W-214 USN DESTROYER DD-436 MONSSEN WITH HULL PARTS

USS Monssen (DD-436) was an American WWII destroyer. The keel for this unit was laid in 1939, and the launch took place in May 1940. The total length of the ship at the time of launching was 106.15 meters and a width of 11 meters. The displacement reached approx. 1,650 tons, and the maximum speed reached approx. 37-38 knots. The armament at the time of the launch consisted of: five 127 mm guns, 6 20 mm anti-aircraft guns and 10 533 mm torpedo tubes. USS Monssen (DD-436) was one of over 60 Gleaves-class destroyers. Units of this type were designed in the late 1930s based on the Sims class destroyers. Compared to their predecessors, they had slightly reinforced artillery weapons, but above all, a different structure of the engine room, which was to ensure a better chance of surviving the ship in the event of being hit by a torpedo or an aerial bomb. In general, however, both classes of destroyers (Sims and Gleaves) were similar in many respects. One of the Gleaves-class destroyers was just that USS Monssen, which was built at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington. The unit, almost immediately after entering service in 1941, was sent to the Atlantic Fleet, patrolling the coast of New England, an area off the eastern coast of Canada, up to Iceland. In early 1942, USS Monssen was transferred to the Pacific. In April 1942, the destroyer was one of the shield ships of the USS Hornet during the famous Doolittle Rally. In June of the same year, the destroyer took part in the Battle of Midway. Shortly after, it was directed to the South Pacific - the Solomon Islands archipelago. USS Monssen stayed