ROCS ''Kee Lung'' (基隆, DDG-1801) is the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of her class of

guided-missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s currently in active service of

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 ...

History

While ''Kee Lung'' is the lead ship of her class, she was actually not the first ship in her class built. ''Kee Lung'' was formerly the American , which was decommissioned by 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 ...

in 1998. ''Scott'' was sold to the

along with the other three ''Kidd''-class destroyers in 2001. ''Scott'' was then renamed to ''Kee Long'' was the first of the four ships to be commissioned in the Republic of China Navy which made her the lead ship in the Republic of China Navy. Ironically, the , which was the original lead ship of the class, was also sold to the Republic of China Navy in 2006 and was renamed ROCS ''Tso Ying'' (DDG-1803). For a period of time ''Kee Lung'' was tentatively named ''Chi Teh'' (紀德), a

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

of ''Kidd'' into

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

. But it was later decided to name her after the port of

Keelung Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipe ...

, a major naval port in northern Taiwan. ''Kee Lung'', along with her three sister ships, is the largest destroyer and second largest ship in displacement ever in Republic of China Navy service, only smaller than ROCS ''Hsu Hai'' (LSD-193), a

dock landing ship A dock landing ship (also called landing ship, dock or LSD) is an amphibious warfare ship with a well dock to transport and launch landing craft and amphibious vehicles. Some ships with well decks, such as the Soviet Ivan Rogov class, also have ...

. ''Kee Lung'' was re-fitted for service in the ROCN at Detyen's Shipyard in

North Charleston, South Carolina North Charleston is the third-largest city in the U.S. state, state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. On June 12, 1972, the city of No ...

. She was formally commissioned on 17 December 2005 along with

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

Specifications

''Kee Lung'' is the only one of her sister ships to be equipped with

LAMPS III The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modificatio ...

system and flight deck strengthened. This enables ''Kee Lung'' to carry up to two of the more capable Sikorsky S-70(M)-1/2 Seahawk helicopters for anti-submarine warfare, compared to her sister ships.

External links

ROCN KEELUNG CLASS DDG
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kee Lung (DDG-1801) Kidd-class destroyers Kee Lung-class destroyers Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi 1980 ships Destroyers of the Republic of China