Military

DD 965 Kinkaid
"Steadfast and True"

The official crest of the USS Kinkaid is highly symbolic of the ship's namesake Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, one of America's great Naval Officers.

The blue globe with a seven-pointed star within represents the seven oceans of the world in which the ship is prepared to serve, and also alludes to Admiral Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet Command. The five rays of the sunburst denote the five major battles in which Admiral Kinkaid participated in the Pacific: Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, the Aleutians, and Leyte Gulf.

The four stars in the blue field and the three points in gold refer to the numerical designation of the Seventh Fleet, which Admiral Kinkaid commanded in support of General MacArthur's major operations in four areas: Hollandia, the Philippines; the Admiralties and Borneo. The stars also refer to Admiral Kinkaid's promotion to full Admiral.

The scarlet in the base of the shield alludes to Admiral Kinkaid's role as Commander of the North Pacific Fleet in the Aleutians where he directed the operations that ended the only enemy occupation of American soil. The color red is also symbolic of courage and the heat and action of battle.

The Ship's Motto "Steadfast and True" comes from two letters from and about Admiral Kinkaid. "Steadfast" was the word used by Fleet Admiral Ernest King to describe Admiral Kinkaid in a letter written to Mrs. Kinkaid in 1942. "True" is from a letter Admiral Kinkaid wrote to his wife in 1945, in which he said that above all else, he wanted to be remembered for having been true to his mission.

USS Kinkaid (DD 965) is the third of thirty-one SPRUANCE class Destroyers and the second to join the Pacific Fleet. Kinkaid is home-ported in San Diego, CA and is assigned to Destroyer Squadron SEVEN. She was designed and built by Ingall's Shipyard of Litton Industries in Pascagoula, MS. Her keel was laid on 19 April 1973 and she was christened on 1 June 1974. The USS Kinkaid was commissioned on 10 July 1976.

A highly versatile multi-mission destroyer, USS Kinkaid is capable of operating independently or with amphibious assault and aircraft carrier task forces. KINKAID primary missions include the prosecution of both surface and subsurface threats. The ship's offensive assets include Harpoon anti-ship missiles, five-inch guns, and ship and helicopter-launched torpedoes. KINKAID is also equipped with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to attack land targets.

The USS Kinkaid (DD 965) collided on November 11, 1989, with the merchant ship Kota Petani from singapore in the Straight of Malacca. The collision resulted in the death of one U.S. sailor, injuries to 15 crewmembers, and 15 millions dollars in damages. Fires broke out aboard both ships with the Kota Petani sustaining major damage as a result.

The USS Kinkaid took part in Operation Desert Shield.

On July 4, 1993, the USS Kinkaid (DD 965) paid a three-day port visit to Acajutla, marking the first visit by a U.S. warship to El Salvador in more than a dozen years. The USS Kinkaid was then assigned to Destroyer Squadron 13 in San Diego and was, at the time, conducting two months of routine operations under the operational command of Joint Task Force Four, located in Key West, FL. The USS Kinkaid returned to San Diego in mid-August.

The USS Kinkaid deployed on November 10, 1994, as part of the USS Constellation (CV 64) Battle Group for a six-month deployment to the western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. It spent most of December in the Western Pacific. With the USS Constellation Battle Group, it entered the Arabian Gulf, on January 11, 1995, and departed it on March 23. The Constellation Battle Group conducted several exercises during the deployment, including Beachcrest 95, a routine annual exercise that included air combat, air control and air-to-ground combat support training in designated areas on Okinawa and Ie Shima; Nautical Swimmer 95-2 and Nautical Artist 95-2, naval air and surface exercises intended to improve interoperability between forces of the U.S. and friendly Gulf nations; Beacon Flash 95-1, a combined naval tactical air exercise to improve readiness with friendly Gulf nations; Eager Archer 95-1, an air training exercise between units of CVW 2 and Kuwait that provided dissimilar air combat training, formal joint strike training and in-flight refueling training for the Kuwaiti air force; and Sharem 110, a U.S. anti-submarine warfare training exercise in the Gulf of Oman involving several battle group units. The battle group also conducted exercises with units of the Royal Australian navy off the coast of western Australia. The USS Kinkaid made its seventh deployment and supported the battle group by performing the anti-submarine warfare mission.

The USS Kinkaid underwent a period of overhaul in June 1995.

