The morning sun in southern Taiwan shines across the Shuihsing docks in the West Harbor of Tsoying, and also shines on the bodies of the more than 200 officers and sailors lined up for morning roll call. Behind them stoutly rests a ship--a grey destroyer. On the ship a bronze plaque occasionally glimmers, reflecting the proudly carried name Teyang.

That precisely dressed black shadow with the harsh expression slowly walking amongst them inspecting them is Captain Kung Chia-cheng.

Already the faces of many men are covered with sweat, but there has not been a move. The pier is silent except for the water being expelled from the drain hole on the side of the ship and the sound of the flag fluttering on the mast. A day earmarked for training and maneuvers has begun.

The weather is clear, the wind and waves not large, and visibility is excellent. It looks like a good day to put to sea.

But before the whistle blows, there is a long series of equipment checks and maintenance work. This is especially true new, as the Teyang is just in its periodic "refitting stage" after a major overhaul, so that inspection and maintenance of equipment is especially meticulous. (After maintenance and replacement of armaments is completed, in order to certify the combat ability of both men and ship, it must pass inspection by the Navy Department of Training before it can take up its post on patrol at sea. This space of time after the overhaul is complete up to the inspection is called "refitting.")

Grade 1 destroyers in the ROC Navy are known as Yangtzu destroyers. These destroyers all come from the US. The average age is over 45 years old, and the Teyang is no exception. Since being completed as a US destroyer in 1945, it has already seen 46 New Years. The US sold it to the ROC in 1977 to use for patrolling the Taiwan Straits.

The ship is 120 meters long, and no more than 13 meters wide, giving it the appearance of a long, narrow sharply pointed spear.

However, looked at from the outside, the Teyang is already vastly dissimilar from the original destroyer. It is by no means obsolete, and only last year completed refitted with the Wuchin-3 combat system. All variety of air, sea, and fire control radar are emplaced on the bridge, bow, and stern. The ship has also switched to new weaponry, like the MK-75 76-mm cannon, the MK-32 torpedo tube, the Kaojao missile firing system, and ASROC antisubmarine missiles. It is packed from front to back.

Between the aft deck and the tail there is a landing pad for use by anti-submarine helicopters.

Captain Kung was in charge of overseeing the switchover to the new weapons systems and the general overhaul. He has many firsts to his credit: While at the Naval Academy he set records in the 1500 and 5000 meter races that still stand; in 1985 he was selected as an outstanding model for Ministry of Defense staff and subordinate units; in 1987 the Taiyuan ship which he led received the Chukuang award, the highest honor in the military; for three consecutive years, he won the prize for most outstanding maintenance; he was the first destroyer commander to hold an MBA from an American University. . . . in the naval community he is known as "Kung the First."

"The first" also appears in his pursuit of excellence in everything. The exceptional maintenance of the Teyang often startles visiting brass. Capt. Wei Liang-sung, director of the university division of the Naval Academy, gives a big "thumbs up" to the fact that every hinge and screw shines. "These places rust the easiest of any place on a ship, and if the ship's captain is not strict the crew gets lazy and paints right over it," reveals Rear Admiral Wei appreciatively, "and you can see from this that Captain Kung is very meticulous. And so-called 'combat capability' is aquired by demanding that everything be precisely done."

"Only with a clean ship will the crew be happy, and only with a happy crew will there be combat capability," says Captain Kung Chia-cheng, making it sound easier than it is.

The area for activities on old-style destroyers is extremely narrow. Also, before turning over the ships to the ROC, the US removed the air conditioning equipment. Thus every summer it becomes brutally hot, with temperatures reaching more than 40 degrees. The cramped and stuffy living environment, plus the heavy and complicated work and training, as well as the roughness of the seas, have all made the navy a tough place to do military service.

"Before the second generation of ships can completely replace the old ships, and there is no way to change the larger environment, the only thing to do is give as much energy and thought as possible to improve things in little ways," says Kung Chia-cheng.

You can see signs of "improvement" all over the Teyang: In the busy ship's head, and the galley--the only place to sit down and make friends -- green basins and color graphics have been installed. The traditional hanging sailcloth beds in the crews quarters are gone, replaced by comfortable American militarystyle aluminum beds, and air conditioning has been installed. The galley has been completely rebuilt with rust-proof equipment and high-temperature sterilization.

