USS Monssen ( DD - 798 ) USS " Monssen " ( DD - 798 ) was a " Fletcher " - class destroyer of the United States Navy , the second Navy ship named for Lieutenant Mons Monssen ( 1867 – 1930 ) , who was awarded the Medal of Honor for putting out a fire in a magazine on " Missouri " ( BB - 11 ) . " Monssen " was laid down 1 June 1943 by the Bethlehem Steel Co . , Shipbuilding Division , Staten Island , New York , N . Y . ; launched 30 October 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Mons Monssen ; and commissioned 14 February 1944 , Commander Bernhart A . Feutsch in command . World War II . Central Pacific campaigns . Following shakedown off Bermuda , " Monssen " steamed north to Boston , Mass . to join the new cruiser s " Vincennes " ( CL - 64 ) , " Houston " ( CL - 81 ) , and " Miami " ( CL - 89 ) and escort them to San Diego . From San Diego , she screened Carrier Division 26 ( CarDiv 26 ) to Pearl Harbor , arriving 8 May for rehearsals for the Marianas campaign . On 30 May , the destroyer sailed with Task Group 52 . 16 ( TG 52 . 16 ) for Eniwetok , whence she continued on to Saipan , arriving on 15 June . By dawn , she had commenced preparatory firing against Japanese positions on Green Beach 1 . Close fire support was started with the initial landings on Saipan and kept up , almost continuously , until noon , 17 June . Included in her accomplishments during that period was her assistance in the breaking up of a large - scale enemy tank and troop counterattack , south of Garapan , at dawn on the 16th . Late on the 17th , " Monssen " departed Saipan and rendezvoused with the Fast Carrier Task Force ( then 5th Fleet ' s TF 58 , later 3rd Fleet ' s TF 38 ) west of Guam as reinforcements for the approaching engagement with the Imperial Japanese Navy which would later be known as the Battle of the Philippine Sea . Assigned to TG 58 . 7 ( fast battleship s ) , " Monssen " took up station on the radar picket line and waited . Action began on the 19th when the group came under continuous attack from enemy carrier aircraft . During the day , the destroyer splashed two Yokosuka D4Y " Judy " s and damaged a third . On the 20th , American aircraft staged a long range attack on the Japanese fleet and that night " Monssen " ’ s searchlights were turned on to aid the planes back to their ships and locate and rescue downed crews . The Force then pursued the retiring enemy until turning back toward Saipan at dusk on the 21st . " Monssen " resumed her duties of transport screen , radar picket , and fire support ship . On 2 July , she steamed to Eniwetok for a brief repair and replenishment period . Returning to Saipan , 12 July , she was employed in screening duties until the 23d , when she joined other assigned vessels in the bombardment of Tinian . On the 24th , she screened transports as they conducted demonstration landings off Tinian Town and then provided fire support for the troops on the beachhead , continuing such support through the 31st . She remained in the Tinian area until 6 August , and then conducted antisubmarine patrols to the north of Saipan before turning back once again to Eniwetok . From Eniwetok , " Monssen " steamed , with TG 32 . 41 to Guadalcanal , where the Palau offensive was rehearsed . On 8 September , assigned to screen and provide fire support for TG 32 . 4 , she headed west . On the 15th and 16th , she stood off Peleliu , shifting to Angaur on the 17th and remaining in the screen of that transport area until the 23d . On the 24th , she got underway for Manus Island , whence she departed 11 October for Leyte Gulf and her fifth amphibious landing . Philippines campaign . In the screen of TG 79 . 11 ( landing craft ) , " Monssen " arrived in Leyte Gulf and delivered her charges to the Dulag beaches on the 20th and then proceeded to take up her screening station , with Destroyer Squadron 54 ( DesRon 54 ) , across Surigao Strait . Through the 24th , the squadron encountered only sporadic air attacks . In the early morning of the 25th , however , an enemy surface force attempted to force into the Leyte Gulf transportation area through Surigao Strait . The 7th Fleet was waiting . The night before , Rear Admiral Jesse B . Oldendorf had deployed his forces for what was to be the last engagement of a battleline . ComDesRon 54 , Capt . Jesse B . Coward , divided his ships into eastern and western attack groups to launch offensive torpedo attacks as the Japanese steamed up the strait . " Monssen " was assigned to the western group with " McDermut " ( DD - 677 ) and positioned close to the Leyte shore . Soon after midnight the Japanese Southern Force was reported entering the strait . Between 03 : 00 and 03 : 01 , the eastern group commenced launching torpedoes , firing 27 in less than 2 minutes . At 03 : 10 , " McDermut " and " Monssen " under the Command of Cdr . Charles Kniese Bergin , USN launched their attack . At 03 : 20 , explosions flashed , with one of " Monssen " ’ s “ fish ” scoring on the battleship " Yamashiro " , but not stopping her . After firing their torpedoes , " Monssen " and " McDermut " retired north , hugging the coastline of Leyte to avoid fire from the ships of DesRon 24 and DesRon 56 and those of the battleline . At dawn , " Monssen " resumed her patrol station and the next day departed for Hollandia , whence she screened reinforcement convoys to Leyte during November . On 9 December , she headed for Bougainville , arriving on the 12th to escort TG 79 . 1 ( transports ) to New Guinea for rehearsals of the Luzon invasion . By 21 December , she was at Manus , whence she departed on the 30th to rendezvous with Task Unit 77 . 