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15 November 2010
The USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, will be commissioned
Nov. 20 in Wilmington, NC, becoming first U.S. Navy ship to be named in honor
of an African-American commissioned Naval officer.
Vice Admiral Samuel Lee Gravely Jr. Gravely was the first African-American to
serve aboard a fighting ship as an officer, the first to command a U.S. Navy
ship, the first to serve as a fleet commander and the first to become an admiral.
Gravely was born in Richmond, VA, on June 4, 1922. He enlisted in the Naval
Reserves in1942 and was recalled to active duty in 1949. He served his initial
assignment in the Washington, DC area, recruiting African Americans into the
Navy.
He went on to a have a successful career that lasted 38 years. His personal
motto was: “Education, motivation and perseverance are a formula for success.”
Gravely’s widow, Alma Bernice Clark Gravely, is the sponsor of the ship, the
PCU Gravely.
“He had to go through a lot,” she said. “I think inside of him, he would be
beaming, and he would feel so honored and so humble. But on the outside, I think
he’d be saying: ‘You mean you’re going to name a ship after me?’”
Gravely died in 2004.
The PCU Gravely is more than 509 feet in length with a beam of 66 feet. It draws
31 feet of water and has a top speed of more than 30 knots. After joining the
fleet with the name USS Gravely, it will have a complement of 380 enlisted men
and officers.
The ship will be capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface
battles. It contains offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime
military needs well into the 21st century.
For more information on the USS Gravely, visit www.friendsofussgravely.org
