![]() USS Gravely in 2013 | |
History | |
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Name | Gravely |
Namesake | Samuel L. Gravely, Jr. [1] |
Awarded | 13 September 2002 [2] |
Builder | Ingalls Shipbuilding [2] |
Laid down | 26 November 2007 [2] |
Launched | 30 March 2009 [2] |
Sponsored by | Alma Gravely [1] |
Christened | 16 May 2009 [1] |
Commissioned | 20 November 2010 [3] |
Homeport | Norfolk [2] |
Identification |
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Motto | First To Conquer |
Status | in active service [2] |
Badge | ![]() |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Arleigh Burke-class destroyer |
Displacement | 9,200 long tons (9,300 t) |
Length | 509 ft 6 in (155.30 m) [2] |
Beam | 66 ft (20 m) [2] |
Draft | 33 ft (10 m) [2] |
Propulsion | 4 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines, 2 shafts, 100,000 shp (75 MW) [2] |
Speed | 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) [1] |
Complement | 312 officers and enlisted [2] |
Armament |
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Aircraft carried | 2 × MH-60R Seahawk helicopters |
USS Gravely (DDG-107) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named after Vice Admiral Samuel L. Gravely Jr. Commissioned in 2010, she has been on several overseas deployments.
Gravely is the 57th destroyer in her class. She was authorized on 13 September 2002 and her keel was laid down on 26 November 2007 at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding's Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Gravely was launched on 30 March 2009. [2] The ship is named after Vice Admiral Samuel L. Gravely, Jr., the first African American in the U.S. Navy to serve aboard a fighting ship as an officer, the first to command a Navy ship, the first fleet commander, and the first to become a flag officer, retiring as a vice admiral. [4] [5] Admiral Gravely's wife, Alma Gravely, christened the ship on 16 May 2009 and serves as ship's sponsor. Retired Navy Admiral J. Paul Reason was the principal speaker at the ceremony, which was held at Northrop's facility in Pascagoula. [1] She successfully completed sea trials in June 2010. [6] Gravely, Northrop Grumman's 27th Aegis'equipped guided missile destroyer, was commissioned at Wilmington, North Carolina on 20 November 2010. [3]
In late August 2013 along with her sister ships Mahan, Barry, and Ramage, Gravely was sent to patrol the eastern Mediterranean Sea in response to rising rumors of an imminent US military intervention in the Syrian civil war. [7] On 28 October 2013, the destroyers Gravely and Ramage answered a distress call from a vessel carrying immigrants located 160 nautical miles (300 km; 180 mi) off the coast of Kalamata, Greece. [8] On 18 November 2013, Gravely returned to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, completing her first overseas deployment. [9]
On 28 March 2016, Gravely provided assistance to USS Sirocco, which had seized a stateless dhow transporting weapons. Once the weapons were offloaded, the dhow and its crew were released. [10] In June 2016 while escorting the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman the destroyer had a close encounter with a Russian Navy frigate, causing Russian and US Navy officials to accuse each other of dangerous and unprofessional conduct. [11] On 11 March 2019, as part of Carrier Strike Group Eight (CSG-8), Gravely received the Meritorious Unit Commendation award in support of Operation Inherent Resolve during the 2015-2016 deployment. [12]
On 13 May 2022, Gravely took part in a PASSEX training with the Finnish and Swedish navies in the northern Baltic Sea. [13] In May 2022, Gravely was homeported out of Naval Station Norfolk and a part of Destroyer Squadron 28, along with Carrier Strike Group 8 led by the USS Harry S. Truman. [14]
On 24 June 2022, Gravely returned to Norfolk. [15]
On 14 October 2023, Lloyd Austin directed Dwight D. Eisenhower and her carrier strike group, which includes the cruiser Philippine Sea, along with Gravely and sister-destroyers Laboon and Mason, to the eastern Mediterranean in response to Israel's war with Hamas. [16] This is the second carrier strike group to be sent to the region in response to the conflict, following Gerald R. Ford and her group, which was dispatched only six days earlier. [17]
On 30 December 2023, Danish container ship Maersk Hangzhou issued a distress call after coming under fire from four small ships commanded by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen. Attempts were also made to board Maersk Hangzhou by force, while a contracted security team defended the ship. Gravely and aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower responded to a distress call from the container ship. Verbal commands were radioed to the Houthi ships, while helicopters from Eisenhower were dispatched. After taking small arms fire, U.S. Navy helicopters returned fire, sinking three of the four Houthi ships. There was no damage to U.S. equipment or personnel. In the process of responding to the distress call, Gravely shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Yemen. [18] [19]
On 12 January 2024, Gravely along with destroyer Mason and cruiser Philippine Sea fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at Houthi rebels in Yemen. Aircraft from Carrier Air Wing Three embarked on the carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower participated in the strikes. [20]
On 30 January 2024, Gravely used its Phalanx CIWS to shoot down an incoming anti-ship cruise missile fired by the Houthis. U.S. officials said that the missile came within a mile of the destroyer. [21] No damage or injuries were reported. [22]
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier currently in service with the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1977, the ship is the second of ten Nimitz-class aircraft carriers currently in service, and is the first ship named after the 34th President of the United States and General of the Army, Dwight D. Eisenhower. The vessel was initially named simply as USS Eisenhower, much like the lead ship of the class, Nimitz, but the name was changed to its present form on 25 May 1970. The carrier, like all others of her class, was constructed at Newport News Shipbuilding Company in Virginia, with the same design as the lead ship, although the ship has been overhauled twice to bring her up to the standards of those constructed more recently.
