View source for USS Monssen (DD-436)

{{Short description|Gleaves-class destroyer}}
{{other ships|USS Monssen}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
 | Ship image =  [[File:Uss Monssen 0543602.jpg|300px|USS Monssen (DD-436)]]
 | Ship caption = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
 | Hide header = 
 | Ship country = United States
 | Ship flag =   {{USN flag|1942}}
 | Ship name =  ''Monssen''
 | Ship namesake = [[Mons Monssen]]
 | Ship ordered = 
 | Ship builder =  [[Puget Sound Navy Yard]]
 | Ship laid down =  12 July 1939
 | Ship launched =  16 May 1940
 | Ship commissioned =  14 March 1941
 | Ship decommissioned = 
 | Ship struck = 
 | Ship honours = [[File:Bronze-service-star-3d.png|18px]] 4 × [[Battle star#Navy warships|battle stars]]
 | Ship fate =  Sunk by Japanese warships off Guadalcanal 13 November 1942
 | Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
 | Hide header = 
 | Header caption = 
 | Ship class =  {{sclass|Gleaves|destroyer}}
 | Ship displacement =  1,630 tons
 | Ship length =      {{convert|348|ft|3|in|abbr=on}}
 | Ship beam =   {{convert|36|ft|1|in|abbr=on}}
 | Ship draft =  {{convert|11|ft|10|in|abbr=on}}
 | Ship propulsion =*{{convert|50,000|shp|kW|abbr=on}};
*4 boilers;
*2 propellers
 | Ship speed =  {{convert|37.4|kn|km/h|0}}
 | Ship range =*{{convert|6,500|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}}
 | Ship complement =  16 officers, 260 enlisted
 | Ship sensors = 
 | Ship EW = 
 | Ship armament =* 5 × [[5"/38 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}]] [[dual purpose gun|DP]] guns,
*6 × [[.50 caliber machine gun|{{convert|0.5|in|mm|sigfig=3|abbr=on}}]] guns,
*6 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] AA guns,
*10 × [[Mark 15 torpedo|{{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}]] [[torpedo tube]]s,
*2 × [[depth charge]] tracks
 | Ship notes = 
}}
|}

'''USS ''Monssen'' (DD-436)''', a {{sclass|Gleaves|destroyer}}, was the first ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for [[Mons Monssen]], who was awarded the [[Medal of Honor]] for his actions aboard {{USS|Missouri|BB-11}} in 1904. [[Ship commissioning|Commissioned]] in 1941, the destroyer saw service during [[World War II]] in both Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. ''Monssen'' was sunk at the [[Naval Battle of Guadalcanal]] on 13 November 1942.

==Construction and commissioning==
''Monssen'' was [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 12 July 1939 by [[Puget Sound Navy Yard]] at [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]] and [[Ceremnial ship launching|launched]] on 16 May 1940, [[Ship sponsor|sponsored]] by Mrs. Mons Monssen, widow of [[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]] Monssen. The ship was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 14 March 1941, [[Lieutenant Commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] [[Roland N. Smoot]] in command.

==Service history==
===June 1941–February 1942===
Following [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]] and training, ''Monssen'' reported to the [[U.S. Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]] on 27 June 1941 as a unit of Destroyer Division 22 (DesDiv&nbsp;22). For the next five months she operated in the northwestern Atlantic, from the coast of [[New England]] and the [[Maritime Provinces]] to [[Iceland]], on [[neutrality patrol]]. Her escort and patrol duties changed from neutral to belligerent 7 December 1941, continuing until 9 February 1942 when she entered the [[Boston Navy Yard]] for overhaul in preparation for her transfer to the [[U.S. Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]].

===Transfer to the Pacific===
On 31 March ''Monssen'' arrived at [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], joined Task Force 16 (TF&nbsp;16), and departed 2 April. Steaming west, she was in the antisubmarine screen for the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Hornet|CV-8|2}} as the carrier headed for Japan with [[Lieutenant Colonel (United States)|Lt. Col.]] [[Jimmy Doolittle]]'s [[B-25]]s on her flight deck. In the early morning hours of 18 April the force was sighted by the enemy and the air raid was launched to bomb their targets of [[Tokyo]], [[Nagoya]], [[Osaka]], and [[Kobe]].

Following the [[Doolittle Raid]], the force returned to [[Pearl Harbor]], from which it sortied 30 April to aid the carriers{{USS|Yorktown|CV-5|2}} and {{USS|Lexington|CV-2|2}} in the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]]. Reaching the scene after the battle was over, the force returned to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 26 May. Two days later they departed again — this time for [[Midway Atoll|Midway]] to repulse an expected assault on that advanced base. By 2 June, TF&nbsp;16 had rendezvoused with [[Task Force 17]] (TF&nbsp;17) and was in position {{Convert|350|mi|km|abbr=}} northeast of Midway. On 4 June the [[Battle of Midway]] commenced as Japanese aircraft flew against installations on the island. By 7 June, the American forces had won the battle, sinking four Japanese aircraft carriers and one [[cruiser]] at the cost of the destroyer {{USS|Hammann|DD-412|2}} and carrier ''Yorktown''.

===Solomon Islands campaign===
After Midway the force remained at Pearl Harbor for a month before departing again for combat. Steaming via the [[Tonga Islands]], they headed for the Japanese held [[Solomon Islands|Solomons]]. By 7 August they were {{Convert|40|mi|km|abbr=}} from the targets, [[Guadalcanal]] and [[Tulagi]]. On 7–8 August, ''Monssen'' with {{USS|Buchanan|DD-484|2}} stood off [[Gavutu]] and [[Tanambogo]], circling those islands and providing fire support to units of the [[2nd Marine Regiment (United States)|2nd Marine Regiment]] as the U.S. Navy struck with the first of its giant amphibious assaults. She was then assigned to the screening forces guarding the eastern approaches to [[Sealark Channel|Sealark]], [[Lengo Channel|Lengo]], and [[Nggela Channel]]s.

