ROCS ''Su Ao'' (蘇澳; DDG-1802) is a guided-missile

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

currently in active service 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) ...

. ''Su Ao'' was formerly American , which was decommissioned from 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 ...

in 1998. For some time after the ship's 30 May 2003 purchase, ''Su Ao'' was tentatively named ''Ming Teh'' (明德), following the example of ''Chi Teh'' (紀德), but it was later decided to be named ''Su Ao'', after the Su-Ao naval base in eastern

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Ship History

On August 20, 2019,

American Institute in Taiwan The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT; ) is the ''de facto'' embassy of the United States of America in Taiwan. AIT is a wholly owned subsidiary of the federal government of the United States in Taiwan with Congressional oversight. The AIT was ...

(AIT) Director Bernard Li and others went to

Zuoying Zuoying may refer to: * Zuoying District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan * Zuoying station (disambiguation) * Zuoying Township (左营乡), Juancheng County, Heze, Shandong Province, China * Prince Irgen Gioro Zuoying (伊尔根觉罗·佐鹰), a character in ...

to visit the AAV7 Amphibious Assault Vehicle and the Keelung-class Suao warship. On February 26, 2025, this ship broadcast in the southwest waters of Taiwan to drive away the PLA

Huanggang Huanggang is a prefecture-level city in easternmost Hubei, Hubei Province, China. It is situated to the north of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and is bounded in the north by the Dabie Mountains and is named after Mount Huanggang, Huang ...

that was conducting illegal exercises. On April 1, 2025, this ship formed a fleet with the Tian Dan Ship and Ming Chuan Ship to monitor the

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

aircraft carrier formation located about 220 nautical miles southeast of Eluanbi.

References

Kidd-class destroyers Kee Lung-class destroyers Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi 1979 ships Destroyers of the Republic of China {{mil-ship-stub