The Navy will christen its next Zumwalt-class destroyer Saturday, whose name which honors the fallen life and death of a Navy SEAL who leaped on a live grenade to save the lives of his teammates.
The destroyer Michael Monsoor will be christened at Bath Iron Works, Maine, June 18. Sally Monsoor, Michael's mother, is the ship's sponsor and will break a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow, according to a Navy release.
A christening ceremony is a ceremony where A ship is officially is given its name at the christening ceremonyits name, and is usually a celebration or solemn remembrance of the ship's namesake.
Monsoor, a SEAL-qualified master-at-arms second class, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for valoractions in the 2006 Battle of Ramadi. While providing sniper overwatch with two other SEALs and several Iraq soldiers, an insurgent closed the position and threw a fragmentation grenade at them. Monsoor, recognizing the danger to his teammates, threw his body instantly dropped on top of the grenade, absorbing the impact and saving the lives of two teammatesall around.
Monsoor also received the Silver Star and Bronze Star for heroism under fire on two occasions earlier on his 2006 Iraq deployment.
The SEALs also named a training complex after Monsoor. Camp Michael Monsoor at the Assaults and Tactical Weapons Training Complex, La Posta, California. It was dedicated in 2014.
Construction of the destroyer Monsoor began in 2010. The ship, which is the second of the stealthZumwalt-class destroyers, is a staggering 610 feet long, eclipsing the 567-foot cruiser as the largest surface combatant in the fleet. It will displace 15,000 tons when fully loaded, more than 5,000 more tons than the Ticonderoga-class cruisers. It is planned for a crew size of 147, far fewer than its smaller cousins the cruisers and destroyers, which both boast crews of more than 300 sailors.
The stealth ship has a state-of-the-art gun system that can support shore bombardments at a range of more than 60 miles — five times the range of the fleet's current capabilities, according to the release. The ship also has an advanced power system that notionally will support high-energy weapon systems such as the Navy's laser weapon and rail gun, both in development.
David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.
