Breese, Kidder R.
Kidder Randolph Breese was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 14 April 1831. He was appointed a U.S. Navy Midshipman in November 1847 and served in the sloop of war Saratoga during the remainder of the war with Mexico. Sea duty continued until October 1852, when he was assigned to the U.S. Naval Academy to prepare for examination. Warranted a Passed Midshipman in June 1852, Breese took part in the Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expedition to Japan for the next three years. In mid-1855, while serving with the U.S. Coast Survey, he was promoted to the ranks of Master and Lieutenant. He served in the sloop of war Preble in 1858 and 1859, during the Paraguay Expedition and off Panama. Lieutenant Breese's next duties were as an officer of the sloop of war Portsmouth, off Africa, in 1860, and of the steamer San Jacinto from mid-1860 until late 1861.
While he was in San Jacinto, the Civil War began. He was present when she stopped the British steamship Trent and removed two Confederate agents, an incident that provoked a brief crisis in U.S. relations with Great Britain. From late 1861 Breese commanded part of the flotilla of mortar schooners that helped capture New Orleans in April 1862. Promoted to Lieutenant Commander in mid-1862, he served with Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter on the Mississippi River and off the Atlantic Coast for most of the rest of the conflict, distinguishing himself during the seige of Vicksburg, in the land assault on Fort Fisher, and as Porter's Fleet Captain.
Beginning in September 1865, Breese spent a year as Assistant to the Naval Academy's Superintendent, achieving the rank of Commander while in that post. During the later 1860s and into 1870 he served on Navy boards and had ordnance duty at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C.. In 1870-1872 he commanded the steam sloop Plymouth in European waters. He was Inspector of Ordnance at New Orleans for several months in 1872-1873, followed by two years as Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy and as Inspector of Hydrography. Breese was promoted to Captain in 1874. From mid-1875 until early 1879 he commanded the Torpedo Station at Newport, Rhode Island, and had special ordnance duty. He was Commanding Officer of the steam sloop Pensacola, Pacific Station flagship, in 1879 and 1880 and, in 1881, was a member of the Board of Harbor Commissioners. Captain Kidder Breese died at Newport, Rhode Island, on 13 September 1881.
USS Breese (Destroyer # 122, later DD-122 and DM-18), 1918-1946, was named in honor of Kidder R. Breese. A street in the Washington Navy Yard, D.C. also bears his name.
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