The ''Kidd''-class destroyers were a series of four
guided-missile destroyer
A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a prim ...
s (DDGs) based on the . In contrast to their predecessor's focus on
anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...
, the ''Kidd''s were designed as more advanced multipurpose ships with the addition of considerably enhanced
anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
capabilities. Originally ordered for the former
Imperial Iranian Navy
The Iranian Navy traditionally located in the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf, has always been the smallest of the country's military forces. An Iranian navy in one form or another has existed since Achaemenid times in 500 BC. The Phoenician n ...
, the contracts were canceled when the 1979
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
began, and the ships were completed for the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
. They were
decommissioned in 1999 and sold to the
Republic of China Navy
The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF).
The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World Wa ...
as the ''Kee Lung'' class.
History
These destroyers were originally ordered by the last
Shah of Iran
This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...
for service in the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
in an
air defence
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
role around 1973/74. The original order of six ships was tentatively assigned hull numbers DD 993–998 by the U.S. Navy but it was reduced to four ships after U.S. Congress declined to halt the original production run of 30 ''Spruance'' ships. Compared to the preceding ''Spruance'' class, they retained the former's anti-submarine capabilities while adding two Tartar-D missile launchers for the Mark 26/Standard anti-aircraft missile system. In order to operate more effectively in the Middle East, they also had four air conditioning plants to the Spruances' three, additional dust separators on their gas turbines' air intakes, and increased water distillation capacity. The Shah was overthrown in the
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
, prior to Iran accepting delivery of the ships, causing the United States Navy to integrate the vessels into its own fleet in 1981-82 as the ''Kidd''-class.
![Kidd class vs Spruance class](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Kidd_class_vs_Spruance_class.jpg)
On February 3, 1979, the Iranian government canceled the second two ships in the class, signing a
memorandum of understanding indicating that they were available for acquisition by the U.S. Navy. On February 21. 1979, the
Iranian Prime Minister notified the U.S. government that Iran intended to terminate the contract of the first two ships, officially cancelling delivery on March 8, 1979.
Each ship in the class was named after a
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
who had died in combat in the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
in World War II:
* was named after
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
Isaac C. Kidd
Isaac Campbell Kidd (March 26, 1884 – December 7, 1941) was an American Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. He was the father of Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, Jr. Kidd was killed on the bridge of during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. ...
, who died on the
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
of his
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
, , during the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
on 7 December 1941.
* was named after Rear Admiral
Daniel Callaghan, who was killed during a surface action at the
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, the Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, the , took place from 12 to 15 November 1942, and was t ...
, 13 November 1942, aboard .
* was named after Rear Admiral
Norman Scott, who was killed during the same surface action that killed Admiral Callaghan at the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, aboard .
* was named after Rear Admiral
Theodore Chandler, who died on 7 January 1945, as a result of burns received from a
kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
crashing into his flagship, , the previous day.
Because they were equipped with heavy-duty air conditioning and other features that made them suitable in hot climates, they tended to be used in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
, specifically the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
itself.
During their service with the U.S. Navy from the 1980s to the late 1990s, the ships were popularly known as the "Ayatollah" class.
In 1988–90, the ''Kidd''s received the "
New Threat Upgrade
New Threat Upgrade (NTU) was a United States Navy program to improve and modernize the capability of existing cruisers and destroyers equipped with Terrier and Tartar anti-aircraft systems, keeping them in service longer.
The Program
was selec ...
", which allowed cooperative engagement with
Aegis
The aegis ( ; grc, αἰγίς ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a d ...
cruisers, enabling the cruisers to control the ''Kidd''s surface-to-air missiles in flight while the destroyers remained electronically silent. However, the arrival of the Aegis-equipped destroyers led to the accelerated retirement of the ''Kidd'' class.
All four ships were decommissioned from the U.S. Navy in the late 1990s and were initially offered for sale to Australia in 1997 for
A$30 million each.
The Royal Australian Navy was a strong supporter of buying the ''Kidd''-class destroyers to replace the ''Perth''-class as their air warfare ships. In 1999, the offer was rejected, based on extensive problems the
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
had encountered during the acquisition of two surplus s from the U.S. Navy in 1994.
[ In the early 1990s the Labor government of ]Paul Keating
Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...
chose to maintain the Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
's existing ''Adelaide''-class frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
s instead of replacing them with the more expensive and much more labour-intensive, but more capable ''Kidd''-class destroyers. Under the succeeding Liberal government of John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
, in the mid-1990s they commenced the SEA 1390, also known as the FFG Upgrade Project, to improve the ''Adelaide'' frigates' capabilities; however, this project ran over costs and was behind schedule.[''Australia's Hazard(ous) Frigate Upgrade'', in ''Defense Industry Daily']
/ref>[McPhedran, ''Frigates 'can't go to war' despite $1.4bn upgrade'']
After the Australian refusal, the four ships were offered to Greece, which also refused.[
]
Sale and reactivation
In 2001, the U.S. authorized the reactivation and sale of all four ships to Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
(Republic of China). All four have been transferred to the Republic of China Navy
The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF).
