USS Monssen, a 2050-ton Fletcher class destroyer built at Staten Island, New York, was commissioned in February 1944. She went to the Pacific in time to take part in the June 1944 assault on Saipan, during which she used her guns to shell Japanese forces ashore. In mid-June she supported Task Force 58 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and in July she assisted with the invasion of Tinian. Monssen next saw action during the September 1944 landings in the Palaus. She covered the Leyte invasion in October 1944 and, during the Battle of Surigao Strait on the night of 24-25 October, took part in torpedo attacks that hit three Japanese destroyers and the battleship Yamashiro.

After convoy escort service and rehersals for more landings, in January 1945 Monssen helped fight Japanese suicide plane attacks during the Lingayen invasion. In February and March she screened the fast carriers as they attacked the Japanese home islands and also participated in the amphibious assault on Iwo Jima. Monssen's duty with the carriers continued through the Okinawa campaign. In addition to plane guard and radar picket missions, on 9 April she teamed with USS Mertz (DD-691) to destroy the Japanese submarine RO-56. During June, July and August 1945 Monssen took part in air and surface raids against targets in Japan. She also participated in initial occupation operations after the enemy gave up the fight in mid-August.

Monssen returned to the U.S. west coast in the fall of 1945 and was decommissioned there in April 1946. Some five years later, as the Korean War and the Cold War generated a demand for a larger fleet, she was pulled out of "mothballs". Recommissioning at the end of October 1951, Monssen reported to the Atlantic Fleet in March 1952. She deployed overseas twice, operating in the Far East during June-October 1954 and in the Mediterranean Sea in 1956. Decommissioned again in September 1957, Monssen was laid up as part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. On 6 March 1962, while being towed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she went ashore in heavy weather on the New Jersey coast. Though eventually pulled off the beach, USS Monssen was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in February 1963 and sold for scrapping in October of that year.

USS Monssen was named in honor of Lieutenant Mons Monssen (1867-1930), who received the Medal of Honor in recognition of his heroism during the 13 April 1904 turret explosion and fire on board USS Missouri (Battleship # 11) .