ROC Navy to Have First Female Warship Captain

A young naval officer will soon become the Republic of China's first female warship captain after completing a series of stringent training and grueling tests. Naval Lt. Commander Hsieh Ai-chieh, 30, will set a precedent in the Navy of the Republic of China to lead the 500-ton domestically-developed Chinchiang-class auxiliary warship.

Hsieh, growing up in central Changhua County, passed her opportunity to enter one of the top universities in 1944. Instead, she chose to attend the ROC Naval Academy along with 19 other female high school graduates. After her graduation in 1998, Hsieh held various positions in charge of telecommunications, intelligence, missiles, and anti-submarine operations. She is expected to be commissioned as the captain of a Chinchiang-class patrol vessel on Dec. 16, making her the first woman in Taiwan's military history to become a warship captain.

The battle ship, formally commissioned into naval service in 2000, is presently part of the Navy's 131st Fleet based in Keelung Harbor in northern Taiwan. Hsieh completed a "third-class warship captain training course" earlier this year along with 11 other naval officers, including another woman officer, Chen Yi-hsin. Source: China Post