The USS Gravely (DDG 107), an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, entered service with the United States Navy in November 2010. The vessel is equipped with the multi-functional Aegis Combat System, allowing it to track and neutralize ballistic missile threats.
Naming
The destroyer is named in honor of Vice Admiral Samuel Gravely, who lived from 1922 to 2004 and was the first African American in the U.S. Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps.
Gravely was the first African American to command a U.S. Navy warship, the USS Theodore E. Chandler, as well as other warships including USS Taussig and USS Jouett, among others.
He also made history as the first African American to be promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and the first to command an entire U.S. fleet, having been at the helm of the U.S. Third Fleet.
The destroyer is named after Samuel Gravely, the first African-American officer in the United States Navy.
Construction and Operation
Northrop Grumman built the USS Gravely, which features an all-steel hull structure. The destroyer is powered by four gas turbines, each generating 33,600 horsepower and operating at 3,600 rotations per minute, propelling the ship with two controllable-reversible pitch propellers.
The vessel can reach a top speed of 30 knots (56 kilometers per hour, 35 miles per hour) and accommodates a crew of 312 officers and sailors.
Gravely is the 57th destroyer of its class. Its construction was authorized on September 13, 2002, with its keel laid on November 26, 2007, at the Ingalls Shipbuilding yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The Gravely program was launched on March 30, 2009.
Successfully completing sea trials in June 2010, the ship entered service in Wilmington, North Carolina, on November 20, 2010.
Armament
The USS Gravely is armed with the following:
- A 5-inch (127 mm) MK 45 Mod 4 naval gun.
- Two 25 mm MK 38 automatic guns.
- Four .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns and one Phalanx CIWS 20 mm system.
In its weapon systems, it also includes:
- Two triple MK 32 torpedo tubes.
- A 96-cell MK 41 Vertical Launch System capable of firing RIM-66 Standard Missile 2 surface-to-air missiles.
- BGM-109 Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles.
- RUM-139 VL-ASROC anti-submarine missiles.
Weapons loaded onto the deck of the USS Gravely as it heads to the Arabian Sea at the end of 2023.
Missions
USS Gravely is a multi-mission ship with capabilities for air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-surface warfare. It is designed to operate independently or as part of a carrier strike group.
The destroyer is equipped to meet the challenges faced by U.S. Carrier Strike Groups abroad. Its sailors participate in naval blockades imposed by the United States against adversaries and take part in boarding, search, and seizure operations.
The ship also engages in anti-terrorism operations, protection of U.S. forces, and training exercises to enhance joint operability with the U.S. Navy and its allies.
Gravely has participated in training with the Greek Navy and U.S. Special Operations Forces, as well as bilateral exercises with the Israeli Navy.
Joint naval maneuvers have been conducted, along with crew exchanges with naval forces from France, Britain, and Egypt, enhancing interoperability with America's partners in the U.S. Sixth Fleet operational area in the Mediterranean.
The destroyer also participates in medical evacuation operations as needed.
The USS Gravely during joint maneuvers with other nations in the Caribbean Sea in 2012.
Operations
In late August 2013, the Gravely, along with Mahan, Barry, and Ramage ships, patrolled the eastern Mediterranean amidst discussions of potential U.S. military intervention during the Syrian Revolution.
On October 28, 2013, Gravely and Ramage responded to a distress call from a migrant-laden vessel 160 nautical miles (300 kilometers) off the coast of Kalamata, Greece.
On November 18, 2013, Gravely returned to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, completing its first foreign deployment.
On March 28, 2016, Gravely assisted the ship Siurocco, apprehending a sailboat trafficking arms—which was released with the crew after disarmament.
In June 2016, while escorting the USS Harry S. Truman carrier, Gravely encountered a Russian Navy frigate, sparking accusations of dangerous and unprofessional behavior between Russian and American naval officials.
On May 13, 2022, Gravely participated in the "Baltops" exercise with the Finnish and Swedish Navies in the Baltic Sea's north. Later that month, it started its return to Naval Station Norfolk.
On October 14, 2023, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin directed the carrier Eisenhower and its strike group, along with the destroyers Gravely, Mason, and Laboon, to the eastern Mediterranean amid the war Israel waged on the Gaza Strip.
This was the second group sent to the region in support of Israel, just six days after the destroyer Gerald Ford and its group.
On December 30, 2023, the container ship Maersk Hangzhou issued a distress signal after being attacked by four small Houthi-affiliated vessels from Yemen, which were repelled by contracted security.
The USS Eisenhower and Gravely responded to the call. Verbal warning orders were issued to the four small vessels, and Navy helicopters launched from Eisenhower engaged.
After small arms fire from the deck, U.S. Navy helicopters returned fire, sinking three of the four attacking small boats. During this response, Gravely intercepted two anti-ship ballistic missiles launched from Yemen.
