Sarsfield was
laid down on 15 January 1945 by the
Bath Iron Works Co.,
Bath, Maine, and
launched on 27 May 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Eugene S. Sarsfield. The ship was
commissioned at
Boston Naval Shipyard on 31 July 1945.
Service in the United States Navy After the ship's fitting-out was complete, she sailed on 24 August, for
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and shakedown training. She returned to
Boston on 30 September and, after post-shakedown alterations, got underway, on 25 October, for New York City and the
Navy Day celebration. Following her stay at New York, she participated in training exercises in the
Chesapeake Bay-
Virginia Capes area until 13 December, when she entered the
Brooklyn Navy Yard for installation of some experimental equipment. On 1 February 1946,
Sarsfield sailed from New York bound for
Key West,
Florida. She arrived in Key West on 4 February to begin two decades with the
Operational Development Force located there. Attached to the
Surface Antisubmarine Development Detachment,
Atlantic Fleet, she participated in the testing and evaluation of new weapons and equipment and made periodic training cruises in the
Caribbean and in the
Gulf of Mexico. In 1950, the ship helped the new Eastern Test Range out of
Cape Canaveral test two
U.S. Army Bumpers, which were German
V-2 rockets modified to carry an upper stage.
Sarsfield was stationed a mile or two from shore for the first, 48-mile Bumper launch, and tracked it with its Mk.25 fire director, which provided radar and optical tracking. In addition to the work she did for the Operational Development Force,
Sarsfield also served the
Naval Mine Countermeasures Station at
Panama City, Florida, from 9 to 14 February 1947; conducted operations for the
Underwater Sound Laboratory at
New London, Connecticut, from 3 September 1953 until 18 October 1954; and operated out of
Newport, Rhode Island, between 8 July and 4 August 1955. In 1956, she embarked VIPs for
antisubmarine warfare demonstrations out of Key West, and in 1957, underwent overhaul at the
Norfolk Navy Yard. On 6 February 1958, she joined units of Escort Squadron 14 at Charleston, South Carolina, for antisubmarine exercises. Following a cruise as
plane guard to the
aircraft carrier in early 1958, she returned to the Operational Development Force at Key West on 15 February. In the fall of 1958,
Sarsfield entered
Charleston Naval Shipyard for another overhaul. She departed
Charleston on 5 January 1959 and conducted five weeks of refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after which she returned to Key West and further experimental work.
Project Mercury This employment, testing antisubmarine detection and destruction devices, continued until January 1961, when she was deployed, with shore bombardment responsibilities, to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Later that year, in June, Caribbean unrest again required the Navy to deploy ships.
Sarsfield cruised off the coast of
Hispaniola. In September 1961,
Sarsfield took station in the Atlantic as a recovery ship for
Project Mercury, the first human space flight program of the United States. In January 1962, she again took station for Project Mercury, this time off the coast of Africa. In August, she entered Boston Naval Shipyard for almost a year of
Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization overhaul. Before leaving Boston, in June 1963, she received several new weapons systems, including
ASROC,
DASH, long-range, distant air search radar, and long-range sonar. From Boston, she sailed to Guantanamo Bay for refresher training, then, to Charleston for another six months of weapons and sonar modifications. At the completion of these latest alterations, she cruised the Caribbean and then returned to Key West and the Operational Test and Evaluation Detachment. This employment continued until 1966. On 15 July, she again commenced overhaul, including still more sonar and radar changes. The overhaul was completed on 30 January 1967, and by 7 February, she was back in Key West.
Sarsfield spent the remainder of the month engaged in refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay. In April, she joined the aircraft carrier for antisubmarine warfare exercises, then returned to Key West on 1 May to operate with the
Fleet Sonar School. June and July were occupied by fleet exercises and
NATO exercise
Lashout. On 21 September,
Sarsfield departed Key West for the
Mediterranean, and on 17 December, returned home. In early 1968, she operated off the Virginia Capes and in the Caribbean. In July 1968, she deployed to the
Middle East. She called at many exotic ports on her voyage along the coasts of Africa and the
Indian Ocean littoral. While on this
tour of duty,
Sarsfield also had the unique opportunity to participate in a spontaneous exercise with units of the
Imperial Ethiopian Navy and the
French Air Force. By 30 December, she was underway for the Western Hemisphere, and on 10 January 1969, arrived in
Mayport, Florida.
Sarsfield remained in the Western Hemisphere for all of 1969 and 1970. During the first seven months of 1969, she resumed Caribbean and Atlantic operations. On 28 July, she commenced
UNITAS X, an exercise involving elements of the United States,
Brazilian, Argentine,
Colombian,
Chilean,
Ecuadorian,
Peruvian,
Venezuelan, and
Uruguayan navies. In December, upon the completion of this exercise, during which she visited ports in all the countries named,
Sarsfield returned to Mayport to prepare for overhaul. From January to June 1970, she was at Charleston, South Carolina, undergoing overhaul. In June, she commenced eight weeks of refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay, and upon completing it, returned to local operations out of Mayport for the rest of the year. In January 1971,
Sarsfield again deployed to the Middle East, entering the Indian Ocean in February. Tensions were rising in the region; the
Bangladesh Liberation War broke out in March and led to the
war between
India and
Pakistan in December. By 29 June, she was back at Mayport and resumed normal operations for the rest of 1971 and for the first three months of 1972.
