[3] A National Historic Landmark, she is now a museum ship, berthed on the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is the only surviving US destroyer still in her World War II configuration.

During her initial cruise to the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards, she sailed across New York Harbor with the Jolly Roger flying from the foremast.

After shakedown out of Casco Bay, Maine in June, Kidd cruised in the Atlantic and Caribbean escorting large combatant vessels until she departed for the Pacific in August 1943 in company with the battleships Alabama and South Dakota.

After Tarawa was secure, Kidd remained in the Gilbert Islands to support cleanup operations before returning to Pearl Harbor on 9 December.

Trained and battle-wise, Kidd played a key role during the first days of the Okinawa campaign, screening battleships, bombarding shore targets, rescuing downed pilots, sinking floating mines, providing early warning of raids, guarding the heavily damaged aircraft carrier Franklin, and helping to shoot down kamikazes.

Stopping at Ulithi for temporary repairs, she got underway on 2 May for the West Coast, arriving at Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard on 25 May.

On 1 August 1945, Kidd sailed to Pearl Harbor and returned to San Diego, California 24 September 1945 for inactivation.

The next day, the Swedish freighter Hainan collided with Kidd in Long Beach harbor requiring repairs that lasted until 11 May 1953.

Kidd arrived at Norfolk, Virginia on 5 February 1962 and joined Task Force Alfa for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercises.

The other Fletcher-class museum ships; The Sullivans in Buffalo, New York; Cassin Young in Boston, Massachusetts; and in Palaio Faliro, Greece, HNS Velos, formerly Charrette.

Kidd was towed from Philadelphia and arrived in Baton Rouge on 23 May 1982, where she was transferred to the Louisiana Naval War Memorial Commission.

Kidd was never modernized and is the only Fletcher-class museum ship to retain its World War II appearance; she was restored to her August 1945 configuration and armament, culminating on 3 July 1997 when her torpedo tubes were reloaded.

The long periods Kidd rests above the water on keel blocks is problematic for her hull, as she is affected by nearby river traffic in the Port of Greater Baton Rouge.

On 25 April 2024,[4] Kidd began her journey to a shipyard in Houma, Louisiana, for her first major preservation project since her arrival in Baton Rouge.

[6][7][8] In 1986 Kidd was designated a National Historic Landmark, as the best-preserved World War II destroyer of her class.