LSU Book Bazaar Haul

Measure 32-10D. She wore it in 1944. We had to adjust it slightly to accommodate her August 1945 configuration.

She’s better than ever and ready to come home again as soon as the river rises.

Nightmare off Okinawa- on April 11, 1945, while performing radar picket duties for Task Force 58, Fletcher-class destroyer USS KIDD (DD-661) was struck by a kamikaze. 🧵 👇 #NavalHistory #WWII #MuseumShips

Been on her. I need to hit Drum in Mobile now that I’m down south.

That’s one I haven’t been to yet

We now return you to our regularly scheduled DBF-posting. #nationalsubmarineday

Today, Yaguchi is remembered alongside the KIDD crew who lost their lives that day, men who might otherwise have been friends separated by culture and political differences.

And because, in the words of a KIDD crewmember who survived the attack, “he didn’t want to be there any more than we did.”

To learn more about Yaguchi, you can visit his exhibit at the USS KIDD Veterans Museum. It is thanks to the efforts of Japanese-American lawyer Katsumi Hiragi that we can tell Yaguchi’s side of the story.

Unique to KIDD’s kamikaze story is the fact we know the identity of the pilot that struck her.
Sub-Lieutenant Shigehisa Yaguchi from Tsuchiura City, Ibaragi Provice, Japan was 23 years old when he guided his plane into the side of the destroyer.

KIDD eventually ended up in San Francisco for major repairs and refit. This was the end of the war for her. By the time she was out and ready to steam for Pearl Harbor again, hostilities with Japan had ceased.

HALE deterred another attempted attack at 7:30PM, driving off a number of planes with her gunfire.

At 10:30PM, almost 9 hours after the initial attack began, KIDD, escorted by USS MCNAIR, finally set a course southward towards Ulithi Atoll.

The bomb missed and the plane was fired at for 2 minutes as it orbited before it finally flew off to starboard trailing smoke.

HALE was finally able to transfer her doctor over at 5:19PM.

At 3:40PM KIDD was able to rendezvous with the task group. 30 minutes later, USS HALE approached to transfer her doctor over since Doctor Garrett had been injured in the bomb explosion.

During the transfer, a Japanese plane came in and dropped a bomb between the two ships.

Despite the damage, however, KIDD was able to maintain 22 knots and retired southwards screened by her division mates. Her crew extinguished fires and got pumps working enough to keep her afloat.

The attack killed 38 men and wounded 55 others, including KIDD’s CO, XO, and Doctor Garrett.

Commander Moore’s wounds were such that Lieutenant Britton, the XO, had to take command as Acting CO. Lieutenant Kenney became Acting XO.

The plane’s bomb continued onward, passing through KIDD’s port side and detonating in the water.

The explosion blew open the port bridge wing and peppered that side of the ship with shrapnel.

A black and white photograph of a Japanese zero fighter flying directly at the camera. Fletcher class destroyer USS BLACK can be seen in the background.

At 2:10PM, the plane slammed into KIDD’s starboard side, striking her forward fire room at the waterline.

This photo was taken by KIDD’s doctor, Lt, j.g. Broox Garrett just before he scrambled through the midships passage to the port side in an attempt to find safety.

But at the last moment the plane pulled up and soared over BLACK. It settled back down at sea level again, this time headed straight for KIDD.

KIDD immediately opened fire with her 40mm and 20mm batteries. Hits were made, but not enough.

BLACK took the plane under fire. As it closed in, KIDD was unable to return fire for fear of hitting BLACK instead. As the plane disappeared behind BLACK’s silhouette, KIDD’s crew believed it would strike their division mate.

Almost at the same time, two Japanese planes were seen beyond the stern of BLACK, apparently engaged in a mock dogfight. One of these planes began an immediate diving turn, descending to sea level to make a run at BLACK.

At 2:08PM another plane dove out of the clouds 5000 yards from KIDD’s port bow. She opened fire with her machine gun batteries. The plane passed ahead of the destroyer and out of range to starboard.

At 2:00PM, the formation reversed course, now maneuvering at 25 knots on course 150 True.

3 minutes later, at 1:57PM, a second plane dove out of the sun in a kamikaze attack towards BULLARD. BULLARD opened fire with all of her batteries and KIDD fired with her 40mm and 20mm batteries. The plane crashed into the sea 50 yards from BULLARD’s stern.

At 1:54PM a plane made a suicide dive at BLACK. BLACK opened fire and with the help of the combat air patrol shot the plane down before it reached her.

Almost immediately after sounding general quarters, KIDD’s gun director “ran away in train” to her port side, forcing her 5-inch gun battery to port and unable to move as her crew tried to rectify the problem.

At 1:46PM, BLACK picked up a raid of enemy aircraft inbound from the north. All ships immediately went to general quarters. The formation began maneuvering at 25 knots on course 330 True.

The four destroyers were sailing in a box formation, with KIDD 1500 yards behind CHAUNCY, BLACK 1500 yards to KIDD’s starboard beam, and BULLARD 1500 yards ahead of BLACK.

KIDD was operating with DesDiv 96, which included the destroyers CHAUNCEY, BULLARD, and BLACK. DesDiv 96’s picket station was 25 miles north of the task group, approximately 80 miles northeast of Okinawa.