As a result of a reoganization of the Pacific Fleet's surface ships into six core battle groups and eight destroyer squadrons, the USS Kinkaid was reassigned to Destroyer Squadron 21. The reorganization was scheduled to have been completed by October 1, 1995, with homeport changes to be completed within the next year.

In mid-1997, as part of the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Battle Group, the USS Kinkaid took part in Pacific Joint Task Force Exercise 97-2 (JTFEX 97-2). The exercise was conducted off the coast of southern California and also included units from the Air Force, Army and Japan. The USS Nimitz, from July 20 through July 24, then conducted a warfighting demonstration called Surge Exercise (SURGEX), during which it demonstrated the firepower of the carrier/airwing team and its ability to sustain continuous operations in support of forces ashore in the initial four days of a conflict when a deployed carrier might be the only asset available to provide such support. During the exercise, USS Comstock (LSD 45), USS Kinkaid (DD 965) and USS Ford (FFG 54) practiced maritime interception operations. The USS Kinkaid also escorted the civilian merchant ship Viking Serenade through the simulated "war zone".

The USS Kinkaid then deployed as part of the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Battle Group. After Western Pacific visits in Yokosuka, Japan, and Hong Kong, a planned visit to Singapore was canceled when Iraq violated a UN imposed "no fly" zone. With the Nimitz directed to proceed to the region immediately to reinforce Operation Southern Watch operations, the USS Kinkaid arrived in the Arabian Gulf on October 12 after transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

During the Nimitz's deployment in the Arabian Gulf, the USS Kinkaid was accused by Iran of spying on its military exercises. The USS Kinkaid was, however, in port in Bahrain at the purported time Iran claimed the spying was taking place.

The USS Kinkaid returned on February 28, 1998, from a six month Arabian Gulf deployment. During the deployment Kinkaid served as Tomahawk ready strike platforms, helped enforce the no-fly zone in Southern Iraq and conducted maritime interception operations.

The USS Kinkaid was part of the USS Constellation (CV 64) Battle Group, as the USS Constellation officially relieved the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in the Arabian Gulf in September 1999. The Constellation battle group then spend the next 10 weeks in the Arabian Gulf and conducted MIO boardings as well as flew combat air patrols over the Iraqi no-fly zones in support of Operation Southern Watch. During the period, the USS Kinkaid rescued the MV Sima Star, a container ship, from sinking 70 miles off the coast of Bahrain after taking on over 40 tons of water. Kinkaid Sailors dewatered the fully loaded container ship, which was listing 15 degrees to the port side. After seven hours of battling poor ventilation and flooding below decks, the Kinkaid's rescue and assistance team was able to return the Sima Star to a five degree list, allowing its crew to sail into Bahrain Monday morning for repairs. The USS Kinkaid returned home on December 17, 1999, after a six-months deployment. During its 10-week patrol in the Arabian Gulf region, the Connie Battle Group flew more than 5,000 casualty-free sorties, including nearly 1,300 in support of Operation Southern Watch. These flights included nine separate combat strikes and more than 43 tons of ordnance expended on various Iraqi air defense sites in response to Iraqi aggression against coalition aircraft.

The USS Kinkaid (DD 965), began, on March 15, 2001, a scheduled six-month 2001 Western Pacific (WestPac) deployment while attached to the USS Constellation (CV 64) Battle Group (CVBG) and USS Boxer (LHD 4) Amphibious Ready Group (ARG). The entire battle group had trained the previous six months in preparation for this deployment through a series of increasingly challenging exercises and operations. These pre-deployment exercises culminated in February 2001 with the successful completion of Joint Task Force Exercise 01-1. Over the following six months, battle group ships conducted multi-national and joint operations with the navies of various allied countries and visit ports in Western Pacific and Persian Gulf nations. The ships and squadrons were scheduled to return home in September.

