America's North Shore Journal

Crew members from guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen provided engineering and mechanical assistance to a vessel in distress in the Indian Ocean, June 15. Momsen received a mayday distress call over the marine band radio and responded. “It’s every mariner’s responsibility to render assistance to vessels in distress,” said Momsen Commanding Officer Cmdr. Michael Sparks. “Although the initial details of the distress call were unclear, it was obvious the vessel was having problems.” Rapid response was necessary to locate the dhow and determine if a life-threatening situation existed, said Momsen’s Executive Officer Lt. Cmdr. Scott Carpenter. “We employed our SH-60B helicopter to conduct a nighttime search to identify the location of the dhow and determine the cause of the emergency,” Carpenter said. An SH-60B assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light located the vessel approximately 60 miles … Read entire article »