Kung Chia-cheng, with his background in business administration, is very familiar with the division of labor. He devotes most of his own time to figuring out how to raise morale and strengthen combat capability. He laughs that he is a " 'lonely old man' who spends most of his time hiding in his cabin." The captain's quarters are only about 70 square feet, filled with a desk, chair, and a large and a small sofa. Where does he sleep at night? The captain smiles, noting that when you pull the back of the sofa down it becomes a single bed. There are simple washing facilities to the left of the desk. The four walls are covered with pictures of hit wife and two daughters. The pictures remind him of home, but, needless to say, help relieve some of the pain of being away far more than being with them.

However, today there will be no chance for Captain Kung to be a lonely old man, because they are right in the middle of the refitting period. After eating breakfast he gets busy inspecting weapons installations and chairing the pre-cruise meeting, setting the targets and standards for the afternoon's itinerary.

At one in the afternoon, Captain Kung stands on the armored deck of the ship's forward air defense station and gives the order to leave port. The sailors who had originally been lined up in ranks on the deck immediately head for their stations.

During the trip, Captain Kung stations himself on the bow, He wears sunglasses, and has binoculars hanging on his chest. He continually inquires as to the weather, the wind and waves, visibility, location, radar, and other data and gives appropriate commands for guiding the ship.

The sea conditions in the Taiwan Straits are hard to predict. Moreover, in recent years there have been many problems including provocations by mainland fishing boats, piracy, smuggling, and illegal immigration, so that warships must constantly be on the alert while at sea. "As soon as the ship leaves port, then the pilot's chair becomes the captain's bed, and he eats and sleeps there," says morale officer Wu Chi-feng.

While all this is going on, fog rolls in, making visibility poor. A flying target, towed behind a fighter plane, which imitates an enemy aircraft in flight, disappears into the cloud bank. Now they have to rely on radar to provide data to get a grip on the situation.

In the heavily armored operations room, you can only see the glow of the radar screen in the dark, and hear the beep-beep sound. All of the weapons and radar on the ship are tied into here. The screens in the middle are the overall monitoring and weaponry "fire control systems." Processed data is sent to the monitor on the control panel for the captain to make a decision. Therefore if the captain is in the center, the data officer and the weapons coordination officer stand at his sides, making the decisions that will determine victory or defeat at a distant place.

Today's flying target is a "minor matter." The Teyang has completed its mission by four o'clock and heads back to port.

As soon as the ship reaches the shore, there seems to be a sense of expectation in the air. The Teyang has a major event this evening: its monthly birthday celebrations. Before 6:00 PM, more than 100 officers and men (the other one-third doing their shifts on ship) flood into the "All Men Are Brothers" restaurant in the Tsoying military district. The officers and men who looked so serious during the day now show their boyish side.

"When you're the captain, you've been through a lot of training and discipline, and ordinarily on ship in order to establish your authority, it is necessary to clearly differentiate ranks and not engage in banter. But in this situation you can put your shoulder boards down and have a drink as one of the boys." Captain Kung laughs that this is how that "all in the same boat" sentiment the men should share with the captain grows.

Making merry and talking happily in wine-soaked words can get out all the harshness of life at sea and the bittersweet homesickness. When the morning comes again, it will be another day filled with training and sailing. Nevertheless, for Kung Chia-cheng, every day on board the destroyer is not just another page in the log book, but is a memory to last a lifetime.

[Picture Caption]

Capt. Kung (3rd from left) observing the sea from the bow.

(Right) The entire crew of the destroyer 925-Teyang. Capt. Kung Chia-cheng is in the center.

Once the ship is out of harbor, Capt. Kung supervises from the bridge.

Everyone having a good drink and forgetting about the toils of the day.

The rating's cabins on board the Teyang have been fitted with aluminum bunks as used by the US Navy.

（Right） The entire crew of the destroyer 925-Teyang. Capt. Kung Chia-cheng is in the center.

Once the ship is out of harbor, Capt. Kung supervises from the bridge.

Everyone having a good drink and forgetting about the toils of the day.

The rating's cabins on board the Teyang have been fitted with aluminum bunks as used by the US Navy.