Medal of Honor Michael Monsoor PO2 USN- now USS Michael Monsoor

"Michael Monsoor made the ultimate sacrifice, and he did it for love. But he was not a hero. He is a hero. Because the inspiration he provided to all of us -- the guidance he provided to us -- as to how we should live our lives is still alive. And it's going to live as long as this ship sails the seas of the world," Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said during his remarks.

Navy SEAL Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor

"May God bless this ship, and all who sail within her," said Sally Monsoor, Michael's mother, before smashing a bottle against the ship as some 2,000 people looked on. Monsoor described her son as a quiet, loyal person and recalled how he once made a Christmas tree out of a sapling in their family's yard.

Sally Monsoor, mother of Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor, speaks during the christening ceremony for the Zumwalt Class Destroyer Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001), June 18, 2016 at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. 

(Photo: Joel Page/Portland Press Herald via AP)

(CNN) Standing before a crowd of nearly 2,000 in Bath, Maine, Sally Monsoor, the mother of fallen Navy SEAL Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor, honored her son Saturday by christening the ship that will bear his name.

The 610-foot, 15,000-ton USS Michael Monsoor is the U.S. Navy's second Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer, named in tribute of Monsoor, who was killed in 2006 during the Battle for Ramadi when he leaped on a grenade to protect his comrades.

President George W. Bush posthumously awarded Petty Officer Monsoor the Medal of Honor in 2008, making him the first SEAL to receive the award for actions in Iraq.

The christening served as another tribute to Monsoor, whose "legacy will live on as this great ship conducts its mission in defense of our nation," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who spoke during the ceremony.

"Michael Monsoor made the ultimate sacrifice, and he did it for love. But he was not a hero. He is a hero. Because the inspiration he provided to all of us -- the guidance he provided to us -- as to how we should live our lives is still alive. And it's going to live as long as this ship sails the seas of the world," Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said during his remarks.

Construction on the Monsoor began in 2010. 

The USS Monsoor is the U.S.'s largest and most technologically sophisticated destroyer, touting stealth capabilities and two advanced gun systems that fire "long-range, land-attack projectiles that reach up to 63 nautical miles," according to the Navy.

This "is an extremely capable and versatile ship with an incredible namesake," Janine Davidson, undersecretary of the Navy, said in a news release.

"I have every confidence that the ship and crew will both live up to and honor Petty Officer Monsoor's legacy as the ship's motto implies -- You Never Quit," she said.

Senator Collins called the ship "the most advanced naval destroyer the world has ever seen."

On September 29, 2006, Monsoor was part of a major clearing and isolating operation to root out enemy fighters holding parts of Ramadi, the Sunni insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad.

Monsoor was in a sniper position on a rooftop along with two other SEALs when a grenade flew into his location from out of nowhere. It bounced off his chest and landed in an area where it probably would have killed or seriously wounded all three of them.

Petty Officer Monsoor was in a position to escape before the explosion but instead leaped on the grenade to save his fellow SEALs.

During the 2008 Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House, Bush quoted one of the SEALS saved by Monsoor as saying, "Mikey looked death in the face that day and said, 'You cannot take my brothers. I will go in their stead.'"

The Navy took ownership of the first Zumwalt-class destroyer last month, and the third, the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson, is under construction in Maine.

The cost of the three ships is expected to total about $22.5 billion.
The high price tag per ship stems from the fact that the Navy will now only build three of the Zumwalt class, down from 32 originally envisioned. That means the Pentagon can't spread research and development costs out over a large fleet.

The Navy is now focusing on an updated version of the current -- and more conventional -- Arleigh Burke class destroyers.

God bless the USS Michael Monsoor.

USS Zumwalt - enters into a new American Navy

Today December 12, 2015 the Midshipmen at Annapolis deeated the Cadets at West Point at the annual Army-Navy game held in Philadephpia, PA, the score was Army 17, Navy 21 and it was a very good game. This is the 14th time Navy has defeated Army in the annual classic.  Yet, this week was also a time of extraordinary change for the US Navy.  In fact, a new Navy emerged from Bath Iron Works with the launching of the USS Zumwalt.

USS Zumwalt passes Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth Maine a "war and peace" image.

A New Navy emerged from Bath Iron Works in Bath Maine with the launching of the USS Zumwalt. It's a state of the art "battleship".  Yet, to call the Zumwalt a "battleship" is like calling a jet airplane a "barnstormer".  In fact, the Zumwalt is a slick and clandistine defense weapon. Now that it's launched, the Zumwalt has complely antiquated the entire US Navy fleet of "tin cans" and all future ships of this class will become even more svelt, efficient and expensive.

The Portland Press Herald reports:

Navy destroyer USS Zumwalt christened at Bath Iron Works

The 610-foot-long warship has advanced technology and a stealthy design to reduce its visibility on enemy radar.

BATH — A crowd of thousands gathered at Bath Iron Works to watch the christening of the USS Zumwalt, the largest and most technologically advanced destroyer in Navy history.

Relatives of the ship’s namesake, Adm. Elmo R. “Bud” Zumwalt Jr., former chief of naval operations, as well as top Navy brass and Maine elected leaders celebrated the near-completion of a $3.3 billion ship that is the first of a new class of high-tech destroyers.

Every aspect of the Zumwalt’s exterior was designed to make the ship harder to detect on radar despite its size. Antennas, radar dishes and communications equipment are either hidden or enclosed in a 900-ton “superstructure” that sits atop the ship like a massive gray fortress.

The Zumwalt’s hull is designed to slice through waves with less wake, and Navy officials say the ship will have a fraction of the radar profile of the smaller Arleigh Burke-class DDG 51 destroyers also built at BIW.

Yet, how much defense can one state of the art "battleship" provide?  This is an certainly an expensive experiment!  

But, the Zumwalt is already proudly showing off by doing public relations, even rescuing a Maine fisherman in distress:

The U.S. Navy's brand new $4.3 billion stealth destroyer, the Zumwalt, came to the rescue of a fisherman suffering chest pains early Saturday off the coast of Maine.

It was only Monday that the Zumwalt, the largest destroyer ever built for the Navy, headed out to sea for the first time.

Coast Guard officials reported receiving a distress call at about 3 a.m., saying the 46-year-old captain of the fishing boat Danny Boy was suffering chest pains about 40 miles southeast of Portland.

The Zumwalt was conducting sea trials in the area and responded to the scene, the Portland Press Herald reported.

A Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter had responded from Air Station Cape Cod but the crew determined a hoist of the stricken fisherman would be too dangerous due to the configuration of the fishing boat's deck.

Officials said a crew and small boat from the Zumwalt transferred the man to the destroyer's deck. The helicopter crew then hoisted the patient and transported him to shore, where he was taken to Maine Medical Center for care.

USS Zumwalt in Portland Harbor, Maine involved in fisherman rescue.

"Our main concern with this type of medical emergency is to recover the patient safely and transport them to a higher level care as quickly as possible,” said Lt. David Bourbeau, public affairs officer at Sector Northern New England. “Fortunately, the Zumwalt was operating in the area and was able to provide valuable assistance.”

Two days ago the Press Herald reported that the Zumwalt caught Maine’s largest city by surprise when it emerged from the fog just off Cape Elizabeth and slipped unannounced into Portland Harbor.

Regardless of the USS Zumwalt's expensive price, or whether or not it will be as effective as predicted, the fact is, the US Navy is forever changed as a result of its launching.

It's not our grandfather's, or even John Paul Jones' Navy, anymore.