The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World Wa ...
under the Kuang Hua VII program. They were sold for a total price of US$732 million with upgraded hardware, overhaul, activation, and training, and included a reduced missile loadout of 148 SM-2 Block IIIA and 32 RGM-84L Block II Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The reactivation was done in Charleston, South Carolina, by VSE/BAV.
''Kee Lung''-class destroyers
The first two ships, ex-''Scott'' and ex-''Callaghan'', arrived at Su-ao, a military port in eastern Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, in December 2005, and were named and in a commissioning ceremony on 17 December 2005. Following the tradition of ship class naming, ROCN has referred to these vessels as ''Kee Lung''-class destroyers, with the ships named after military ports in Taiwan. The remaining two units, ex-''Kidd'' and ex-''Chandler'', were delivered in 2006, and named and , respectively.
The opposition-led Legislature Yuan originally allocated only enough money to purchase half of the SM-2 missiles that the destroyers can carry; a further purchase of 100 supplemental SM-2MRs was included in the 2007 annual budget to ensure all four ships had a full load of SM-2.
By end of 2008, ''Su Ao'' was spotted to have eight HF-3
The Hsiung Feng III (HF-3; , "Brave Wind III") is a medium range supersonic missile with capabilities to destroy both land based targets and naval targets developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) in Taiwan ...
AShMs installed in place of eight Harpoon AShMs. It has been speculated from 2014 on that a navalized Sky Bow
The Sky Bow, or Tien Kung (), are a series of surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile and anti-aircraft defense systems developed by Taiwan. The TK-2 and TK-3 are in service with the Military of the Republic of China.
Development
The development of ...
missile system, currently planned for an upcoming shipbuilding programme that involves the procurement of up to 15 general purpose frigates and three or four air defense destroyers,Industry briefing released by Navy Command Headquarters, Ministry of National Defense ROC (Traditional Chinese)
/ref> will also be replacing the Standard Missile system on these vessels. No plan for any Mk 26-compatible version of the Sky Bow III missile is ever known to have existed.
Ships in class
*Original name:
**Tentative Iranian name: ''Kourosh
Kourosh ( fa, کوروش، کورش; also spelled as ''Koorosh'' or ''Kurosh'') is a Persian male name common in Iran. Kourosh is composed of ''kouro''- un+ -''sh'' - roprietorial suffix meaning "Lord of the sun".
It was the throne name of Cyr ...
''
**Present name: ''Tso Ying'' (左營, DDG-1803); was to be ''Tung Teh'' (同德); commissioned on 3 November 2006
*Original name:
**Tentative Iranian name: ''Dariush
Dariush ( fa, داریوش; also spelled ''Darioush'', ''Daryoush'' or ''Daryoosh'') is a common Persian male given name in Iran. Dariush is composed of ''dāraya-'' old+ ''vash-'' ood meaning "holding firm the good".
It was the throne name of D ...
''
**Present name: ''Su Ao'' (蘇澳, DDG-1802); was to be ''Ming Teh'' (明德); commissioned on 17 December 2005
*Original name:
**Tentative Iranian name: ''Nader
Nader is a masculine given name and surname of Arabic origin ( ''Nādir'', meaning "rare", "unique") and may refer to:
Persons Given name
* Nader Shah, former Shah of Iran (Persia)
* Nader Ahmadi (born 1986), Iranian football player
* Nader Bat ...
''
**Present name: ''Kee Lung'' (基隆, DDG-1801); was to be ''Chi Teh'' (紀德); commissioned on 17 December 2005
*Original name:
**Tentative Iranian name: ''Anoshirvan''
**Present name: ''Ma Kong'' (馬公, DDG-1805); was to be ''Wu Teh'' (武德); commissioned on 3 November 2006
See also
* List of naval ship classes in service
The list of naval ship classes in service includes all combatant surface classes in service currently with navies or armed forces and auxiliaries in the world. Ships are grouped by type, and listed alphabetically within.
For other vessels, see ...
*
*
*
* Type 052D destroyer
The Type 052D destroyer (NATO/ OSD Luyang III-class destroyer) is a class of guided-missile destroyers in the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy. The Type 052D is a larger variant of the Type 052C; the Type 052D uses a canister-type, instead ...
References
External links
''Kidd''-class destroyers
a
Destroyer History Foundation
Haze Gray & Underway.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidd Class Destroyer
Destroyer classes