EVERETT – Edward Kenyon, commander of the 509-foot state-of-the-art USS Momsen destroyer, was a little choked up.
In the middle of his farewell speech Friday, he had to pause.
“This crew, my crew, has been the best people I ever met,” he said. “I wish you Godspeed.”
Kenyon looked out over the Navy personnel standing in formation on the ship’s deck and the small group of friends and family who had come to see the destroyer’s change of command.
Kenyon thanked his shipmates and family for their support during his 21/2 years commanding the destroyer.
It was a “very emotional moment,” he said later.
It also was his last as a Navy man in his 20-year career.
Kenyon read his orders from higher-ups asking him to hand over the ship to Cmdr. Patrick Kelly.
“I’m ready to be relieved,” he said.
Kelly stepped up to the podium and read his orders to take command. The two men saluted each other.
With that, the Everett-based ship got its second commander.
Kelly, a New Jersey native who moved to the area three weeks ago with his wife and daughter, will take over the destroyer for the next two years.
He said he feels welcomed in Everett, calling the city “very much a Navy community.”
The ship, commissioned in August 2004, has a submarine rescue chamber and advanced weaponry. Its high-tech systems are key for its role as a sub hunter. It has a crew of about 300.
When the Momsen is deployed in the spring, Kelly will be at the helm. His task is to transform it from a fledgling vessel into a warship.
“We’ve been given the tools necessary to fight; now we need to make sure we can use those tools,” he said.
Kelly, who has spent the last few years as an air defense and surface warfare instructor for seven carrier and expeditionary strike groups involved in the Iraq war, said this is the pinnacle of his career.
But that doesn’t mean he won’t be spending time getting to know his new crew. With day after day being around the same people at sea, “we’ll get to know each other quickly,” he said.
After saluting Kenyon, the new commander made it clear he was honored to sail with the Everett crew.
“Short of my wedding and the birth of my daughter, this represents the most exciting part of my life,” he told the crowd.
Reporter Chris Collins: 425-339-3436 or ccollins@heraldnet.com.
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