AP, PANAMA CITY, Fla.: The Navy's newest destroyer has been commissioned in Panama City, Florida, in honor of a submarine and diving pioneer who led a daring rescue off New Hampshire decades ago.
The U-S-S Momsen was commissioned today. The ship was built at Bath Iron Works in Bath (Maine), where it was christened last August.
The ship is named for the late Vice Admiral Charles Momsen. He led a daring rescue of 33 men trapped on the sunken submarine U-S-S Squalus off New Hampshire 65 years ago.
His great-great-grandson, Andrew Hailey, is a petty officer on the new ship's crew. He enlisted knowing the warship would bear his ancestor's name.
