Photographic History of the United States Navy
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NavSource Naval History Photographic History of the United States Navy |
DESTROYER ARCHIVE |
130 of her crew were lost with the ship and remain on duty.
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Size | Image Description | Contributed By |
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| 111k | Mons Monssen was born at Bergen, Norway, on 20 January 1867. He enlisted in the United States Navy in about 1890 and by 1904 had risen in rank to Chief Gunner's Mate. On 13 April 1904, while he was serving in the battleship Missouri, the ship suffered a tragic fire in her after twelve-inch gun turret that killed 36 of her crew. Chief Monssen entered the burning powder magazine below the turret and fought the blaze by throwing water on it until a hose was passed to him. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for this act of heroism and a month later was appointed to the rank of Warrant Officer. Gunner Monssen served in USS Yankee and USS Iowa during the next three years. He was then stationed ashore in the New York area before returning to sea between 1909 and 1912 in the battleship Connecticut. Promoted to Chief Gunner in 1910 and commissioned in the rank of Lieutenant in 1918, his subsequent assignments were all in shore stations, including the New York Navy Yard during 1910-1914 and 1918-1924; the Naval Stations at Cavite and Olongapo, Philippine Islands, in 1914-1917; and the Naval Mine depot at New London, Connecticut, in 1924-1925. He retired from active duty in December 1925 and made his home in Brooklyn, New York. Lieutenant Mons Monssen died at the Brooklyn Naval Hospital on 10 February 1930. Photo #: NH 97949. Gunner Mons Monssen, USN (seated, # 22) on board USS Iowa (Battleship # 4), 1906. Cropped from Photo # NH 97948. Others present include (as numbered and identified on the original print): 13. Surgeon Moulton K. Johnson; 14. Lieutenant Duncan M. Wood; 15. Lieutenant George K. Pettengill; 16. Ensign David A. Weaver; 21. unidentified Warrant Officer; 23. Boatswain John P. Judge. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. | Bill Gonyo | |
| 82k | Artist's conception of the Monssen as she appeared in World War II by the renowned graphic illustrator John Barrett with the text written by naval author and historian Robert F. Sumrall. Their company Navy Yard Associates offers prints of most destroyers, destroyer escorts, submarines and aircraft carriers in various configurations during the ship's lifetime. The prints can be customized with ship's patches, your photograph, your bio, etc. If you decide to purchase artwork from them please indicate that you heard about their work from NavSource. | Navy Yard Associates | |
| 49k | Undated, location unknown. | - | |
| 104k | Off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 7 May 1941. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. | Fred Weiss | |
| 87k | USS Monssen (DD-436), Off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 7 May 1941. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Photo #: NH 97811 | Robert Hurst | |
| 72k | View of the ship's forward superstructure, with # 2 5"/38 gun mount, the pilothouse and Mark 37 gun director. Taken at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 16 May 1941. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. | Fred Weiss | |
| 167k | View of the midships superstructure, port side, showing torpedo tubes, torpedo crane, fire hoses and other fittings. Taken at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 16 May 1941. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. | Fred Weiss | |
| 116k | View looking aft along the port side amidships, showing the after torpedo tubes, both torpedo cranes, midships .50 caliber machine gun mounts and ready service ammunition boxes, fire hoses, cable reel, and other fittings. Taken at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 16 May 1941. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. | Fred Weiss | |
| 156k | View looking forward from alongside the port quarter, showing the after 5"/38 gun mounts, the after deckhouse, lifelines and other fittings. Taken at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 16 May 1941. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. | Fred Weiss | |
| 101k | USS Kearny (DD-432) in port at Reykjavik, Iceland, on 19 October 1941, two days after she had been torpedoed by the German submarine U-568. USS Monssen (DD-436) is alongside. Note the torpedo hole in Kearny's midships starboard side. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. | Fred Weiss | |
| 83k | As above. | Robert Hurst | |
| 121k | Passing guard mail to USS Enterprise (CV-6), during operations in the south Pacific, 19 May 1942. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. | Fred Weiss | |
| 58k | USS Monssen operating with USS Northampton between 28 May and 13 June 1942. Photo from the Life Magazine collection, photographer Ralph Morse. For educational non-commercial use. | John Chiquoine | |
| 32k | USS Monssen underway in the SW Pacific as seen from an RAN vessel, between August and November 1942. Australian War Memoral 302676. | John Chiquoine | |
| 147k | Map of Iron Bottom Sound indicating where ships were sunk during the Battle of Guadacanal. | Ron Reeves | |
| 185k | SecNav Certificate of Recognition for the Doolittle Task Force Tokyo raid, May 15 1995. | James D. Johnson, USS Gwin (DD433) | |
CDR Roland Nesbit Smoot Mar 14 1941 - Oct 28 1942 (Later VADM) LCDR Charles Edward McCombs Oct 28 1942 - Nov 13 1942 (Later RADM)
The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.
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