USS Cole (DDG-67) is an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyer home-ported in Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. Cole is named in honor of Marine Sergeant Darrell S. Cole, a machine-gunner killed in action on Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945, during World War II. Cole is one of 62 authorized Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, and one of 21 members of the Flight I-class that used the 5 in(127 mm)/54 caliber gun mounts found on the earliest of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The ship was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding and was delivered to the Navy on 11 March 1996.
The Arleigh Burke class of guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) is a United States Navy class of destroyer centered around the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multi-function passive electronically scanned array radar. The class is named for Admiral Arleigh Burke, an American destroyer officer in World War II and later Chief of Naval Operations. With an overall length of 505 to 509.5 feet, displacement ranging from 8,300 to 9,700 tons, and weaponry including over 90 missiles, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are larger and more heavily armed than many previous classes of guided-missile cruisers.
USS Ramage (DDG-61) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. The ship is named for Vice Admiral Lawson P. Ramage, a notable submarine commander and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II.
USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), named for Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (1901–1996), is the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works company at Bath, Maine, on 6 December 1988; launched on 16 September 1989; and commissioned on 4 July 1991.
USS Barry (DDG-52) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, commissioned in 1992. Barry is the fourth United States Navy ship named after the "Father of the American Navy", Commodore John Barry (1745–1803). Her homeport is Naval Station Everett, Washington. Several improvements over Arleigh Burke exist on this ship and all following Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, such as the ability to refuel a helicopter.
USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) is a Flight II Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser on active service in the United States Navy. She is named for the Battle of the Philippine Sea during World War II and is the second ship to bear the name. She has completed multiple deployments as part of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2001 to 2014.
USS Laboon (DDG-58) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named for Father John Francis Laboon (1921–1988), a captain in the Chaplain Corps of the United States Navy, who was awarded the Silver Star during World War II while serving on the submarine USS Peto.
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USS Ross (DDG-71) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is the second Navy ship to be named Ross, the first Navy ship named for Medal of Honor recipient Donald K. Ross and the 21st destroyer of her class. The first Ross, DD-563, was named for David Ross, a captain in the Continental Navy.
USS Porter (DDG-78) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Porter is the fifth US Navy ship to be named after US Navy officers Commodore David Porter, and his son, Admiral David Dixon Porter. This ship is the 28th destroyer of her class. Porter was the 12th ship of this class to be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was laid down on 2 December 1996, launched and christened on 12 November 1997, and commissioned 20 March 1999, in Port Canaveral, Florida.
USS Mason (DDG-87) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named in honor of the Black crewmembers who served on board USS Mason (DE-529) during the period of racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.
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An anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) is a military ballistic missile system designed to hit a warship at sea.
On 30 December 2023, Houthi forces in the Gulf of Aden attacked the Maersk commercial vessel Maersk Hangzhou. Early the next day, Houthis again attacked the Maersk Hangzhou, attempting to board the freighter. The Maersk Hangzhou made a distress signal, to which U.S. Navy forces of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and destroyer USS Gravely responded. The U.S., along with Maersk security personnel aboard the ship, repelled the attack. The U.S. sank three Houthi vessels, killing ten Houthis. Maersk announced a 48-hour pause on shipping through the Red Sea following the incident.