9 . 12 ( TU 77 . 9 . 12 ) ( landing craft of the reinforcement echelon ) and proceeded to the northern Philippines . She arrived in Lingayen Gulf , 11 January 1945 , 2 days after the initial assault . On the 12th , she received her first taste of Japanese suicide tactics when three kamikaze s closed on her transport area . The destroyer took two under fire and assisted in exploding one 100 feet short of a merchant ship . The second crashed into " Belknap " ( APD - 34 ) . Japan campaigns . On 13 January , " Monssen " departed Luzon , escorted empty transports to Leyte , and then proceeded on to Ulithi , where she joined TG 58 . 5 , the fast carrier night group . The force sortied 10 February and set a course for the Japanese homeland . On the 16th and 17th , strikes were conducted on the Tokyo area to prevent reinforcements from being sent to aid the Imperial forces in the Bonin and Volcano Islands . By the 19th , they were off Iwo Jima , providing support for the American troops embattled there . " Monssen " remained in the Volcanos , screening the carriers and providing gunfire support for the land forces , until 9 March , when she returned to Ulithi . On 14 March , she again sortied with TF 58 for strikes on the enemy ’ s home islands . On the 18th , the carriers sent their planes against Kyūshū and , on the 19th , against the Kure Naval Base , after which " Monssen " retired with the damaged " Franklin " ( CV - 13 ) . " Monssen " resumed her position in the fast carrier force for further strikes on Japan on the 23d , followed by sweeps of the Ryūkyūs . For the next 7 weeks she served on radar picket stations and as plane guard as air operations were conducted in support of the Okinawa campaign . A week after the initial assault , she proceeded north to intercept a Japanese surface force headed south . During this engagement , carrier planes sank the super - battleship " Yamato " . On 11 May , " Monssen " retired to Ulithi for replenishment , returning to Okinawa on the 28th . After a week on picket station , she steamed north for fighter sweeps over Kyūshū , 2 – 3 June , then returned to Okinawa , whence she departed for further raids on Kyūshū , 8 June , and the bombardment of various northern Ryūkyū points . From 13 – 30 June , " Monssen " enjoyed upkeep and replenishment at Leyte , departing 1 July for her final missions with TF 38 . On the 10th , the force ’ s planes flew against Tokyo ; on the 13th , 14th , and 15th , against Hokkaidō and northern Honshū as battleships of the force bombarded Muroran , a steel center on Hokkaidō . On the 17th , 18th , and 19th , Tokyo was again the target of the planes , while the surface ships , including " Monssen " , shelled the Hitachi Armament Works , 70 miles to the north . On the 25th and 28th , the Inland Sea area was the recipient of America ’ s wartime industrial produce . Rearmed at sea , the force returned to Tokyo on 9 August and on the 10th , " Monssen " and the other ships of DesRon 54 , were detached with orders to proceed to the west coast for overhaul . Heading north , the squadron joined TF 92 for an antishipping sweep of the northern Kuriles and the bombardment of Paramushiro , 11th , and then continued on to Adak , Alaska . At Adak , on the 14th , " Monssen " received word of the Japanese surrender , and new orders to return to Japan with TF 92 for occupation duty in the Ominato Naval Base area . A month later she sailed for Pearl Harbor , arriving on the 24th and continuing on the next day to San Francisco . There she received orders to continue to San Diego where she joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet , decommissioning 30 April 1946 . 1951 – 1963 . " Monssen " recommissioned 31 October 1951 and reported , in March 1952 , for duty with the Atlantic Fleet . Homeported at Newport , R . I . , as a unit of DesRon 34 , she added strength to the 2d Fleet as that fleet sent destroyers to the Far East to support United Nations forces in Korea . On 3 May 1954 , she herself departed for deployment with the 7th Fleet . Transiting the Panama Canal , she arrived in the western Pacific 7 June and for the next 4 months patrolled off Korea and in the Taiwan Straits and conducted exercises in Japanese and Okinawan waters . On 5 October she departed Japan and continued her cruise , returning to Newport , via the Suez Canal , in time for Christmas . For the next 3 years , " Monssen " cruised off the east coast and in the Caribbean , deploying early in 1956 for operations with the 6th Fleet . According to the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships , in September 1957 , she again decommissioned ; this time berthing at Boston as a unit of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . However , the Naval Vessel Register lists the decommissioning date as 3 December 1957 . Transferred to the Philadelphia Reserve Group in 1962 , " Monssen " was being towed down the coast when the towline parted in heavy seas due to the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 . With seas running 10 to 15 feet and wind gusting to 50 knots , she went aground on 6 March at Beach Haven Inlet , New Jersey , remaining there for 6 weeks before being pulled off and completing her journey . Declared unnecessary to the defense of the United States , " Monssen " was sold , 21 October 1963 , to the Union Minerals & Alloys Corp . , New York , N . Y . for scrapping . " Monssen " received eight battle star s for World War II service .