The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG 100) and legend-class U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter Munro (WMSL 755) conducted routine Taiwan Strait transits Aug. 27 (local time) through international waters in accordance with international law. The ships’ lawful transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.
The passage follows a series of assault drills conducted last week by China in waters to the southeast and southwest of Taiwan. The Communist Party of China considers Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), a renegade province that must ultimately be unified politically with the mainland. Beijing held the drills in response to what it described as “provocations” by the United States and Taiwan. Earlier this month, coast guard officers from the U.S. and Taiwan met to discuss increasing cooperation.
USS Kidd (DD-661), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named after Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who died on the bridge of his flagship USS Arizona during the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Admiral Kidd was the first US flag officer to die during World War II, and the first American admiral ever to be killed in action. A National Historic Landmark, she is now a museum ship, berthed on the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is the only surviving US destroyer still in her World War II configuration.
USCGC Munro (WMSL-755) is the sixth Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. Munro is the second cutter named for Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro (1919–1942), the only Coast Guardsman to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The US Navy destroyer escort USS Douglas A. Munro (DE-422) was also named for Munro. Construction officially began on October 7, 2013 with a ceremony marking the cutting of the first 100 tons of steel. Munro was launched on September 12, 2015.
