TAIWAN

   Taiwan has been in the news lately, and recently I heard that a U.S. Navy destroyer had conducted what was called the “Taiwan Patrol”, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was offended. I remember conducting the Taiwan Patrol more than 50 years ago and I suppose it’s been going on ever since. As I remember it, it was easy duty and a chance to relax and do routine maintenance. Usually one destroyer would be assigned to the patrol for about a week or so at time, and then on to other duties. To understand the Taiwan Patrol, we need to understand Taiwan.

   Taiwan is an island about the size of Massachusetts combined with Connecticut and Rhode Island. Taiwan is roughly 100 miles from the southeast of China, and is about midway between Japan and the Philippines. The indigenous people of Taiwan are not Chinese and have their own language and culture; however China controlled Taiwan until Japan took control (Taiwan was then known as Formosa). At the end of WW2 China was in a civil war and Taiwan was no longer under Japanese control. By 1949 the forces of Mao ZeDong had won and Chiang Kai-shek and his forces retreated to Taiwan and declared the Republic of China. The PRC (Communist China) declares that Taiwan is part of China, while the Republic of China (on Taiwan) says No - We get along without you very well.

   Since 1949 the possibility of the PRC invading Taiwan has been a threat, and the basic idea of the Taiwan Patrol is to keep a U. S. Navy destroyer cruising slowly between China and Taiwan. Of course one destroyer could not stop an invasion and could be sunk in a minute  - but that would be the trigger for war between The U. S. and the PRC.

   There are two main ports in Taiwan. At the south end of the island is Kaohsiung and Keelung is in the north. While on patrol a destroyer would spend a day or two in Kaohsiung, then slowly go north for a couple of days and then spend a day or two in Keelung, then repeat. The capital Taipei is close to Keelung and I recall sightseeing in Taipei at least twice. Once early in the 60’s I remember that the road to Taipei was crowded with bicycles and oxcarts. A dozen years later there were very few bikes and no oxcarts.

On one visit to Taipei I saw the museum which held the finest historical works of art which had been taken from China to Taiwan in 1949 to save them from the communist revolution. The PRC (of course) say all these art works were looted. The museum store had some very beautifully copied replicas of art work which were sold for almost nothing. I bought some which we still have. On the “shadier” side, in stores near the museum were copies of phonograph records without any acknowledgement of copyright. I bought several record albums for about a dollar each and we still have the vinyl to play.

   My most significant contact with Taiwan occurred in New York. In 1977 I was assigned to the USS POWER (DD 839), homeported in the North Bronx at Fort Schuyler. The POWER was a WW2 destroyer whose main mission was training the Naval Reservists in the New York area. We would typically go to sea for a few days at a time, and were never away from home more than a week or two. Also, the ship was in excellent condition, and the crew was very well trained - due to the schedule of training, training, training. I had been assigned to the POWER as the Executive Officer, and then became the captain because the C.O. at the time was promoted and transferred. I was proud of the POWER; among other things we had the highest marks for gunnery, ASW, seamanship, etc and were considered one of the best “old” destroyers (the POWER was commissioned in 1945; only me and one of my Chief Petty Officers were older than the POWER).

   1977 was a critical year for Taiwan. Until then, the Republic of China (Taiwan) represented China in the United Nations. But the PRC had become much stronger and took the place in the U.N. which had previously been Taiwan’s. So the U.S. government offered a consolation prize: Taiwan was offered their choice of “old” destroyers. Guess who they chose!

   My job was to train the Chinese crew to take over the ship. It was actually easy for two reasons: First of all, training was our expertise, and secondly the Chinese Captain and crew were the best of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Captain Liu and a skeleton crew (about 30 experienced sailors) moved aboard June 1977 and were scheduled to take over by the fall. Captain Liu and I were roommates and got along well. He was from Shanghai and spoke English well. A few of his crew could speak English

and they merged with my crew. My chief cook was an Italian New Yorker and when we were in port he would go to the local markets for fresh food. He and the Chinese cook formed a partnership and the merged crews never complained about the very interesting Chinese Italian cuisine.

   On 1 October 1977 at Fort Schuyler New York we had the formal change of command, the decommissioning of USS POWER (DD 839), and the commissioning of the RCS Shen-yang (DD 932). [RCS means Republic of China Ship]. I and my crew marched off the ship, taking the stars and stripes with us; Captain Liu and his crew marched aboard and hoisted the colors of the Republic of China. The Shen-yang was underway to the Panama Canal and then for further training on the way to their new home port of Kaohsiung.

   After leaving the POWER I was transferred to San Diego, to the TARAWA (LHA 1). By the time Donna and I were more or less settled in San Diego and the kids were in school there, The RCS Shen-yang was in port Long Beach for a few days and Captain Liu invited us aboard his ship. Donna's sister Joan and her husband Gene lived nearby in Seal Beach, so we invited them to come with us. Gene was a WWII veteran, one of the D-Day paratroopers ("A Bridge Too Far"), and I was proud to introduce Gene to Captain Liu. Liu was interested in some spicy Mexican food and my plan was to take a quick look at the Shen-yang and then take Liu out to dinner. We recognized the ex-POWER from the outside, but the inside was entirely different. There were pictures of Chiang Kai-shek everywhere and Chinese music piped through all the loudspeakers. There was one very big difference - liquor was allowed on board. I also learned that Chinese sailors think Red Label Scotch whiskey is the finest drink in the world. When we sat down in the wardroom with Captain Liu, we were formally introduced to each of his officers. One at a time he would present his Chief Engineer, then a toast; then his Gunnery Officer, then a toast; and so on. By the way we were drinking whisky out of water glasses! After we had met all the officers and put a large dent in the ship's Scotch supply, Captain Liu decided that he should stay on board. I am quite sure that we didn’t get to dinner but I may be wrong. I’m not sure how we got home either.

   P.S. After serving about 20 more years in the Republic of China Navy, the Shen-yang is now permanently moored in Kaohsiung as a museum piece.