Nan-Yang Destroyer

Tags: destroyer | military

．Length：348 ft. 11 in.
．Width：36 ft. 1 in.
．Max. Speed：35 kts. 　
．Eco. Speed：12 kts. 　
．Draft：17 ft. 5 in.
．Displacement：2,395 (maximum)
                          1,839 tons tons (standard)
 

History

DD-17 was the ex-USS Plunkett, the Gleaves-class destroyer, DD-431, laid down by Federal Shipbuilding Co., Kearny, NJ. March 1, 1939, launched March 9, 1940 and commissioned July 16, 1940. USS Plunkett was transferred to ROC Navy and commissioned February 16, 1959 and renamed as Nan-Yang with the hull number DD-17. DD-17 Nan-Yang was under the command of Squadron 11, Destroyer Flotilla, ROC Navy. With the USN Mk-33 acoustic tracking torpedoes equipped onboard while transferring, the Mk-33 was one of the modern ASW weapons in the Navy. In 1965, DD-17 participated in the rescue and salvage tasks for the man overboard from Chang-Chian and Chian-Meng ships in "Eight Six sea battle" at South Peng islets.

In 1969, DD-17 was commanded by Rear Admiral Chou Chie to sail to Melbourne, Australia via Philippines to participate the ceremony of "Captain Cork Discovering the East Coast of Australia". The underway range for that voyage was more than 12,000 nm, and made the record of the longest voyage of the ROC Navy. During DD-17 service in the Navy, DD-17 joined the allied exercises with US Navy several times and accomplished great achievements. Due to the old and aging equipments, finally, the DD-17 Nan-Yang was ordered to decommission, 1973.

Vice Admiral William F. Bringle, the Commander of U.S. 7th Fleet, USN boarded the DD-17, ROCS Nan-Yang.

The officers and crew of DD-17, ROCS Nan-Yang are highly motivated to be inspected by the late Presid-ent Chiang Kai-Shek.

The late President, Mr. Chiang, Ching-Kuo boarded the DD-17, ROCS Nan-Yang to review the offshore islands while he served as the Minister of National Defense.

Recollection

The time when I was assigned as the Commanding Officer of DD-17 Nan-Yang, the incoming Commanding Officer of Gang-Shan could not be in command for some reasons. Therefore, I was in command for both ships. Back then, DD-17 was very old, however, all the crews still worked very hard to accomplish every task. I remembered one time while we performed escorting task to Dong-Sha island, all the four boilers were down at the same time, and the ship was floating without any power for a while. Fortunately, the crisis is relieved due to the hard working and repairing of the crews finally.
Since the working and living environment is not operator friendly, the missions and tasks are heavy, we were always trying to make all the crews comfortable. I remembered the Political Warfare Officer assigned a task team for urgent help and assistance. Once any crew is suffering a difficulty, the team will approach and try to help him as much as possible to show the brotherhood of the ship.
 

Admiral Xiao, Chu-Qiao, the Commander-in-Chief
served as the commanding officer of DD-17 from 1974

 

DD-17, ROCS Nan-Yang.

The photograph of the winners of various tournaments at DD-17, ROCS Nan-Yang.

Admiral Feng, Chi-Tsong, the Commander-In-Chief boarded DD-17, ROCS Nan-Yang to review the fleet at sea.

 

Text and images are provided by R.O.C Naval Academy ( Navy Memorial Digital Archives – Yang Class Destroyers)

 

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