The USS Kidd Museum

  The USS Kidd Memorial Museum is a destination with extreme historical significance with regards to Louisiana history. Located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this Fletcher-class destroyer is the six-hundred sixty-first destroyer ship constructed by the United States Navy. The name of the ship has been inspired by Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd Sr. who was killed aboard the USS Arizona during the infamous Pearl Harbor Attack on December 7, 1941. The ship has since been restored to its pre-World War II condition and now welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.

  The USS Kidd museum is not the typical museum. This museum has been constructed within the actual ship, allowing for an authentic visiting experience. The rustic appearance of the USS Kidd and its function as an actual museum are extremely effective in the preservation of United States history due to their employment of the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos, therefore bringing in a large number of visitors because people are significantly more inclined to want to experience the real thing rather than only experiencing a replica or complete remake. As one examines the outside of the ship from afar, they can see that it is extremely large. This intrigues viewers and encourages them to want to roam around the ship and explore every interesting aspect of it. It appears more on the rustic side rather than extremely polished, which is an extremely powerful aspect of it. Due to the fact that viewers can see that it has actually been used, they will be more intrigued by both...

  Level one is home to the radios and the chartroom. It was also home to the quartermasters of the ship, or those who had the job of keeping track of the position of the ship. They controlled the navigational systems of the ship as well, which was an extremely risky job. On this level, visitors can see the extremely complex navigational software which these quartermasters used to navigate through rough waters and dangerous battles. This system appears very old and run-down, so visitors will know that it was the system that was utilized during the ship’s time of use. There are desks with typewriters, radio systems with a large amount of knobs and buttons, and very old chairs and supplies. The fact that this system can now be visited further adds to the appeal of the ship, especially those who like to be able to understand the inner-workings of complex things.  The opportunity for visitors to see the ship’s advanced and complicated technological systems is one thing that makes t...

  On this level, visitors can see the many flags which surround the Kidd, otherwise known as signal flags. There are thirty-six of these signal flags, which are typically flown from a ship when it either enters or leaves the port, in order for other ship captains to be able to identify and spot it. The presence of these signal flags is significant to the museum because it adds to the overall authenticity of the ship. Visitors can see the actual flags which have been flown from the USS Kidd in the past, therefore reinforcing the fact that the museum is present upon the actual ship and not merely a replica. From this level, visitors also see that the front of the ship is rounded. This is because it has been constructed to be able to ram into other things that may be present within the water without being negatively impacted. This is an extremely significant detail. It demonstrates that it was constructed for rough battles, which adds to feelings of its realness and authenticity. Alth...

    This level is home to the ship’s dumbwaiter. This is a device which was used during the Korean War in 1952, with the purpose of transporting very large pans of hot food. One can see that this dumbwaiter is surrounded by a double breakwater, which was used to protect the food from the rough waters often traveled by the ship. The viewing of this by visitors allows them to see that real, normal people inhabited the ship. This level was an area in which crew members would partake in normal activities, such as preparing and eating their meals. This allows visitors to see that members of the ship were truly not much different than them. This in turn allows them to resonate more with the stories of crew members’ experiences because they will feel more of a connection to them, even though they do not actually know them. On this level, visitors can also find equipment which was used by crew members. This adds to the appeal of the ship because people are likely to be interested in s...

 Here,  one can find a complex, yet intriguing system of sonar equipment that was added to the ship during the 1950s in order to increase its power and ability to travel long distances. Visitors of this level can also find the ship’s generator systems and its three-cylinder engine. These are arguably the most significant parts of the ship. This complex system is the source which has given the ship all of its power, and the ship relied on these generators if anything were to go wrong. At first, these systems might appear boring to visitors because they consist of many gray parts which are all connected to one another to form one large gadget. However, these are the parts of the ship which can have the largest impact upon visitors.  This is because this level of the ship held the responsibility of keeping the ship up and running through the years in which it was inhabited and used in battle. The viewing of these complex and necessary devices allows visitors to see the harsh...

  Overall, the USS Kidd museum has established itself as an extremely significant and impactful location through its creators' employment of rhetorical appeals.  The presence of the museum upon the actual USS Kidd allows visitors to have the full experience, therefore appealing to their sense of ethos. Its creators have also appealed to visitors' senses of logos because the realness of the ship demonstrates to potential visitors that it is logical to visit the real location where so much action and so many important events have taken place. The creators knew that if visitors could only experience merely a replica of the ship, they would be significantly less impacted by it. Visitors are allowed to see all of the complex inner-workings of the ship and the machines which kept it in operation, therefore depending both the ship's credibility as a significant location of history and urging potential visitors to come and experience the real thing.The opportunity for visitors to ...