speed = {{convert|33|kn|lk=in|sp=us}}

| Ship range =

  • {{convert|6000|nmi|sp=us}} at {{convert|20|kn|sp=us}}
  • {{convert|3300|nmi|sp=us}} at {{convert|30|kn|sp=us}}

| Ship complement = 31 officers; 363 enlisted

| Ship sensors = *SPS-48E Air Search Radar

| Ship EW = *AN/SLQ-32(V)3 OUTBOARD II EW Suite{{cite web |url=https://asiatimes.com/2018/12/taiwan-to-upgrade-second-hand-destroyers-from-us/ |work=Asia Times |accessdate=14 June 2023 |title=Taiwan to upgrade second-hand destroyers from US }}

| Ship armament = *2 × 5-inch (127mm) 54 calibre Mark 45 dual purpose guns

| Ship armour =

| Ship armor =

| Ship aircraft = 1 or 2 Sikorsky S-70C(M) helicopter(s){{efn|Unlike her sister ships, ROCS Lee Kung has the LAMPS III system installed, so can carry 2 of these helicopters.}}

| Ship aircraft facilities = Flight deck and enclosed hangar for up to one medium-lift helicopter

| Ship notes =

}}

In 2001, the U.S. authorized the reactivation and sale of all four ships to Taiwan (Republic of China). All four have been transferred to the Republic of China Navy under the Kuang Hua VII program. They were sold for a total price of US$732 million with upgraded hardware, overhaul, activation, and training, and included a reduced missile loadout of 148 SM-2 Block IIIA and 32 RGM-84L Block II Harpoon anti-ship missiles.{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/ddg-993.htm |title=DDG-993 KIDD-class |publisher=GlobalSecurity.Org |access-date=15 April 2010}} The reactivation was done in Charleston, South Carolina, by VSE/BAV.{{cite web |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vsebav-completes-reactivation-of-ex-kidd-class-guided-missile-destroyers-57109157.html|title=Vsebav completes reactivation of ex-Kidd class guided missile destroyers|agency=PR Newswire|access-date=25 November 2010}}

=''Kee Lung''-class destroyers=

The first two ships, ex-Scott and ex-Callaghan, arrived at Su-ao, a military port in eastern Taiwan, in December 2005, and were named {{ship|ROCS|Kee Lung|DDG-1801|2}} and {{ship|ROCS|Su Ao|DDG-1802|2}} in a commissioning ceremony on 17 December 2005. Following the tradition of ship class naming, ROCN has referred to these vessels as Kee Lung-class destroyers, with the ships named after military ports in Taiwan. The remaining two units, ex-Kidd and ex-Chandler, were delivered in 2006, and named {{ship|ROCS|Tso Ying|DDG-1803|2}} and {{ship|ROCS|Ma Kong|DDG-1805|2}}, respectively.

The opposition-led Legislature Yuan originally allocated only enough money to purchase half of the SM-2 missiles that the destroyers can carry; a further purchase of 100 supplemental SM-2MRs was included in the 2007 annual budget to ensure all four ships had a full load of SM-2.

By end of 2008, Su Ao was spotted to have eight HF-3 AShMs installed in place of eight Harpoon AShMs.{{citation|url=http://www.wretch.cc/album/show.php?i=luke822&b=109&f=1088515480&p=35 |title=luke822's album|quote=Photo of ship-mounted Hsiung Feng-III Anti-ship missiles taken at Su Ao Harbour|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020165200/http://www.wretch.cc/album/show.php?i=luke822&b=109&f=1088515480&p=35|archive-date=20 October 2012}} It has been speculated from 2014 on that a navalized Sky Bow missile system, currently planned for an upcoming shipbuilding programme that involves the procurement of up to 15 general purpose frigates and three or four air defense destroyers,{{Cite web|url=http://mdc.idv.tw/mdc/navy/rocnavy/futureplan.htm|title=台灣海軍12項造艦計畫（2016年）(ROC Navy "Year 2020" plan)|website=mdc.idv.tw}}[http://www.taia.org.tw/doc/201606221644403747.pdf Industry briefing released by Navy Command Headquarters, Ministry of National Defense ROC (Traditional Chinese)] will also be replacing the Standard Missile system on these vessels. No plan for any Mk 26-compatible version of the Sky Bow III missile is ever known to have existed.

Ships in class

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+ Ships of the Kidd destroyer class

scope="col" | Name

! scope="col" | Hull no.

! scope="col" | Crest

! scope="col" | Builder

! scope="col" | Laid down

! scope="col" | Launched

! scope="col" | Commissioned

! scope="col" | Decommissioned

! scope="col" | Status

scope="row" | {{USS|Kidd|DDG-993|2}}

! scope="row" style="white-space: nowrap;" | DDG-993

| {{Dodseal|DDG-993|75}}

| rowspan=4 | Ingalls Shipbuilding

| 26 June 1978

| 11 August 1979

| 27 March 1981

| 12 March 1998

| data-sort-value="30 May 2003" | Sold to Taiwan, 30 May 2003; commissioned as ROCS Tso Ying (DDG-1803)

scope="row" | {{USS|Callaghan|DDG-994|2}}

! scope="row" | DDG-994

| {{Dodseal|DDG-994|75}}

| 23 October 1978

| 1 December 1979

| 29 August 1981

| 31 March 1998

| data-sort-value="30 May 2003" | Sold to Taiwan, 30 May 2003; commissioned as ROCS Su Ao (DDG-1802)

scope="row" | {{USS|Scott|DDG-995|2}}

! scope="row" | DDG-995

| {{Dodseal|DDG-995|75}}

| 12 February 1979

| 1 March 1980

| 24 October 1981

| 10 December 1998

| data-sort-value="30 May 2003" | Sold to Taiwan, 30 May 2003; commissioned as ROCS Kee Lung (DDG-1801)

scope="row" | {{USS|Chandler|DDG-996|2}}

! scope="row" | DDG-996

| {{Dodseal|DDG-996|75}}

| 7 May 1979

| 28 June 1980

| 13 March 1982

| 23 September 1999

| data-sort-value="30 May 2003" | Sold to Taiwan, 30 May 2003; commissioned as ROCS Ma Kong (DDG-1805)

  • Original name: {{USS|Kidd|DDG-993}}
  • Tentative Iranian name: Kourosh
  • Present name: Tso Ying (左營, DDG-1803); was to be Tung Teh (同德); commissioned on 3 November 2006
  • Original name: {{USS|Callaghan|DDG-994}}
  • Tentative Iranian name: Dariush
  • Present name: Su Ao (蘇澳, DDG-1802); was to be Ming Teh (明德); commissioned on 17 December 2005
  • Original name: {{USS|Scott|DDG-995}}
  • Tentative Iranian name: Nader
  • Present name: Kee Lung (基隆, DDG-1801); was to be Chi Teh (紀德); commissioned on 17 December 2005
  • Original name: {{USS|Chandler|DDG-996}}
  • Tentative Iranian name: Anoshirvan
  • Present name: Ma Kong (馬公, DDG-1805); was to be Wu Teh (武德); commissioned on 3 November 2006

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Notes

{{notelist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Kidd class destroyers}}

  • [http://destroyerhistory.org/coldwar/kiddclass/ Kidd-class destroyers] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20090219202357/http://destroyerhistory.org/ Destroyer History Foundation]
  • [http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/asiapac/taiwan.htm#1 "World Navies Today: Taiwan (Republic of China)"], Haze Gray & Underway.
  • [http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/ddg-993.htm "DDG-993 KIDD-class"]

{{Kidd class destroyer}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidd Class Destroyer}}

Category:Destroyer classes