The giant ship has been named after a SEAL 2nd class officer who died in 2006 after giving he covered a grenade with his own body, to save two fellow SEAL officers.   The mother of the fallen officer attended the ceremony to Christianize the ship.

Petty Officer 2nd Class, Michael Monsoor was a Navy Seal officer born and raised in California. In 2006 he was awarded the Medal of Honor, after dying to protect fellow officers in Iraq.

Monsoor was 25 years old when he died, and now the U.S Navy has named the 610-foot and 15,000-ton giant ship after the deceased officer.  The destroyer was built by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works for the United States.

As seen above, mothers of fallen SEAL officers gather around the new 2nd class Zumwalt destroyer. Image Credit: WCSH6
As seen above, mothers of fallen SEAL officers gather around the new 2nd class Zumwalt destroyer. Image Credit: WCSH6

Honoring a fallen officer

On Saturday, a ceremony was held to honor the fallen officer and to launch the newly acquired ship. Sally Monsoor, the mother of Michael Monsoor, christened the ship and offered a speech.

“May God bless this ship, and all who sail in her,”said the mother while smashing a champagne bottle on the ship’s bow.

The mother also described her son to the 2,000-people public as she talked about his loyalty to the U.S Navy and his quiet personality.

Susan Collins, a republican senator from Maine spoke at the honor ceremony. Assuring the advance technology the ship had and how it was an honor to be Christianized and named after Monsoor.

The senator assured the legacy of the fallen officer would live in the ship’s missions and it’s job to defend the country.

A retired Vice Admiral, Joseph Maguire, also spoke at the ceremony and thanked the Monsoor family for the fallen officer strength and courage, assuring the nation owed an unrepayable debt

The ship was acquired by the U.S Navy last month and is the first stealth destroyer owned by the force. It is described as the most technological and sophisticated class of a destroyer ship, another destroyer is on the way to the force.

The Zumwalt-class destroyer has an advanced system, that allows 50 times more protection, when it comes to detecting ships in radars, compared to different ships around the same size.

Thanks to the automation inside the ship, a smaller crew is required and it has an advance pinpoint gun system. Peace activists have rejected the ship assuring is a gigantic use for public and national money.

The acquisition of the Monsoon along with three other ships cost the nation around $9 billion and negotiations on another ship are being made.

The ‘Monsoor’ will move into the Kennebec River to be ballasted on Monday.

Source: Navy Times