A ship that took part in action in World War II as part of the US Navy, and during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958 as part of the ROC Navy, was sold as scrap metal, despite protests from military historians and enthusiasts. The Chung Hai (LST-201) began life as the USS LST-755 tank landing ship in 1944, and was used by the US Navy in two landing operations in the Philippines. After World War II it was sold
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Three navy crew members have tested positive for COVID-19 after departing Taiwan February 21, and stopping only at the coronavirus-free island of Palau more than one month ago. The three young sailors, all in their 20s served on board one of three ships to make the annual oceanic training voyage, returning to the Port of Kaohsiung April 9. This year’s voyage was shortened to 48 days due to the coronavirus situation preventing visits to some countries. Since the ships had
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Live fire military exercises designed to strengthen Taiwan’s anti-landing defense capabilities kicked off the second day of a month-long series of military drills involving the ROC air, navy, and army forces. The exercise began before dawn on the coast of Taichung with a cardinal II UAV taking off to carry out joint surveillance. IDF fighters and Ching Chiang class (Jin-Jiang) patrol ships fired missiles at “enemy ships” off the west coast. Thunderbolt 2000 missiles and M110A2 self-propelled howitzers fired from
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[Picture: Military News Agency] President Tsai Ing-wen attended a ceremony at the Zuoying naval base in Kaohsiung City this morning to commission two frigates designed to improve Taiwan’s anti-submarine warfare capability. The Mingchuan and Fengjia are Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates formerly known as the USS Taylor (FFG-50), and USS Gary (FFG-51). The ships were purchased from the United States Navy under an agreement signed in 2014, and underwent a 2-year refit before sailing to Taiwan earlier this year. According to
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[Cover picture: Ministry of National Defense.] The Ministry of National Defense announced today that it will speed up production of the domestically designed and produced Tuo Chiang class stealth missile corvettes. Defense Minister Yen De-fa (嚴德發) told the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee that the MND will not wait until the first batch of three ships are completed before starting work on the second batch of eight. Construction of both orders will proceed concurrently beginning around 2
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An unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Marine Tactical Reconnaissance Unit crashed and burned in grassland next to an elementary school in Pingtung County this morning. No injuries were reported. Students and teachers of the Pinghe campus of WuTan Elementary School in Taiwu Township were alerted to the sound of a crash and explosion at around 11:00am. Witnesses reported a fireball seen on the slope around 100 meters from the campus. Firefighters extinguished a fire caused by the crash. Naval
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A navy Keelung-class destroyer collided with a fishing boat in Suao Port this morning, while in the port of Kaohsiung another Keelung-class destroyer was hit by a chemical tanker trying to berth at the port. At the Port of Suao in Ilan County, shortly before 8:00am, navy destroyer DDG-1801 hit a fishing vessel from behind as both were underway. The fishing boat captain, Wang Shingshen (王興盛) accused the warship of traveling too quickly. The fishing boat had a crew of
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The Taiwan(ROC) Navy used two high-speed motor-launches to convey a grieving widow, mourning family, and a Daoist priest to the spot where her husband was killed by a missile two days ago. The mourning party led by the priest performed a ritual to invoke the spirit of the fishing-boat captain. Huang Wenzhong was killed by a missile, accidentally fired while equipment was being tested prior to a drill. Mr. Huang’s eldest son called out ‘Dad, come home’. After invoking the
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