BATH

To the Navy officials and congressional delegation who spoke at the christening of the Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) on Saturday at Bath Iron Works, the namesake who threw himself on an insurgent’s grenade to save fellow SEALs in Iraq in 2006 was a hero who inspires us all.

Before smashing a bottle of champagne against the bow of the 610-foot-long ship at the end of the ceremony, Sally Monsoor spoke about her son to the hundreds in the crowd, her voice cracking with emotion.

“Mike … you couldn’t stop him,” she said. “He was always moving, always trying to think of something new to do.”

One Christmas the family had moved into a new house and weren’t sure they were going to get a Christmas tree.

“As soon as Mike heard that, he went to the front yard and cut the middle sapling we had outside his window, stuck it in a bucket, brought it in and put it in the corner and that was our Christmas tree that year.”

She said her son was very loyal, silent, determined, but a character who loved fun and surprising people.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor, a Navy SEAL, was only 25 when he threw himself on top of an insurgent’s grenade in Ar-Ramadi, Iraq on Sept. 29, 2006, during a day-long battle. He was killed as a result of that split second decision, which saved the lives of three fellow SEALs and eight Iraqi Army soldiers. He was awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor for his bravery, presented to his parents by President George W. Bush.

“This story of astonishing valor is heightened by this fact: Of the 12 who were within the grenade’s range, only Navy SEAL Monsoor was in a position to escape the blast,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. “Instead, a man of deep faith who was named for the Archangel Michael, made this ultimate sacrifice on the beast day of the defender of Heaven.”

The symbolic representation of Archangel St. Michael, a winged arm wielding a sword, appears on the ship’s shield.

For nine years, Collins said Monsoor’s SEAL teammates kept his camouflage field cap in a place of honor, and only recently turned the keepsake over to the officers and crew of the ship that will bear their fallen teammate’s name.

“Inside that cap written in Michael’s own hand are these words: ‘You never quit.’ Those simple yet powerful words inspired students at Bath Middle School to create a remarkable documentary film,” Collins said. “They have made ‘You never quit’ the words that will guide them to success in achieving their own goals in life.

Their teacher, Julia Kearns, “said you can hear it in the hallways as they encourage one another to never quit,” Collins added.

Destroyers are only named after distinguished members of the Naval service, said retired Vice Adm. Joseph Maguire, who served 36 years as a Navy SEAL. He now serves as president and CEO of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and was the principal speaker on Saturday.

Maguire said those who knew Monsoor were not surprised by what he did. His father was a Marine and his mother was a social worker.

“I can tell you that nothing in our SEAL training would have led Michael to do what he did,” he said. “His mother and his father were his examples of love, selfless service and sacrifice.

“What Mike did was truly an act of bravery above and beyond the call of duty,” Maguire added. “But it was every bit as much an act of love. Like all who wear the cloth of the nation, Navy men and women answer to a higher moral calling on the path that at times of war, requires us to take and to give life. It’s this dedication to ideals greater than self that gives us strength.”

Undersecretary of the Navy Janine Davidson talked of the strength the Michael Monsoor will provide the Navy.

The christening is a meaningful milestone, she said; it is the day she becomes a ship.

“And not just any ship but a mighty destroyer destined to join her Zumwalt-class sister ship in the most powerful and capable maritime force in the world, in the United States Navy,” Davidson said.

The ship is designed to be less visible to the enemy radar at sea, she said. It will accommodate a range of advanced weapons to be used against air, surface and subsurface and land targets. It brings the latest technology to the fleet “with its innovative, integrated power system, whose four massive gas turbine engines provide all the power the ship needs for propulsion and the advanced systems.”

It has enough power to supply 47 homes, she said, and its advanced capabilities make the Michael Monsoor the right ship for these uncertain times.

During his remarks Saturday, U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, said, “This is a very dangerous world and it’s getting more dangerous by the day. The evils across our globe are increasingly threatening our home and our families, our precious liberties and our American way of life.”

Poliquin drew whistles and applause as he said, “Hope will never and should never be our national security strategy. That’s why America is blessed and grateful to have a son and a hero like Michael Monsoor.”

“That’s why America needs 6,100 of the most skilled builders in the world right here along the banks of the Kennebec River,” he said, to build “this extraordinary machine of peace and security,” as a symbol and tool of American freedom.

• THE NAVY SPENT hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to fulfill its need for speed with a new class of fast and agile warships capable of zipping along at highway speeds. It turns out speed is overrated. See story, page A3.