USS Riley ( DE - 579 ) USS " Riley " ( DE - 579 ) was a " Rudderow " - class destroyer escort in the United States Navy during World War II . She later transferred to the Republic of China Navy and served as " Tai Yuan " ( DE - 27 ) . " Riley " was laid down 20 October 1943 by Bethlehem - Hingham Shipyard , Inc . , Hingham , Massachusetts ; launched 29 December 1943 ; sponsored by Miss Mildred Laverne Riley , sister of Lieutenant Commander Paul James Riley , a naval aviator who died during the Battle of Midway , and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross . Riley was commissioned 13 March 1944 , Lt . Comdr . H . D . Johnson in command . Following shakedown exercises off Bermuda , " Riley " joined CortDiv 67 at Norfolk , Virginia , where until 6 June she trained prospective destroyer escort crews . On 7 June she sailed for New York whence she escorted a convoy back to Norfolk where she readied for her first transatlantic run . Departing Hampton Roads 23 June with convoy UGS - 46 , she crossed into the Mediterranean Sea on 10 July , fought off a German aerial attack on the 12th , and arrived off Bizerte on the 13th . She returned to the United States 9 August , conducted sonar tests in the New London area until the 29th , then , on the 30th , sailed eastward to escort another Bizerte bound convoy . Back in New York 17 October , she got underway , with her division , for the Pacific Theater 3 November . Steaming via Panama , she reached Bora - Bora on the 25th and continued on to Hollandia , anchoring in Humboldt Bay 11 December . Between 19 December and 2 January 1945 , " Riley " completed a round - trip escort run to Leyte , then on the 3rd got underway to escort the Lingayen Support Group from New Guinea to Luzon . A unit of Task Group 78 . 9 , she herded her charges through Surigao Strait on the 9th , protected them during a series of kamikaze attacks on the 12th , and on the 13th delivered them to the transport area off the Lingayen Gulf invasion beaches . For the next 2 days , she patrolled to the seaward of the anchorages off Yellow and Orange beaches , then turned south to escort a convoy returning to Leyte . On the 26th , she sailed north again , in the screen of the " Mark VII " assault force . On the 29th , she took the assault force to the landing area in southern Zambales Province , Luzon , then patrolled off the area as the forces began to move inland from the San Felipe - San Narciso - San Antonio beachheads to seal off the Bataan Peninsula and prevent Japan ese forces from leaving from Manila to duplicate General Wainwright ' s 1942 peninsular defense . Retiring that night , " Riley " returned to Leyte , whence she conducted interisland escort runs until 20 March . Then heading southeast , she steamed to the Admiralties and the Palaus and returned to the Philippines 5 April . Into July she engaged in further escort work in the Philippines and to New Guinea . On 7 July she departed Hollandia on her initial Okinawan convoy . Arriving on the 23d , she sailed for the Philippines 2 days later . After the mid - August cessation of hostilities , she escorted another convoy to Okinawa , then , after the formal surrender , returned to that island , whence she escorted two occupation troop convoys to Jinsen , Korea . In mid - October " Riley " got underway for the United States . Steaming via Pearl Harbor , she arrived at San Diego 5 November and was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet . Decommissioned 15 January 1947 , inactivation was completed 5 February and she joined the mothball fleet at San Diego . Transferred to the Columbia River berthing area in 1957 , " Riley " remained in the Reserve Fleet until transferred to the Republic of China 10 July 1968 . The destroyer escort served as ROCS " Tai Yuan " ( DE - 27 ) and was nicknamed " Yang Jr . " ( ) , a reference to her similar albeit less - numerous armaments as compared to the larger and more - powerful Yang class destroyers also acquired by the ROCN . At the height of her career she was armed ( in addition to the 5 " guns and original ASW weapons ) with two twin 40mm / 60 Bofors AA guns , four single 20mm Oerlikon cannons , two Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes , and a Sea Chaparral missile launcher . In the late 1980s she was transferred to the fisheries patrol until paid off in 1992 . " Riley " earned two battle stars during World War II .