USS Callaghan ( DDG - 994 ) USS " Callaghan " ( DD / DDG - 994 ) was the second ship of the " Kidd " class of destroyer s operated by the U . S . Navy . Derived from the " Spruance " class , these vessels were designed for air defense in hot weather . She was named for Rear Admiral Daniel J . Callaghan , who was killed in action aboard his flagship , the heavy cruiser " San Francisco " , during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942 . Originally to be named " Daryush " , the ship was ordered by the Shah of Iran , but was undelivered when the 1979 Iranian Revolution occurred . Subsequent to this , the U . S . Navy elected to commission her and her sister ships for service in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea , as they were equipped with heavy - duty air conditioning and were also well suited to filtering sand and the results from NBC warfare . She was commissioned in 1981 , and home ported in San Diego , California at NAS North Island . On 1 September 1983 " Callaghan " was on deployment to the Western Pacific , and making a port visit in Sasebo , Japan . Korean Air Lines Flight 007 , on its way from Anchorage , Alaska to Seoul , Korea , carrying 269 passengers and crew , strayed into Soviet airspace . A Soviet Sukhoi Su - 15 fighter jet was sent up to destroy the intruding Boeing 747 . After the attack , the " Callaghan ' s " crew was recalled and sent to search for survivors . During its survey of the crash site , the " Callaghan " was under very close scrutiny of the Soviet Navy , narrowly avoiding open conflict while engaged in their search . No survivors were found . The " Callaghan " received a Meritorious Unit Citation from the U . S . Navy and a special citation from the South Korean government for its role in the mission . " Callaghan " earned her first Battle Efficiency E for grade period July 1983 to December 1984 , and earned the Humanitarian Service Medal for saving two boatloads of people in the South China Sea . For grading period January 1985 to June 1986 " Callaghan " earned her second Battle Efficiency E by winning all the awards from the ships in competition . On her return to port , with the news of her clean sweep , the Captain ordered that every lanyard on the ship would display a broom , to honor the crew and show all ships present the outstanding accomplishment . Clean sweeps are rare . Also of note , on September 27 , 1997 during routine drug interdiction operations " Callaghan " detected a high speed contact off Columbia waters . When the Sun rose the contact was visually identified as a high speed cigarette boat . Callaghan pursued the contact for over three days , and in the final three hours the craft dumped its load of illegal drugs . Once completed the craft was able to accelerate and out ran the Callaghan . It was pursued by one of our high speed crafts and helicopters until the cigarette boat reached Columbia territorial waters . The Callaghan returned and fished 3 . 5 metric tons of watertight cocaine bundles floating in the water . The bales tested to be pure cocaine and had a street value at over $ 1 billion . They were individually unloaded by the crew dressed in whites during the first CONUS port call upon return from the deployment in a spectacular media event covered by all networks in NAVSTA San Diego . " Callaghan " was decommissioned in April 1998 . Current status . " Callaghan " was sold to Taiwan in 2004 . She was originally to be named " Ming Teh " , but it was later decided to name her ROCS " Su Ao " ( DDG - 1802 ) , after the Su - Ao naval base in eastern Taiwan , and become the second ship of the new ROCN " Kee Lung " class of destroyers . After almost two years of refit and training in the U . S . , " Su Ao " was commissioned on 17 December 2005 at Kee - Lung naval port in northern Taiwan .