New Navy destroyer arrives at its home port, Naval Station Everett
"I joined the Navy hoping to get on this ship," said Hailey, a petty officer aboard the USS Momsen. "I guess it was kind of a springboard for me to enlist."
The Momsen, with the great-grandson of its namesake aboard, pulled into Naval Station Everett yesterday to end a maiden voyage that began more than two months ago in Maine, where the ship was built. While en route, the warship stopped in Panama City, Fla., where a commissioning ceremony was held in late August between hurricanes Charley and Frances.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, which cost an estimated $970 million, is the newest in the Navy's fleet.
It also becomes the latest warship to be home ported at the Everett base, which yesterday threw a welcoming party that included the naval station's top brass and about 300 family and friends of crew members. Many of the families had been separated up to a year and a half while the ship was being built, said Capt. Eddie Gardiner, commanding officer for the naval station.
Momsen's arrival comes during a busy week at the naval station. The USS Shoup, also a guided-missile destroyer, left yesterday morning for deployment. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is scheduled to leave today on a four-month deployment, its first overseas voyage since returning in May 2003 from one of the longest deployments of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier since the Vietnam War era.
Amid the tearful reunions yesterday Peter Munger stated the obvious: Reunions are much better than farewells.
Munger, 26, held a bouquet of pink flowers in one hand and hoisted his 2½-year-old-son, Aedan, onto his shoulders so the boy could watch as the Momsen pulled into port. Aboard was Petty Officer Tiffany Munger, 26, whose shore duty includes the job of Aedan's mommy.
"Yeah, I'm a Navy wife," Peter Munger joked. "She's had shore command up until now. This is the first time we've been separated through the Navy."
Minutes later Tiffany Munger climbed off the ship and embraced her son and husband.
"It's wonderful to be home," she said. "I like the new ship. It's challenging. We're all brand new and everyone is learning how to do their jobs and run the ship."
Cmdr. Edward Kenyon, who is the ship's captain, said the crew will spend the next few months training and testing the ship. The ship boasts some of the Navy's newest technology, including a remote mine-hunting system.
"It is a challenge with a new ship and crew." Kenyon said. "About 70 percent of the crew has never been to sea before. They did fabulous. They achieved everything I had hoped for."
About 30 of the ship's 320 crew members were previously stationed at Naval Station Everett, and requested assignment aboard the Momsen so they could return to the area, said Lt. Charles Grayson.
For Hailey, the trip has been about fulfilling a family legacy. He and his siblings grew up hearing stories about their great-grandfather's military exploits.
Momsen, considered to be the father of the Navy's diving program, invented an underwater escape device that helped save 33 men from the USS Squalus, a submarine that in 1939 sank off the coast of New Hampshire. He died in 1967.
"Our grandmother always said that [our great-grandfather] wanted everyone to make their own path," Hailey said.
But there was always a strong pull toward military service in his family, since both of his grandfathers and father served the Navy. Hailey's sister, Sharon Hailey, and brother, Brian Hailey, also took part in the Momsen's maiden voyage. They came aboard as part of the "Tiger Cruise," a Navy program that allows friends and family to spend several days on a ship.
"It was a great experience," Brian Hailey said. "Now I know what life was like for my great-grandfather. I know where he was coming from."
Rachel Tuinstra: 425-783-0674 or rtuinstra@seattletimes.com