Vietnam War , 1972. On 13 April 1972, she got underway for an entirely different deployment. Proceeding via the
Panama Canal, she arrived in
Subic Bay,
Philippines, on 11 May. Throughout the summer,
Sarsfield plied the waters of the
Gulf of Tonkin, first as plane guard for the carrier , then, patrolling off
Hainan Island. She also participated in shore bombardment missions. She departed the gunline on 12 September; stopped at
Hong Kong for six days of liberty (15 to 21 September) and at
Yokosuka,
Japan, for four days (25 to 29 September); and then, got underway to return to the United States. She entered
San Diego on 13 October, transited the Panama Canal on 21 October, and reentered Mayport on 25 October. Upon her return, she resumed local operations out of Mayport. This employment continued until 29 May 1973, when she weighed anchor to join the
6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. She sailed with the 6th Fleet until 22 September, when she passed through the
Straits of Gibraltar to join NATO units in exercises in the
Bay of Biscay and in the
North Sea. On 10 October, she entered the
Firth of Forth and, the next day, berthed at
Edinburgh,
Scotland. Two days later, at the outbreak of the
Arab-Israeli War, she departed Scotland to reenter the Mediterranean with the carrier and sped to the eastern end of that sea. After more than a month of uncertainty,
Sarsfield put into
Athens,
Greece, on 14 November for a five-day tender and leave period. On 18 November, she was ordered to rejoin
John F. Kennedy for the voyage back to the United States. She arrived at Mayport on 1 December and spent the rest of 1973 in a standdown and leave status. She remained in port at
Mayport, Florida until May 1974 at which time she resumed Atlantic seaboard operations. On 14 June 1974, in protest of perceived racism on the part of the command, nearly all of the ship's minority sailors occupied the fantail and refused orders to handle lines while
Sarsfield was attempting a difficult mooring in an off-setting wind at the Charleston Naval Station. After being surrounded by the ship's Master-at-Arms force and being individually ordered by the Executive Officer, most of the demonstrating sailors returned to their quarters. Seven of them, however, refused to leave the quarterdeck despite direct orders to do so, and eventually left the ship without authority to do so. The seven sailors were eventually apprehended and originally charged with, among other things, mutiny. They were all eventually convicted of lesser charges in a joint General Courts Martial at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. In the fall of 1974,
Sarsfield departed Mayport, Florida to participate in Northern Merger with NATO units, and enjoyed port visits in Plymouth, England and Edinburgh, Scotland, as well as Lubeck, West Germany.
Sarsfield deployed on a Mediterranean cruise from 27 July 1975 to 27 January 1976, and enjoyed port visits in Gibraltar, BCC, Barcelona, Valencia, Rota and Algeciras, Spain, Siracusa and Taormina, Sicily, Naples, Italy, Palma, Mallorca, as well as Athens, and after transiting the Bosporus and Dardanelles, steamed in company with in the Black Sea. The year 1976 saw gunnery practice in
Chesapeake Bay, and a short shipyard period in Charleston, South Carolina. Winter of 1976-1977 was the ship's last deployment to the Mediterranean as part of the task force. Port visits included
Rota, Spain;
Naples, Italy;
Trapani, Sicily (helping the city recover from a flood);
Kalamata, Greece (American-style hamburger cookout at the local orphanage at Christmas);
Sfax, Tunisia;
Palma and
Morocco. She anchored off the coast of
Egypt with dozens of Russian ships and monitored Russian submarine operations; as well as extensive operations as part of
Roosevelts group. On return to the United States, many Taiwanese sailors joined the crew to learn ship operations before
Sarsfield was struck from the
Naval Vessel Register on 1 October 1977. On the same day she was transferred to the
Republic of China (Taiwan).
Service in the Republic of China Navy The ship served in the
Republic of China Navy as '
ROCS Te Yang
(DD-925)'. Arrived in Taiwan in January 1978, via the
Panama Canal,
Long Causeway Port,
Pearl Harbor,
Midway Island,
Guam, etc. about 13,000 nautical miles. In addition to serving as a
Taiwan Strait escort and excellent performance in various exercises, she also participated in the Sino-US anti-submarine exercise and Dun Muyuan. In December 1989, the Wu-Chin III modification project was carried out, which was later changed from DD-925 to DDG-925, which means missile destroyer. In December 1994, the
Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missile was installed. In October 1997, she was incorporated into the 131 fleet.
Te Yang was decommissioned on 1 April 2005 at
Kaohsiung,
Taiwan. File:Old Warship Deyang 德陽艦 - panoramio.jpg|
Te Yang on 12 November 2012 File:德陽艦附近.jpg|Aerial view of
Te Yang on 2 July 2017 == Awards ==