The U.S. Navy Surface Force was scheduled to begin, in the summer of 2002, an initiative to test the effectiveness of deploying a single ship for 18-months while swapping out crews at six-month intervals. Called Sea Swap, this initial two-phased initiative would involve three Spruance-class destroyers (DDs) -- USS Fletcher (DD 992), USS Kinkaid (DD 965) and USS Oldendorf (DD 972), and three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDGs) -- USS Higgins (DDG 76), USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) and USS Benfold (DDG 65). For the DD phase, Fletcher and her crew would deploy with their battle group this summer, but after six months, only the crew would return. The ship would remain deployed and be manned by the crew from Kinkaid. After completing their training cycle and decommissioning Kinkaid, these Sailors would fly to a port in either Australia or Singapore to assume ownership of Fletcher and steam her back on-station. After six months, they would be replaced by the crew from Oldendorf who would have completed the same training and decommissioning schedule with their ship before flying out to relieve the Kinkaid crew. After four more months on station, the Oldendorf crew would then bring the ship (Fletcher) back to the United States where it too would be decommissioned. Additionally, by executing this plan, the Navy would be able to eliminate the deployment of USS Paul F. Foster (DD 964) because the additional on-station time generated by swapping out the crews meant a ship would already be in theater meeting that requirement.

USS Kinkaid (DD 965) decommissioned Jan. 7 in a ceremony on Pier 7 at Naval Station San Diego. The ceremony included more than 250 guests, family members and plankowners of the 27-year-old Spruance-class destroyer.

But this decommissioning ceremony was a little different from other ones, however. Instead of going their separate ways throughout the fleet after decommissioning, the Kinkaid crew members will relieve the officers and Sailors aboard USS Fletcher (DD 992) in Perth, Australia, as part of "Sea Swap," an experiment that kicked off in the summer of 2002. Jan. 13, 2003 the crew members will fly to Perth to relieve the crew of Fletcher. Fletcher's new crew will then commence a six-month Western Pacific deployment.

Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid

Thomas Cassin Kinkaid was born in Hanover, New Hampshire on April 3, 1888. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy graduating with the class of 1908.

After graduation from the Naval Academy he served in the battleships NEBRASKA and MINNESOTA until September 1913, when he reported to the Postgraduate School, Annapolis, for instruction in Ordnance Engineering. From 1916 to 1918 he served aboard the USS PENNSYLVANIA followed by a tour with the British Admiralty.

He was Gunnery Officer aboard USS ARIZONA 1918-1919 when it was an escort ship for President Woodrow Wilson, then en route to the Peace Conference at Versailles. Following a cruise to Asia Minor he was ordered to Washington, D.C. for duties with the Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Department, where he remained until July 1922.

From 1922 to 1930, Admiral Kinkaid served successively as Assistant Chief of Staff to the Commander, U.S. Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters; as Commanding Officer of USS ISHERWOOD; at the Navy Yard, Naval Gun Factory, Washington, D.C. and as Fleet Gunnery Officer and Aide on the Staff of Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet.

In 1930 he returned to Washington for duties in connection with the Treaty for the Limitation of Armaments, and in 1931 reported to the Secretary of State, then in Geneva, where he served as Technical Advisor in connection with studies relating to the Treaty.

From 1933 to 1938, Admiral Kinkaid served as Executive Officer of USS COLORADO, with the Navy Department as Officer-in-Charge of the Officer's Detailing Section and as Commanding Officer of the USS INDIANAPOLIS.

In November of 1938 he was designated Naval Attache and U.S. Naval Attache for Air at the American Embassy, Rome, with additional duty from March 1939 to March 1941 as Naval Attache to the Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

He commanded Destroyer Squadron Eight from June 1941 until his promotion to Rear Admiral in November. This assignment was followed with command successively of Cruiser Division Six, Pacific Fleet, and a Task Force which engaged in the Battle of Solomon Islands and the Santa Cruz Islands. In the Battle of Guadalcanal, November 12-15, 1942, he commanded a Task Force built around the USS ENTERPRISE Air Support Group and Battleships, the first surface officer ever to command a Carrier Task Force.

In January of 1943 he assumed command of the North Pacific Fleet and was responsible for ending the Japanese occupation of the Aleutians. From November 1943 to 1945, then Vice Admiral Kinkaid served as Commander, Allied Naval Forces, Southwest Pacific Area. In this capacity he supported General MacArthur's landings in this area and engineered the defeat of the Japanese Fleet at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Promoted to full Admiral in April 1945 he continued to serve as Commander, Seventh Fleet until the war's end. After the war he returned to the United States and served as Commander, Sixteenth Fleet until his retirement in May 1950.

Admiral Kinkaid is the holder of four Distinguished Service Medals and numerous Campaign and Service Medals. In addition, he is an Honorary Companion of the Order of the Bath, awarded by King George VI of Great Britain; Grand Officer, Order of the Orange Nassau with Swords, bestowed by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and other decorations from Chile, Belgium and China.