PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) – The Navy’s newest destroyer, named for the late Vice Adm. Charles “Swede” Momsen, was commissioned Saturday with an inaugural crew that includes the submarine and diving pioneer’s great-great grandson.

Gov. Jeb Bush, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., were on hand as crew members in white dress uniforms boarded the USS Momsen for the first time as an official Navy vessel.

Besides the usual complement of guns, torpedoes and missiles, the Momsen is the first warship equipped with a remote mine-hunting system.

It was developed at the Panama City Naval Support Activity across St. Andrew Bay from this Florida Panhandle city’s port, where the ceremony was held.

The base’s Naval Diving and Salvage Center also is dedicated to Momsen, who led the daring rescue of 33 men trapped aboard the sunken submarine USS Squalus 65 years ago.

“With strong ties to the work and legacy of Admiral Momsen, Panama City is an ideal choice for the location of today’s commissioning ceremony,” Bush said.

Lt. Antonio Martinez, of Lake Stevens, Wash., a weapons officer, was among the first 15 crew members assigned to the ship during construction at Maine’s Bath Iron Works. The ship was christened last August at BIW.

“It feels great, having seen the ship come from the dry dock basically, not even with a coat of gray paint,” he said after the ceremony.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Hailey enlisted three years ago after learning a ship was going to be named for his great-great grandfather, a New York City native who died at 70 in St. Petersburg in 1967.

The Navy offered Hailey no promises, but he was assigned to the crew in October 2002 while the ship was under construction. After more testing, the ship is due in its home port in Everett, Wash., in October.

Hailey, 30, of Germantown, Tenn., is called “Baby Swede.” His great-great-grandfather, although of Danish descent, was dubbed the “Lucky Swede” at the U.S. Naval Academy because of his card-playing skill. Hailey never met Momsen but grew up hearing tales of his exploits.

“He was not the type who would give up,” Hailey told The News Herald of Panama City in a pre-commissioning interview. “He would not let go of something. He would keep trying and trying.”

With little support from Navy brass, Momsen developed the “Momsen Lung,” a breathing device that enabled sailors to escape from sunken submarines. He personally tested the device from a sub in 100 feet of water off Key West.

Momsen also developed a diving bell used in 1939 to rescue the Squalus survivors after the sub accidentally sank off Portsmouth, N.H.

He led the Navy’s experimental dive unit, which has since moved from Washington, D.C., to Panama City, and he tested mixtures of helium and oxygen to help divers go deeper, a technique still used.

During World War II he tested defective torpedoes, once diving into the water to retrieve one of the duds, orchestrated the Navy’s first “wolfpack” sub attack that sank five Japanese ships and commanded the battleship USS South Dakota.

Aboard the USS Momsen, Hailey is a weapons system computer technician. Given his family ties, he was assigned to gather photos that hang aboard the ship to commemorate Momsen and brief new crew members.

Hailey said he admires Momsen and follows some of his tenets but doesn’t see himself as a spitting image.

“Sometimes people say, Would Charles Momsen do that?’ ” Hailey said. “Well, I’m not him. I have to find a balance between being his (great-great) grandson and being myself.”