Kidd class destroyer

USS Kidd (DDG-993)
Class overview
Name:	Kidd class destroyer
Builders:	Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Operators:	United States Navy  Republic of China Navy (as Kee Lung class)
Preceded by:	Spruance-class destroyer
Succeeded by:	Arleigh Burke class destroyer
Built:	1978
In commission:	1981-1999
Completed:	4
Active:	4
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	Light: 7,289 t (7,174 long tons; 8,035 short tons) Full: 9,783 t (9,628 long tons; 10,784 short tons) Dead Weight: 2,494 t (2,455 long tons; 2,749 short tons)
Length:	563 ft (172 m)
Beam:	55 ft (17 m)
Draught:	32.8 ft (10.0 m)
Propulsion:	4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 2 shafts, 80,000 shp (60 MW)
Speed:	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range:	6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) 3,300 nautical miles (6,100 km; 3,800 mi) at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Sensors and processing systems:	• SPS-48E Air Search Radar • SPG-60 Gun Fire Control Radar • SPS-55 Surface Search Radar • SPQ-9A Gun Fire Control Radar • SQS-53 Sonar
Electronic warfare and decoys:	AN/SLQ-32(V)3 OUTBOARD II EW Suite
Armament:	• 2× 5-inch (127mm) 54 calibre Mark 45 dual purpose guns • 2× Mk 26 launchers for RIM-66 Standard Missile • 2× 20 mm Phalanx CIWS Mark 15 cannons (Varies from ship to ship, Block 0/1/1A/1B) • 2× MK 141 quadruple Harpoon missile canisters • 2× Mark 32 triple 12.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubes (Mk46 torpedoes)
Aircraft carried:	2 SH-60B/S-70C(M)-1/2 LAMPS III helicopters
Aviation facilities:	Flight deck and enclosed hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters

The Kidd class guided missile destroyers (DDGs) were a series of four warships based upon the hull of the Spruance class destroyers. These ships were originally ordered by the Shah of Iran for service in the Persian Gulf in an air defense role. The Shah of Iran was overthrown prior to Iran accepting delivery of the ships, causing the United States Navy to integrate the vessels into its own fleet. Each ship in the class was named after a U.S. Navy Admiral, each of whom died in combat in the Pacific in World War II:

• USS Kidd (DDG-993) was named after Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who died on the bridge of his flagship, the USS Arizona (BB-39), during the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
• USS Callaghan (DDG-994) was named after Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan who was killed during a surface action at the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942, aboard the USS San Francisco (CA-38).
• USS Scott (DDG-995) 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 the USS Atlanta (CL-51).
• USS Chandler (DDG-996) was named after Rear Admiral Theodore Chandler, who died on 7 January 1945, as a result of burns received from a kamikaze crashing into his flagship, the USS Louisville (CA-28), the previous day.

History

Originally built for the Shah of Iran's government, the contracts were canceled when the 1979 Iranian Revolution began, and the ships were completed for the U.S. Navy. 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, specifically the Persian Gulf itself. During their service with the U.S. Navy the ships were popularly known as the "Ayatollah" or "dead admiral" 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.^[1] In 1999, the offer was rejected, based on extensive problems the Royal Australian Navy had encountered during the acquisition of two surplus Newport class tank landing ships from the U.S. Navy in 1994.^[1] After the Australian refusal, the four ships were offered to Greece, which also refused.^[1]

Sale and reactivation

In 2001, the US authorized the reactivation and sale of all four ships to Taiwan. All four have been transferred to the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy under Kuang Hua VII program. They were sold for a total price of US$732 million with upgraded hardware, overhaul, activation, and training, included a reduced missile loadout of 148 SM-2 Block IIIA and 32 RGM-84L Block II Harpoon anti-ship missiles.^[2] The reactivation was done in Charleston, South Carolina, by VSE/BAV.^[3]

Kee Lung class destroyers

The first two ships, ex-Scott and ex-Callaghan, arrived at Su-ao, a military port in eastern Taiwan, in December 2005, and were named Kee Lung (DDG-1801) and Su Ao (DDG-1802) in a commissioning ceremony on 17 December 2005. Following the tradition of ship class naming, ROCN has referred these vessels as Kee Lung class destroyers. The remaining two units, ex-Kidd and ex-Chandler, were delivered in 2006, and named Tso Ying (DDG-1803) and Ma Kong (DDG-1805), 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, DDG-1802 Su Ao was spotted to have 8 HF-3 AShMs installed in place of 8 Harpoon AShMs.^[4]

Ships in class

• Original name: USS Kidd (DDG-993)
  • Tentative Iranian name: Kouroush
  • Present name: Tso Ying (左營, DDG-1803); was to be Tung Teh (同德); Commissioned on 3 November 2006
• Original name: USS Callaghan (DDG-994)
  • Tentative Iranian name: Daryush
  • Present name: Su Ao (蘇澳, DDG-1802); was to be Ming Teh (明德); Commissioned on 17 December 2005
• Original name: USS Scott (DDG-995)
  • Tentative Iranian name: Nader
  • Present name: Kee Lung (基隆, DDG-1801); was to be Chi Teh (紀德); Commissioned on 17 December 2005
• Original name: USS Chandler (DDG-996)
  • Tentative Iranian name: Anoshirvan
  • Present name: Ma Kong (馬公, DDG-1805); was to be Wu Teh (武德); Commissioned on 3 November 2006

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} McPhedran, Ian (5 Nov. 1999). "Navy told US ships too risky". Herald Sun (News Corporation): p. 26. 
2. ^ "DDG-993 KIDD-class". GlobalSecurity.Org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/ddg-993.htm. Retrieved 15 April 2010. 
3. ^ "Vsebav completes reactivation of ex-Kidd class guided missle destroyers". PR Newswire. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vsebav-completes-reactivation-of-ex-kidd-class-guided-missile-destroyers-57109157.html. Retrieved 25 November 2010. 
4. ^ Photo of ship-mounted Hsiung Feng-III Anti-ship missiles taken at Su Ao Harbour

External links

• Kee Lung (Kidd) Class Destroyers
• Kidd-class destroyers at Destroyer History Foundation
• "World Navies Today: Taiwan (Republic of China)", Haze Gray & Underway.
• "DDG-993 KIDD-class"