Momsen (DDG 92) - Naval Cruise Book

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She started as an idea on blue prints and within 2 Vi years Bath Iron Works had built the newest and most technologically ad anced destroyer in the Fleet. With hard w ork. determination and a commitment to excellence, the crev of MOMSEN helped bring this magnificent ship from cold iron to life. USS MOMSEN follow ed a rather unique construction process. Shipbuilding today utilizes the latest and most adv anced technologies a ailable alongside traditions and ceremonies dating back SCN eral centuries. ill I

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In the begining... Construction of a Warship Naming of a Warship On September 19, 2000, Secretarx ' of the Navy, the Honorable Richard Danzig, announced the decision to name the 42 ship of the Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers. MOMSEN. The name MOMSEN honors retired Vice Admiral Charles Bow ers Swede Momsen. best know for his efforts in the successfijj rescue of 33 crewmembers and the subsequent salvage of submarine USS SQU.A.LUS after sinking in 240 feet of water in May 1 939. The ship was constructed at Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Bath, Maine. BUIT BY BATH RON WORKS A GD«AL DYNAMICS COMPANY

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Mast Stepping Shipbuilders in the 1 600s (or even earlier) beheved that placing coins under a ship ' s mast would provide the ship safe passage during treacherous seas and violent winds. The custom dates back to the ancient Roman times, where coins were placed in the mouths of the dead as payment to Charon, the boatman in Greek mythology who ferried souls across the River Styx. On April 1 5. 2003, Bath Iron Works hosted the Mast Stepping ceremony for MOMSEN, DDG-92. MOMSEN collected 92 coins, one from every crewmember then assigned and several fi om the Momsen family. They were welded in a time capsule at the base of the mast. Charles Momsen III spoke on behalf of the family and initiated the crew ' s nickname, The Lucky Swedes.