She remained in the immediate area through the [[Battle of the Eastern Solomons]], which prevented Japanese reinforcements from reaching Guadalcanal, and then took up duties patrolling the sea routes to Guadalcanal. At the end of the month the carrier {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|2}} was damaged and ''Monssen'' was one of the ships designated to escort her to the Tonga Islands.

===Sinking at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal===
''Monssen'' returned to Guadalcanal 18 September to insure the integrity of an [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] supply line and to block Japanese efforts at resupply. On 8 November, she departed Nouméa with two cruisers and two other destroyers as Task Group 67.4 (TG&nbsp;67.4), under Rear Admiral [[Daniel J. Callaghan]], as escort for transports carrying reinforcements to the [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] on Guadalcanal. At the same time, another convoy set out from [[Espiritu Santo]], covered by one cruiser and four destroyers under Rear Admiral [[Norman Scott (admiral)|Norman Scott]]. Arriving off [[Lunga Point]] on 12 November, a day after those from Espiritu Santo they commenced unloading. By dusk as reports of Japanese ship movements from [[Chuuk Lagoon|Truk]] increased, 90&nbsp;percent of the transports had been unladen despite afternoon [[torpedo plane]] attacks, one of which had cost ''Monssen'' the use of her fire control radar. The transports were pulled out, escorted through Lengo Channel, and seen safely on their way to Espiritu Santo. Then Admiral Callaghan's force, heavily outnumbered even with the addition of Admiral Scott's ships, reversed course and steamed back to engage the enemy in the initial action of what would later be called the [[Naval Battle of Guadalcanal]].

Shortly, after 01:40, 13 November, they sighted the enemy fleet, under [[Vice Admiral]] [[Hiroaki Abe]], {{Convert|3|mi|km|abbr=}} north of [[Kukum]]. The enemy was headed toward [[Henderson Field (Guadalcanal)|Henderson Field]] — to bombard it and cripple Allied air operations long enough to sneak in 11 of their transports, then en route to relieve their beleaguered comrades fighting on the island.

Battle was given at 01:50.  ''Monssen'' fired five torpedoes at the Japanese battleship ''Hiei'' at 01:56, with two hitting the Japanese battleship on the port side near the boiler rooms between the forward superstructure and mainmast. ''Monssen'' fired a second salvo of five torpedoes at a ship (later identified as the USS Atlanta), but missed with the second salvo of torpedoes.<ref> Lundgren (2023)</ref> At 02:00, ''Monssen'' began firing its guns at Japanese warships. At 02:03, ''Hiei'' opened fire on ''Monssen'' with both main and secondary batteries. ''Monssen'', forced to rely on radio information and optics, was spotlighted, hit by some 39&nbsp;shells, including three of battleship caliber, and reduced to a burning hulk.<ref name = Ballard>{{cite book |author-link=Robert Ballard |author=Ballard, Robert D. |author2=Archbold, Rick |title=The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal -- Exploring the Ghost Fleet of the South Pacific |publisher=Warner-Madison Press |date=1993 |isbn=0-446-51636-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/lostshipsofguada00ball/page/46 46, 127, 139, 142, 143, 144, 150–53, 201] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/lostshipsofguada00ball/page/46 }}</ref> Twenty minutes later, completely immobilized in all departments, the ship was ordered abandoned. After daybreak ''Monssen'' was still afire. C.&nbsp;C. Storey, BM2c, L.&nbsp;F. Sturgeon, GM2c, and J.&nbsp;G. Hughes F1c, climbed back into the inferno and rescued eight men still aboard and alive, five of whom lived after reaching land. The survivors, 40&nbsp;percent of the crew, were picked up at about 08:00 and taken to Guadalcanal. The ship herself continued to blaze until early afternoon, when she sank.

''Monssen'' was awarded four [[battle star]]s for World War II service.

==Wreck discovery==
In 1992, an expedition headed by oceanographer [[Robert Ballard]] found the wreck of ''Monssen'' and other ships sunk during the Solomon Islands battles.  The wreck lies upright on the bottom of the sound, with the gun turrets still trained out to the starboard side as they had been in combat.<ref name = Ballard/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/monssen-i.html}}
* {{citation |last1=Lundgren|first1=Robert|last2=Sposato|first2=Frank|last3=DiGuilian|first3=Tony |url= http://www.navweaps.com/index_lundgren/The_Naval_Battle_for_Henderson_Airfield.pdf |title= The Naval Battle for Henderson Airfield, First Night |date=2023|name-list-style=amp}} The Robert Lundgren Historical Resource, Navweaps.com. Retrieved 24 July 2023.

== External links ==
*[http://destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/ussmonssen/ USS ''Monssen'' website] at [http://destroyerhistory.org/ Destroyer History Foundation]
*[https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/monssen-i.html history.navy.mil: USS ''Monssen'']
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/436.htm    navsource.org: USS ''Monssen'']
*[http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd436txt.htm   hazegray.org: USS ''Monssen'']
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/destroyers/pages/alpha_pages/m/monssen_dd436_roll_of_honor.htm USS Monssen Roll of Honor]

{{Gleaves class destroyer}}
{{November 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Pacific Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monssen (DD-436)}}
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Bremerton, Washington]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in Ironbottom Sound]]
[[Category:1940 ships]]
[[Category:Gleaves-class destroyers of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in November 1942]]
[[Category:1992 archaeological discoveries]]