USS Kidd ( DDG - 993 ) USS " Kidd " ( DDG - 993 ) was the lead ship in her 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 . The vessel was the second named after Medal of Honor recipient Rear Admiral Isaac C . Kidd , who was aboard the during the attack on Pearl Harbor , and was the first American flag officer to die in World War II . Originally named " Kouroush " , 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 the " Kidd " class for service in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean , as they were equipped with heavy - duty air conditioning and were also well suited to filtering sand and the results from NBC warfare . " Kidd " - class ships were known in the fleet informally as the " Ayatollah " or " dead admiral " class . History . Warship 27 June 1981 : Commissioned in Pascagoula , Mississippi . 8 December 1982 : Deployed to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean under the command of Commander William J . Flanagan , Jr . . While in the Mediterranean Sea , the USS " Kidd " visited the ports of Palma , Majorca , Spain ; Beirut , Lebanon ; and Catania , Italy . She visited the ports of Trincomalee , Sri Lanka , and Mombasa , Kenya , while on station in the Indian Ocean before returning to the Mediterranean and calling on Benidorm , Spain . The deployment ended with her return to Norfolk on 2 June 1983 . In September 1983 , the " Kidd " was awarded the Battle Efficiency " E " . 16 February 1984 : The USS " Kidd " left Norfolk , Virginia , to participate in battle - readiness maneuvers as part of Operation United Effort . She returned home to Norfolk on 29 April . 12 March 1985 : READEX 1 – 85 , with Commander Fred Moosally in command . She conducted Caribbean operations from 28 March to 6 April , before anchoring at Roosevelt Roads , Puerto Rico . Following a transit of the Atlantic Ocean , she passed through the Straits of Gibraltar on 17 April . While in the Mediterranean , the USS " Kidd " called on the ports of Taormina , Sicily , and Gaeta and Naples , Italy . 30 May 1985 : U . S . Sixth Fleet operations in the Black Sea through 3 June . The USS " Kidd " cut short a port visit to Haifa , Israel , on 16 June in response to the TWA Flight 847 aircraft hijacking . She returned to Haifa on 15 July before visiting Alexandria , Egypt , and Constanța , Romania . Black Sea operations continued with the Sixth Fleet in August . The " Kidd " called on Istanbul , Turkey , before returning to Naples , Italy . She conducted operations in the Western Mediterranean with the through September . Calling on Benidorm , Spain , she then passed through the Straits of Gibraltar again on 20 September . After visiting Rota , Spain , the " Kidd " crossed the Atlantic under the power of her gas - turbine engines , arriving in Norfolk . and ending her deployment on 2 October 1985 . September 1987 : The USS " Kidd " was awarded her third Battle Efficiency " E " award while deployed as part of the Middle East Force 3 – 87 . She departed Norfolk on 6 June 1987 , returning to port on 4 December 1987 . During the operations in the Persian Gulf , from about 4 July to 2 October , the " Kidd " led the first ten convoys of Kuwaiti tankers which were reflagged with American flags . This reflagging was in response to Iranian threats to close the Persian Gulf shipping lanes , through which more than 50 % of the world ' s oil ourput passes . 9 January 1991 : The USS " Kidd " departed from Norfolk , bound for the Persian Gulf , along with the , in support of Operation Desert Storm . The " Kidd " faced several roles while operating in the Persian Gulf , among them the location and destruction of naval mine s and maritime interdiction force operations . To assist in these duties , a detachment from Anti - Submarine Light Helicopter Squadron 34 ( HSL - 34 ) was embarked . The " Green Checkers " came aboard with two SH - 2 helicopter s which were used early on in SSSC missions – flying beyond the visual horizon of this warship to visually observe all radar contacts on the surface . In early April , two U . S . Army OH - 58 AHIPS helicopters were embarked , giving a total of four helicopters embarked on board the " Kidd " at one time . December 1991 : The USS " Kidd " was again awarded the Battle Efficiency " E " , this time for excellence during Desert Shield and Desert Storm . October 1992 : Counter - narcotics operations off the South American coast . The USS " Kidd " transited the Panama Canal on 8 November 1992 . During this mission , she patrolled Latin American waters as a deterrent to smugglers of illegal contraband . A detachment from the Anti - Submarine Light Helicopter Squadron 34 ( HSL - 34 ) was carried on this cruise . December 1992 : The USS " Kidd " was awarded her sixth Battle Efficiency " E " . Admiral Isaac Kidd , Jr . , USN ( Ret . ) presented this award to the crew at a pierside ceremony . October 1994 : The USS " Kidd " is assigned to Carrier Task Force 60 ( CTF - 60 ) , forming around the . During this period , the task force provided support of the naval weapons and ammunition embargo of the war - torn republics of the former Yugoslavia ( " Operation Sharpguard " ) , the enforced no - fly zone over the area ( Operation Deny Flight ) , and air drops of humanitarian aid to the residents of the city of Sarajevo ( " Operation Provide Promise " ) . 16 April 1997 : Port visit three - day port visit to Boston , Massachusetts , to coincide with the 100th running of the Boston Marathon . From there , she moved southward to Port - au - Prince , Haiti , for a community relations project before assuming drug interdiction duties in the Caribbean . She transited the Panama Canal to the Eastern Pacific on 30 April . Following another transit of the Canal and a brief stop in Charleston , South Carolina , the USS " Kidd " ended her final deployment in Norfolk on 1 June 1997 . 12 March 1998 : The USS " Kidd " was decommissioned for placement into storage as a reserve warship on 12 March 1998 , at Norfolk Naval Base , Virginia . Present at this decommissioning ceremony were several of Admiral Isaac Kidd ' s surviving family members , including his son , Admiral Isaac C . Kidd , Jr . , USN ( Ret . ) . The USS " Kidd ' s " last American Commanding Officer was Commander Thomas R . Andress , USN . Current status . The vessel has been renamed the ROCS " Tso Ying " , a " Kee Lung " - class guided - missile destroyer currently in active service of Republic of China Navy . She was formally commissioned at the Su - ao Naval Base in northeastern Taiwan on 2006 - 11 - 03 , along with her sister ship , the ROCS " Ma Kong " . Due to her somewhat run - down condition from her storage , she was the third former USS " Kidd " - class vessel commissioned by ROCN . The " Tso Ying " is named after the largest naval base in Taiwan , the Tso Ying Naval Base in the Tsoying District , Kaohsiung , of southern Taiwan . The Tso Ying Naval Base is also the location of the Republic of China ' s naval academy and fleet headquarters .