Isaac Campbell Kidd Jr. (August 14, 1919 – June 27, 1999) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

in the United States Navy who served as the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO's Atlantic Fleet, and also as commander in chief of the

U.S. Atlantic Fleet The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFF) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United Stat ...

from 1975 to 1978. He was the son of Rear Admiral

Isaac C. Kidd Isaac Campbell Kidd (March 26, 1884 – December 7, 1941) was an American Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. He was the father of Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, Jr. Kidd was killed on the bridge of during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. ...

, who was killed on the bridge of the battleship during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1978 Kidd was among a number of retired four-star officers who testified before Congress in favor of the controversial

SALT II The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were two rounds of bilateral conferences and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War superpowers dealt with arms control in two rounds of ta ...

arms control pact.

Biography

Graduation

Born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Kidd graduated from the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...

in 1941; he was commissioned an ensign on December19, 1941, just 12 days after his father was killed aboard his flagship. As '' Time'' 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." During World War II he served as a gunnery and operations officer on

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s in both Europe and the Pacific, and participated in various Allied landings in the Mediterranean as well as at

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

Naval service

His 23 years at sea during his 37-year naval career included 15 years in command of destroyers, destroyer divisions and squadrons and three U.S. fleets in the Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean; he also served as executive assistant and senior aide to the

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...

in the early 1960s, earning citations for his efforts in the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

and several other crises. In 1967, he headed the court of inquiry into the USS ''Liberty'' incident during the Six-Day War in June of that year. From 1975 to 1978, Kidd served as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

Retirement

Shortly after his 1978 retirement, Kidd was among a number of retired four-star officers who testified before Congress in favor of the controversial SALT II arms control pact. Kidd declared that while he was not entirely thrilled with the proposed treaty's verification procedures, "the alternative of having no ceiling at all, considering our position at this point in the so-called race, I find totally unacceptable." He also taught the law of the sea at the College of William and Mary. His six children included Navy Captain Isaac C. KiddIII. Kidd died of cancer at age 79 at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, and was buried in the Naval Academy Cemetery.

Awards and decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidd, Isaac C. Jr. 1919 births 1999 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II College of William & Mary faculty United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy admirals Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit Burials at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery Military personnel from Cleveland Deaths from cancer in Virginia Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal