ROCS ''Lan Yang'' (FFG-935) is a

Chi Yang-class frigate The 46 ''Knox''-class frigates were the largest, last, and most numerous of the US Navy's second-generation anti-submarine warfare (ASW) escorts. Originally laid down as ocean escorts (formerly called destroyer escorts), they were all redesi ...

of the

Republic of China Navy The Republic of China Navy (ROCN, Chinese, 中華民國海軍) , colloquially known as the Taiwanese Navy ( Chinese, 台湾海军) by Western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Navy ( Chinese, 國軍海軍) ...

. She was formerly in service as the USS ''Joseph Hewes'' (FF-1078), a of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Construction

Constructed by

Avondale Shipyard Avondale Shipyard was an independent shipbuilding company, acquired by Litton Industries, in turn acquired by Northrop Grumman Corporation. In 2011, along with the former Ingalls Shipbuilding, the yard was part of Huntington Ingalls Industries. It ...

Westwego, Louisiana Westwego is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located in Jefferson Parish. It is a suburban community of New Orleans in the Greater New Orleans metropolitan area and lies along the west bank of the Mississippi River. The population of the c ...

and laid down 14 May 1969, launched 7 March 1970, and delivered 6 April 1971. She was commissioned 24 April 1971, christened by Mrs. Caroline Groves Gayler.

Design and description

The ''Knox'' class design was derived from the modified to extend range and without a long-range missile system. The ships had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

of . They displaced at full load. Their crew consisted of 13 officers and 211 enlisted men. The ships were equipped with one Westinghouse geared

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

that drove the single

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...

. The turbine was designed to produce , using steam provided by 2 C-E

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

s, to reach the designed speed of . The ''Knox'' class had a range of at a speed of .Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 598 The ''Knox''-class ships were armed with a

5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun The Mark 42 5"/54 caliber gun (127mm) is a naval gun (naval artillery) mount used by the United States Navy and other countries. It consists of the Mark 18 gun and Mark 42 gun mount. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fires a pr ...

forward and a single

3-inch/50-caliber gun The 3-inch/50-caliber gun (spoken "three-inch fifty-caliber") in United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile in diameter, and the barrel was 50 calibers long (barrel length is 3 in × 50 = ). Different guns (iden ...

aft. They mounted an eight-round

ASROC The RUR-5 ASROC (for "Anti-Submarine Rocket") is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed ...

launcher between the 5-inch (127 mm) gun and the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

. Close-range anti-submarine defense was provided by two twin Mk 32 torpedo tubes. The ships were equipped with a torpedo-carrying

DASH The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

drone helicopter; its telescoping hangar and landing pad were positioned amidships aft of the mack. Beginning in the 1970s, the DASH was replaced by a

SH-2 Seasprite The Kaman SH-2 Seasprite is a ship-based helicopter originally developed and produced by American manufacturer Kaman Aircraft Corporation. It has been typically used as a compact and fast-moving rotorcraft for utility and anti-submarine warfar ...

LAMPS I helicopter and the hangar and landing deck were accordingly enlarged. ''Joseph Hewes'' had the first deployed LAMPS helicopter in the history of the Navy. Aft of the flight deck was an eight-cell BPDMS missile launcher for Sea Sparrow missiles, later replaced by Phalanx CIWS.

Modifications

The and subsequent ships of the class were modified to enable them to serve as flagships. The primary change was a slightly different arrangement of the "Officer's Country" staterooms with additional staterooms in a new 01 level structure which replaced the open deck between the boats. The stateroom on the port side under the bridge was designated as a "flag" stateroom, with additional staterooms for flag staff when serving as a flagship. These ships have been referred to as the ''Joseph Hewes''-sub-class .

Service history

On 15 February 1985, ''Joseph Hewes'' arrived to the scene where the M/V A. Regina, a passenger cargo ferry ran aground on a reef off Isla de Mona. Due to surf conditions, ''Joseph Hewes'' was unable to use its boats to transport the evacuees which had landed on the nearby island. ''Joseph Hewes'' remained on scene to assist and using its helicopter, delivered hot food, soft drinks, and water to the ''A. Regina'' evacuees on Mona Island. The ship was decommissioned 30 June 1994 and struck 11 January 1995. She was disposed of through the Security Assistance Program (SAP), transferred, cash sale, ex-US fleet hull foreign military sale, transferred to as Republic of China as ''Lan Yang'' (FF-935). In 2006, the Lan Yang warship completed the Wujin III Combat System project modification. During Typhoon Nissa in 2017, the Hwai Yang Frigate and the Lan Yang, which were anchored in Keelung Port, were protected from damage by wind and waves with the assistance of the Republic of China Navy and Coast Guard officers and soldiers. However, the civilian ferry "Lina" anchored behind the two ships unexpectedly broke its rope due to strong winds and waves, drifted forward and collided with Hwai Yang and Lan Yang, damaging the stern of the two ships, breaking the railing of the helicopter pad and the stern radar detection line. After inspection and evaluation by the Republic of China Navy and Taiwan Shipbuilding Corporation, it will take at least two months to complete the repair, and the repair cost is about NT$1 million. The Republic of China Navy decided to claim compensation from the ferry company in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of National Defense. At about 16:00 on March 1, 2019, a fire broke out during the overhaul outsourcing project at the Su'ao Shipyard dry dock. The Yilan County Government Fire Department was subsequently notified and dispatched 6 vehicles and 42 people from the Marseille and Su'ao detachments to extinguish the fire. When they arrived, the fire had been extinguished and only bursts of white smoke remained. After treatment, it was no longer a problem. The fire was extinguished at 18:05. ; The Republic of China Navy issued a press release that evening stating that at 4:25 p.m., the temperature of the Lan Yang ship was too high during the welding of the ship bottom by the outsourced manufacturer, causing a lot of smoke in the furnace control room; the ship's safety duty personnel immediately reported it after discovering it, and the ship immediately launched firefighting and damage control. By 4:50 p.m., it was fully under control. After inspection, the personnel and main equipment were normal, and some auxiliary equipment could be repaired during the overhaul. On January 3, 2025, a near-shore cruise was carried out in the waters of Kaohsiung. This was the last time the boiler was started for a cruise. After this cruise, it sailed into the Kaohsiung Xinbin Wharf to prepare for the decommissioning ceremony. Due to the age of the ship, an overall assessment shows that the combat capability of the entire ship no longer meets the current combat requirements. This ship was finally decommissioned on January 23, 2025.

Awards

Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) is a United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States Marine Corps military decoration awarded to United States sea service members "who have actively participated in ground or surface combat." Coast ...

Joint Meritorious Unit Award The Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) is a US military award that was established on June 4, 1981, by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and was implemented by Department of Defense Directive 1348.27 dated July 22, 1982. The Joint Meritor ...

with

oak leaf cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a spec ...

Meritorious Unit Citation The Meritorious Unit Citation is a collective group decoration awarded to members of Australian military units. It recognises sustained outstanding service in warlike operations. The Meritorious Unit Citation was created in 1991, along with the ...

Navy E Ribbon A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

(3 awards) *

Navy Expeditionary Medal The Navy Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States Navy which was established in August 1936. Award criteria The General Orders of the Department of the Navy which established the medal states, "The medal will be awarded to t ...

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

with bronze star *

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John F. Kennedy. The medal is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who, a ...

with two bronze stars *

Vietnam Service Medal The Vietnam Service Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces established on 8 July 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The medal is awarded to recognize service during the Vietnam War by all members of the U.S. ...

with one campaign star * Sea Service Deployment Ribbon *

Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal The Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, also known as the Vietnam Campaign Medal (), is a South Vietnamese military campaign medal which was created in 1949 and awarded during the First Indochina War. During the Vietnam War (Second Indochina War ...

Notes

References

* * *

External links

*http://ussjosephhewes.com/ *
Navysite.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph Hewes Ships built in Bridge City, Louisiana Knox-class frigates 1970 ships Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Republic of China Navy