Last Thursday in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the crew of USS Momsen (DDG 92) helped lay to rest the remains of four retired Sailors.

Onlookers jerked at the piercing sounds of a 21-gun salute cutting through the air of the otherwise solemn and tranquil ritual, while Momsen’s Executive Officer, Lt. Cmdr. William A. Bullard, wore a face of stone as he poured the ashes across the sea and laid four Sailors to their final rest beneath the calm waters of the Puget Sound.

The tradition of a burial at sea dates back long before the Navy to the first seafarers. The custom is intended to be a committal and not take the place of a funeral, said Command Chaplain Lt. Cmdr. John Hakanson.

“Mariners have always done them to say goodbye to their shipmates,” said Hakanson, who came aboard Momsen to lead the ceremony. “But a burial at sea is not a funeral, it’s a committal. That’s important to separate. Committal is the equivalent of a gravesite service. The grave is the sea.”

The Navy’s newest guided missile destroyer USS Momsen paused briefly en route to her new homeport of NAVSTA Everett to perform the ceremony for the Sailors who each served in the Navy for two decades or more. All of the former Sailors were local to the Puget Sound area.

Each of the deceased was given a burial at sea with full military honors for their service to the country. Those honors included a 21-gun salute and the playing of taps at the conclusion of the ceremony. Anyone can be buried at sea, but the privilege of a burial at sea service with honors aboard a Navy ship is reserved for war veterans, 20-year active duty retirees, those who died on active duty and disabled veterans who’ve received an honorable discharge, said Hakanson.

“They merit those honors,” said Hakanson. “It’s a way of sending your shipmate to sea for the final time. You’ll always see the crew formed up to say goodbye to a shipmate who’s served. We give them the highest honor we can.”

The ceremony had on an especially poignant feel for USS Momsen’s Hospitalman Chief(SW/AW) James Hopper who participated in the ceremony to help commit a fellow hospitalman to the sea.

“It was a very solemn and incredible experience,” said Hopper. “I was glad to be apart and do such a wonderful thing for someone’s family.”

The families of the deceased all received a folded American flag, three casings from bullets used during the 21-gun salute, a video of the ceremony and also a chart locating exactly where their family member was scattered, said Hakanson.

“It doesn’t matter how many of these you do,” he said. “They don’t become commonplace, there’s something special about them. I think it’s because we hope someday our service will be honorable enough that other shipmates will do for us the same as we have been able to do for someone else. I hope someone will take as good of care for me as I have done for others.”

As the sun rose over the mountains, it sliced through the early morning fog, casting a brilliant light on the ceremony. A hazy rainbow formed just aft of the ship and seven shipmates were sent to sea for the last time.