Avondale Shipyard
USS "Valdez" (FF-1096) is the forty-fifth and was built by Avondale Shipyard, Westwego, Louisiana, and originally designated as an ocean escort (DE-1096). Commissioned in the United States Navy from 1974 to 1991, she was the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for a Spanish-descended American war hero. In 1998, "Valdez" was leased to Taiwan and renamed "Yi Yang" (FF-939).