Going off the tour route. If you’ve ever toured the USS KIDD, you’ve seen that hatch that’s chained off in crew’s mess. While the KIDD was in service, the ship’s refrigerator (AKA the “reefer deck”) housed the crew’s milk, butter, eggs, meat, vegies, fruit, etc. When the USS KIDD arrived in Baton Rouge in 1982, museum staff swapped Cold War era stuff to WWII artifacts. A lot of that Cold War equipment ended up in this cold storage area.
The USS KIDD is currently undergoing repairs in Thoma-Sea shipyard, getting work done on her hull mainly. The workers will be cutting through the reefer walls to access the hull on the other side. So, a team of three museum staff members unloaded this storage area to make room for access. This video shows what exactly has been down there for the past forty years.
The USS KIDD Veterans Museum is a non-funded state agency that receives no regular state or federal funding. Please donate to support our museum!
https://www.usskidd.com/support-our-mission/
00:00 Intro
00:31 Going Belowdecks
01:15 Welcome to the Reefer Deck
02:55 Butter and Eggs Locker
04:02 Pirated by the Ausies
06:25 Vegetable Locker
07:45 Meat Locker
09:37 Reefer Void
12:01 What areas do YOU want to see?
13:38 Gag Reel
FAQ 1 – USS KIDD (DD-661) is now in ThomaSea shipyard in Houma, LA, undergoing repairs in drydock.
FAQ 2 – She’s not leaving Baton Rouge permanently; this is just a visit for repairs.
FAQ 3 – KIDD will be away from Baton Rouge until Spring 2025 due to the 40-foot difference in the seasonal rise and fall of the Mississippi River annually.
FAQ 4 – We will be refurbishing the cradle while the river is down and the ship is away. There are no plans to “demolish the cradle.”
FAQ 5 – The rudder was shaved to get her out of her cradle due to silt build-up on the riverbed. It did not “rot right off.”
FAQ 6 – Drydock tours are still under discussion. Once a decision is reached, there will be an announcement.
FAQ 7 – No, you can not “bring the kids down to tour the ship in Houma.” She is in a shipyard. That environment is not conducive to a safe touring environment. Hence, the reason drydock tours are still under discussion.
FAQ 8 – Videos and livestreams appear on our YouTube channel.
FAQ 9 – No, we are not restoring her engines. Yes, we know about other ships under power. They were acquired from different sources with different contracts.
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I assume the refrigerant was removed from the system, but I am curious about what refrigerant was used. Was it ammonia or a freon based refrigerant?
What percentage of the ship isn't currently on the public tour? And do you plan to open more of the ship to the public after it is back home in Baton Rouge?
Thanks for showing us more of what we can't see. ❤
I really appreciate the Blue Oyster Cult pun.
Will they be replacing the refrigerant coils after the work is complete? I know they're not needed, but it historical fabric.
Thanks for another great update!
Ryan would love the end part lol
Freezer refrigeration: Freon 12, now banned.
Molly did a great job on those stairs with the camera. That has to be hard
The aussies need to give us our steaks lol
My recollection – before Mess Management Specialist (MS) USN called them Culinary Specialist. And Using Wikipedia – MS was only created in 1975. When I was active duty I recall of the quantity of MS we did refer to one of them as the Jack of the Dust- the one with most time down in the "reefer deck/ storage" and responsible for maintain tally of inventory of the food.
Thanks for this video, the ship looks like it is in the same condition the uss texas was in when it got drydocked.
Thank you for posting these videos! This is a great way to increase visibility for the KIDD and I hope it results in some positive returns for the museum!
At the 2:20 mark, was that ship built using the same materiel Dodge uses to make their rotted out pieces of shit pickup trucks??
13:38 I certainly didn’t expect to get a Gilbert & Sullivan reference from the musical, Pirates of Penzance. Awesome. As a teenager, my school did that play in 82, or 83. I could still probably sing that whole Major Generals song.
USS Kidd, this veteran of both the USAF & MI Army National Guard has two STEAK stories for you to enjoy.
In the fall of 1982 while in the USAF, I was sent TDY to Dharan Saudi Arabia. My quarters was the Ramada Inn and the chow hall was the Ramada Restaurant. Their specialty was 20 ounce T-Bone steaks from Australia. Both the quarters and meals were on the King's tab. This was not on Uncle Sam! In my 72 days there, I ate plenty! Maybe I got your steaks!
In the summer of 2003 while in the MI Army National Guard, we were deployed to Kuwait before going into Iraq. It was announced that the chow hall was going to have steaks. Like the USS Kidd back then we all looked forward to that evening's meal. What we got turned out to be a mass casualty exercise for the plastic silverware! It was TOUGH! Many descriptions of how tough! While I was trying to cut mine, I looked at the Soldier across the table trying to cut his "steak" and asked him, "You have heard that there is a camel race track near the camp?" He replied, "Yes I have." Then I told him, "Well, I guess we are eating the losers." He looked at me. Then he looked at his "steak". He looked again at me. Then he went back to doing his best to cut his "steak" in silence. We were only a bit happier with our "steak" than the USS Kidd was with their "steak".
I hope these tales gave your crew a good laugh!
Were any of the spaces on USS Kidd air-conditioned in its original configuration?
Reefer, term, back in 1970's was a different meaning.
The reefer deck was my hideout when I was A-gang on our 'sweep.
I was jack of the dust on the USS Stein (DE-1065) in the mid-70s as Commissaryman (CS).
The hulls of destroyers were only meant to keep out water and small fish, I was told…. Seems like it’s not doing it’s job anymore…😳
Love the story about the aussie hoodwinking your beautiful ship, but as its said " all is fair in love and war" . Our navy got you b4 you got us. …… ps best of luck getting those steaks.
Museum ship putting out content!
Yup!
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5:30 hoodwinked by the Aussies!
Send our best boxer out to settle the matter… that’s how I feel anyway!
🍻
When was the ship taken out of service
I love how jack of the DUST and Ryan Syzmansky are now stylized as rates!
I wish you the best of British luck trying to get steak off the Australian navy. You would have better luck trying for blood from a stone 😅