EVERETT — The guided missile destroyer USS Momsen is leaving Naval Station Everett on Friday for deployment to the western Pacific Ocean.
The Momsen, captained by Cmdr. Javier Gonzalez, is scheduled to join the destroyers USS Spruance and USS Decatur, and the “Devil Fish” and “Warbirds” Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron, all of which are based in San Diego.
The ships will deploy as Pacific Surface Action Group, operating under the U.S. Third Fleet, to conduct maritime and theater security operations.
The group will also support the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative, a U.S. Department of Defense program which supports Coast Guard maritime law enforcement efforts in Oceania region.
The Momsen, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, has a crew complement of a little more than 300 sailors and officers. It and the USS Shoup are the only warships currently based at Naval Station Everett.
The Shoup may also take part in naval exercises this summer, such as the large multinational exercise called RimPac that takes place off Hawaii in even-numbered years.
“That sucks up most of the ships that aren’t deployed,” said Capt. Mark Lakamp, the commanding officer of Naval Station Everett.
The Navy announced last year that three more destroyers would be transferred to Everett starting mid-2016, and in February announced a fourth destroyer, the USS Ralph Johnson, would be joining them later.
The first of the three destroyers, the USS Gridley, is expected to arrive this summer, although the Navy has not announced a firm schedule. The USS Sampson will arrive in the fall, and the USS Kidd in late fall or winter, Lakamp said.
The Ralph Johnson is still under construction at Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and might arrive in mid-2017, Lakamp said.
The addition of four new destroyers would add approximately 1,240 personnel to the base in Everett.
The USS Nimitz, the aircraft carrier once assigned to Everett, is almost completed with a 16-month comprehensive overhaul and modernization at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
The Nimitz is then scheduled for a long-term deployment overseas, after which it will be time for its regular maintenance cycle at Bremerton. The carrier would not return to Everett before 2019.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
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