The $1.4 BILLION Zumwalt-Class Destroyer USS Michael Monsoor Commissioned on Jan 26th, 2019

US Navy Photo

The second Zumwalt-class destroyer to be built for the U.S. Navy was commissioned on January 26, 2019. DDG-1001 was named for Medal of Honor recipient Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor, a Navy SEAL killed in action in Iraq in 2006.

His mother served as the ship’s sponsor. The ceremony took place at the ship’s home port at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California where U.S. Representative Scott Peters delivered the principal address. As is traditional the ship’s sponsor, in this case Sally Monsoor, then gave the first order to man the ship and “bring her to life.”

Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor patrols the streets of Iraq while deployed in 2006. He received the Medal of Honor posthumously in a ceremony at the White House April 8, 2008.

 

Sally Monsoor christens the future USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001), which is named in honor of her son, Medal of Honor recipient Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor.

The USS Michael Monsoor will have a new multi-mission role and is expected to be able to carry out traditional naval operations as well as combined maritime actions. It has a much larger flight deck than is usually found on board a destroyer and has a wider range of mission capabilities including air, surface and undersea.

The vertical launch system (VLS) is also enhanced, allowing the ship to launch larger and more advanced land and anti-ship missiles.

The future guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) completed the successful lift and integration of the deckhouse on to the ship’s hull at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard.

Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer was pleased to confirm that the new warship is seen as a highly capable warfighting asset by the Navy and that it “will provide independent forward presence and deterrence for decades to come.”

The Zumwalt-class boasts a “total ship computing environment” which means that the onboard ship computing applications are a part of a single, enclosed and encrypted network that controls many of the ship’s functions, allowing a lower level of manpower. It also has two sonar arrays in a hull-mounted system to protect against mines, submarines and torpedoes.

Michael Monsoor transits San Diego Bay en route to Naval Base San Diego, 6 December 2018

The ship has a Mk-57 missile launch system with modular electronic architecture which allows for speedy transitions between missiles by minimizing change-over times. The launchers are protected by a peripheral VLS designed to isolate the weapon system from crew and equipment, and to make them more resistant to battle damage.

On board the USS Michael Monsoor are two 155mm guns able to fire projectiles up to sixty-three nautical miles. The ship is 600 feet long, has a displacement of 15,000 tonnes, and can travel at up to 30 knots (35 mph). It was laid down on May 23, 2013 and launched three years later on June 21, 2016.

(Jan. 26, 2019) Sailors assigned to the Naval Base Coronado security department fire a 19-gun salute during the commissioning ceremony for the Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001).

 

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The crew of the Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) brings the ship to life during its commissioning ceremony, Jan. 26, 2019.

 

The crew of the Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) brings the ship to life during its commissioning ceremony, Jan. 26, 2019.

Michael Monsoor, for whom the destroyer was named, was a Lebanese American whose father had served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2001 and earned his Navy SEAL Trident in 2004. He was deployed to Iraq in 2006 as part of Task Unit Bruiser.

U.S. Navy crewmembers assigned to the sailing frigate USS Constitution perform a colour guard detail at the christening ceremony for guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) in the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard.

 

Crewmembers assigned to USS Constitution prepare to perform a color guard detail at the christening ceremony for guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) in the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard.

 

Crewmembers assigned to USS Constitution perform a color guard detail at the christening ceremony for guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) in the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard.

His Medal of Honor was earned at the cost of his life on September 29, 2006 in Ramadi, Iraq. He was part of a sniper over-watch team holding a security position with two other SEALs and several soldiers from the Iraqi Army.

An insurgent threw a fragmentation grenade into their position, and it hit Monsoor in the chest before falling to the ground. Monsoor was set up next to the only exit and could have escaped with his life, leaving his comrades to take the main effect of the blast.

Sailors assigned to the future Zumwalt-class destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) pays respects to fallen Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael Monsoor at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on the 10-year anniversary of his death.

Read another story from us: Navy Launches Another $4.24 Billion Destroyer

Instead, Monsoor dropped onto the grenade, smothering it and taking the full force of the detonation, thereby saving the lives of the other two SEALs and the Iraqi soldiers. His Medal of Honor citation praises his courage and devotion to duty “in the face of certain death.”

He is buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California.

Ian Harvey:
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