Last Updated on September 23, 2023 by Christopher G Mendla

The USS Monssen was being towed while the March 1962 Nor’easter ravaged Long Beach Island. She broke loose from her tow and ended up hard aground in Holgate.

This photo was shot by my father, Phil Mendla. He chartered a small plane to overfly the island after the March 1962 Storm. The island had suffered severe damage and homeowners could not get back onto the island. The only way to verify if  his property and that of other relatives still existed was by flying over. He also took  aerial photos of the aftermath of the March 1962 Nor’easter in North Beach Haven.

The project to refloat the Monssen required a massive six week effort.

Transferred to the Philadelphia Reserve Group in 1962, Monssen was being towed down the coast when the towline parted in heavy seas due to the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962. With seas running 10 to 15 feet and wind gusting to 50 knots, she went aground on 6 March at Beach Haven Inlet, New Jersey, remaining there for 6 weeks before being pulled off and completing her journey. Declared unnecessary to the defense of the United States, Monssen was sold, 21 October 1963, to the Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., New York, New York, for scrapping.^{[1] .. wikipedia}