Another Knox-class frigate bought from U.S. to be decommissioned soon: Source

Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) Another Knox-class frigate Taiwan purchased from the United States that has been in use by Taiwan's Navy for nearly three decades will be decommissioned soon, a military source told CNA on Saturday.

The Lan Yang (蘭陽艦) (FFG-935), a Chi Yang-class (濟陽級) frigate belonging to the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy that began service in Taiwan in 1995, will be decommissioned sometime in mid-January in a ceremony in Kaohsiung, according to the unnamed source.

The decommissioned frigate will then be stripped of its weapon and radar systems before being used by the Navy for target practice, the source said.

The Lan Yang is the third Chi Yang-class frigate -- formerly U.S. Knox-class frigates -- to be decommissioned after being used by Taiwan's Navy for around 30 years. She was formerly in service in the U.S. as the USS Joseph Hewes (FF-1078).

In the 1990s, the U.S. agreed to transfer eight Knox-class frigates to Taiwan's Navy. They were later reclassified as eight Chi Yang-class frigates before beginning their service in the Navy between 1993 and 1999.

The Navy previously retired two Chi Yang-class frigates, the Chi Yang (FFG-932) and Hai Yang (FFG-936), on May 2015, because Taiwan acquired two new frigates from the U.S., and it is too costly to keep the aging Knox-class frigates operational.

No plans have been announced, however, for decommissioning the other five frigates in service.