Why the USS Kidd hasn’t sailed back to Baton Rouge yet
Delayed arrival of the vessel leaves its museum struggling to stay afloat 🛳️🌊
The USS Kidd Veterans Museum in downtown Baton Rouge is currently operating without its main attraction.
In 2024, the museum’s namesake WWII destroyer vessel was moved from its dock on the Mississippi River at the USS Kidd Veterans Museum to Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors shipyard in Houma. Months of renovations overhauled the ship. The team worked to transform the 80-year-old vessel to resemble its 1944 form and preserve its integrity.
However, what was initially planned as an eight-month restoration has unexpectedly become a three-year absence for the museum. When the ship was scheduled to return to its home of 40 years most recently in May 2026, low water levels prevented the journey.
For the ship to fit back into its specially made cradle outside the USS Kidd Veterans Museum, water levels in that section of the Mississippi River must reach at least 32 feet. This past spring, however, executive director Parks Stephenson says that levels did not even reach 30 feet, making a return impossible.
The Mississippi River’s water levels rise highest during March, April and May in Louisiana. But these patterns rely on many uncontrollable factors and can be nearly impossible to predict.
These unforeseen delays have come at a cost. According to Stephenson, the museum’s admission has significantly decreased during the ship’s absence.
“She’s our main attraction. I just saw a family of 10 or 12 come in, expecting to see the ship,” Stephenson says. “They bought closed-toed shoes, as we recommend on our website to protect their feet as they’re climbing around the ship, and the ship’s not here. They were all disappointed.”
This decline has nearly forced the museum—which is an independently run nonprofit, primarily funded by ticket and gift shop sales—to close its doors. Although the museum received money from the state to remain operational this year, funds remain at risk of running out.
The shipyard holding the Kidd is also bearing the costs of this overdue stay. According to Stephenson, every time the Kidd needs to be moved in their harbor, it costs $20,000.
Stephenson is not yet able to predict a date for when the Kidd will return to Baton Rouge, but spring of 2027 will be the earliest it can come home. With the 2026 return delayed, both the museum and shipyard are closely monitoring water-level predictions and awaiting next spring’s rainfall.
Stephenson notes that this time without the ship could have been a valuable opportunity to implement new programs and exhibits—including an education department he has been planning. However, the lack of funds has put a pause on these projects.
In 2025, Stephenson was able to add one new exhibit since the USS Kidd’s departure by donating artifacts to the museum. This exhibit centers around the Kamikaze attack the ship endured in 1945 in the waters of Okinawa and the story of the Japanese pilot who carried out the attack. It also serves as a memorial for crewmembers who lost their lives that day.
According to Stephenson, the goal of the exhibit is to present a more well-rounded view of World War II by showing visitors a glimpse of the other side. Telling all sides of a story is also a goal he had in mind for the USS Kidd’s restoration.
Since the ship’s restoration will bring it back to its WWII state, Stephenson wanted to show visitors what the stewards’ quarters were like at that time. During WWII, Black soldiers were only allowed to serve as messmen in the United States Navy. The segregated quarters where these soldiers lived will be explorable once the Kidd is back in Baton Rouge. When it returns, the museum will partner with the Baton Rouge African American Museum to write the story of these veterans.
“That’s a story, a part of history that has been neglected, and we’re going to tell it,” Stephenson says.
For now, museum staff is working hard to keep the space operational on a minimal budget while hoping for weather conditions to align with the ship’s return. Since predictions are unreliable this far away, Baton Rouge will have to wait until the spring of 2027 to see if the Kidd can make its arrival.
Although the USS Kidd Veterans Museum does not normally receive funding from the Louisiana state government, legislators decided to cover the costs of the ship’s overhaul two years ago. Stephenson says that without this support, the ship would have sunk in its cradle due to disrepair.
“The state did pay for the overhaul because it’s well beyond what we could normally afford, and we had to show them how much worth the ship brings to the area,” Stephenson says. “They could see the money for the restoration as being an investment that will have a return, and we did that obviously, and we do expect a very positive return on that investment over the years to come. But right now, there’s no money.”
Stephenson says that visiting the museum is a great way to support the nonprofit attraction. The USS Kidd Veterans Museum is located at 305 S. River Rd. and is open seven days a week with a discounted admission price of $8.
Supporters can also donate directly to the museum on its website.
