USS ''Momsen'' (DDG-92) is an in service with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. ''Momsen'' is the twenty-sixth destroyer of the ''Arleigh Burke'' class to be built by

Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest de ...

. She is named after Vice Admiral Charles B. "Swede" Momsen of

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

, New York (1896–1967). Vice Admiral Momsen made many contributions to the navy such as the invention of the

Momsen Lung The Momsen lung was a primitive underwater rebreather used before and during World War II by American submariners as emergency escape gear. It was invented by Charles Momsen (nicknamed "Swede"). Submariners trained with this apparatus in an dee ...

when he was assigned to the

Bureau of Construction and Repair The Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) was the part of the United States Navy which from 1862 to 1940 was responsible for supervising the design, construction, conversion, procurement, maintenance, and repair of ships and other craft for the ...

. Momsen was also involved in the first successful rescue of a crew of a sunken submarine, , and subsequently supervised the salvage of the boat. ''Momsen''s

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid on 16 November 2001. She was launched on 19 July 2003, sponsored by Admiral Momsen's daughter, Evelyn Momsen Hailey. ''Momsen'' was commissioned on 28 August 2004, at

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn Ha ...

. The construction of ''Momsen'' and

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, from initial steelcutting to

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s, was documented on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

television special ''Destroyer: Forged in Steel''. The destroyers were not referenced by name, but their numbers were visible on their prows. As of 2019, ''Momsen'' is serving in the Pacific Fleet, homeported in NAVSTA Everett, Washington, and recently assigned to

Destroyer Squadron 31 In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in 1 ...

based at

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the ...

Service history

2006

On 6 April 2006, ''Momsen'' departed Naval Station Everett for her maiden deployment. During the six-month cruise, the ship conducted training and operations throughout Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific in the

U.S. 7th Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

area of responsibility. ''Momsen'' returned home from a successful maiden deployment on 22 September 2006.

2008

''Momsen'' departed for her second deployment on 14 March 2008 with

Carrier Strike Group Nine Carrier Strike Group 9 (CSG-9 or CARSTRKGRU 9) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. Carrier strike groups gain and maintain sea control as well as project naval airpower ashore. Commander Carrier Strike Group 9 (COMCARSTRKGRU 9 or CCSG 9) is res ...

. During her deployment, ''Momsen'' provided critical humanitarian assistance for two foreign vessels, a stranded cargo vessel with engine problems and a former hijacked merchant vessel requiring food, water and medical attention. She returned home on 13 October 2008 after a seven-month underway period.

2010-2011

''Momsen'' departed for her third deployment September 2010 with Carrier Strike Group Nine. On 2 February 2011, ''Momsen'', with the

guided-missile cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

, responded to a distress call from the Panamanian-flag merchant vessel ''Duqm'' in the

Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ar, خليج عمان ''khalīj ʿumān''; fa, دریای عمان ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ar, خلیج مکران ''khalīj makrān''; fa, دریای مکرا� ...

. Both ships disrupted a pirate attack on ''Duqm'', tracked the two pirate

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have devel ...

s back to their mothership, and destroyed the two skiffs to prevent their use in future pirate attacks (''pictured'').

Controversy

The ship's skipper, Commander Jay Wylie, was relieved of command on 27 April 2011 for "loss of confidence in his ability to command." On 28 October 2011 Wylie pleaded guilty to sexual assault and rape, and was sentenced by court martial to 42 months imprisonment and loss of all navy benefits.

2013

During her 2013 deployment, ''Momsen'' initially joined

Carrier Strike Group Eleven Carrier Strike Group 11 (CSG-11 or CARSTRKGRU 11) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. Carrier strike groups gain and maintain sea control as well as project naval airpower ashore. The aircraft carrier is the strike group's current flagship. O ...

before undertaking independent operations with the

U.S. Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

. During this deployment, ''Momsen'' participated in such multilateral naval exercises as CARAT Indonesia 2013 in the

Java Sea The Java Sea ( id, Laut Jawa, jv, Segara Jawa) is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its nort ...

, Talisman Sabre 2013 in the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

, and SAREX in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

. ''Momsen'' operated with

Carrier Strike Group Five Carrier Strike Group 5, also known as CSG 5 or CARSTRKGRU 5, is the U.S. Navy carrier strike group assigned to the United States Pacific Fleet and permanently forward deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet. CSG 5 is responsible for unit-level training ...

during the Talisman Sabre and SAREX exercises. ''Momsen'' also paid port visits to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. On 22 August 2013, ''Momsen'' returned to

Naval Station Everett Naval Station Everett (NAVSTA Everett) is a military installation located in the city of Everett, Washington, north of Seattle. The naval station, located on the city's waterfront on the northeastern end of Puget Sound, was designed as a homeport ...

, Washington, after a four-month underway period as part of the U.S. Seventh Fleet.

2018

In 2018, ''Momsen'' made a port call to

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

2022

In February 2022, the ''Momsen'' departed Everett to begin a pan-Pacific deployment. 23 April 2022, ''Momsen'' made a port call to

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. On November 29, 2022 A webcam overlooking San Diego Bay has captured an apparent near collision between U.S. warships whose crews had to deploy evasive maneuvers. In the footage, crewmen from both ships are heard informing each other that they veering to port, or left, to eliminate the threat of a collision. The Navy, however, is investigating Tuesday’s incident involving the guided-missile destroyer, Momsen, and the landing ship Harpers Ferry, according to the Navy Times.

2023

''Momsen'' made a port call to

Homer, Alaska Homer ( Dena'ina: ''Tuggeght'') is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is southwest of Anchorage. According to the 2020 Census, the population is 5,522, up from 5,003 in 2010. Long known as the "Halibut Fishing Ca ...

on 3-4 May. Local residents were given a tour of the ship while she was berthed at the local Deepwater Dock.

Awards

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Co ...

– (Apr – Sep 2008, Sep 2010 – Mar 2011, Dec 2011 – Aug 2012) *

Battle "E" The Battle Effectiveness Award (formerly the Battle Efficiency Award, commonly known as the Battle "E"), is awarded annually to the small number of United States Navy ships, submarines, aviation, and other units that win their battle effectiveness c ...

– (2008, 2013) *

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

(SECNAV)

Energy Conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...

Award (Environmental Quality, Small Ship category) – (2010, 2012)

References

External links

USS ''Momsen'' official web site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Momsen (DDG-92) Ships built in Bath, Maine Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Destroyers of the United States 2003 ships