Republic of China Navy Kee Lung (Kidd class) destroyer

Originally built for the Shah of Iran's government, the contracts were canceled when the 1979 Iranian Revolution began, and the ships were completed for the U.S. Navy. Because they were equipped with heavy-duty air conditioning and other features that made them suitable in hot climates, they tended to be used in the Middle East, specifically the Persian Gulf itself. During their service with the U.S. Navy the ships were popularly known as the "Ayatollah" or "dead admiral" class.

All four ships were decommissioned from the U.S. Navy in the late 1990s, and were initially offered for sale to Australia in 1997 for A$30 million each. In 1999, the offer was rejected, based on extensive problems the Royal Australian Navy had encountered during the acquisition of two surplus Newport class tank landing ships from the U.S. Navy in 1994.[1] After the Australian refusal, the four ships were offered to Greece, which also refused.

The ships were anachronistically featured in 2001 film Pearl Harbor, in exploding scenes.

In 2001, the US authorized the reactivation and sale of all four ships to Taiwan.

The first two ships, ex-Scott and ex-Callaghan, arrived at Su-ao, a military port in eastern Taiwan, in December 2005, and were named Kee Lung (DDG-1801) and Su Ao (DDG-1802) in a commissioning ceremony on 17 December 2005. Following the tradition of ship class naming, ROCN has referred these vessels as Kee Lung class destroyers. The remaining two units, ex-Kidd and ex-Chandler, were delivered in 2006, and named Tso Ying (DDG-1803) and Ma Kong (DDG-1805), respectively.