USS Momsen (DDG-92) - Ship History

Ship History

On 6 April 2006, Momsen departed Naval Station Everett for her maiden deployment. During the six-month cruise, the ship conducted training and operations throughout Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility. Momsen returned home from its highly successful maiden deployment on 22 September 2006.

Momsen departed for her second deployment on 14 March 2008 with Carrier Strike Group Nine. During her deployment, Momsen provided critical humanitarian assistance for two foreign vessels, a stranded cargo vessel with engine problems and a former hijacked merchant vessel requiring food, water and medical attention. She returned home on 13 October 2008 after a seven month underway period.

In September 2009 Momsen was rumored to have run aground in Canadian Waters. However, no damage to the vessel was sustained and these rumors are unfounded.

Momsen departed for her third deployment September 2010 with Carrier Strike Group Nine. On 2 February 2011, the destroyer Momsen, with the guided-missile cruiser Bunker Hill, responded to a distress call from the Panamanian-flag merchant vessel Duqm in the Gulf of Oman. Both ships disrupted a pirate attack on the Duqm, tracked the two pirate skiffs back to their mothership, and destroyed the two skiffs to prevent their use in future pirate attacks (pictured).

The ship's skipper, Commander Jay Wylie, was relieved of command on 27 April 2011 for "loss of confidence in his ability to command."

On 28 October 2011, the former commander of Momsen, Jay Wylie, pleaded guilty to one count of rape, three counts of aggravated sexual assault and contact, and three counts of conduct unbecoming an officer, and was sentenced by court martial to 42 months imprisonment and loss of all navy benefits.