The USS Gravely (DDG 107) deployment was delayed by a few hours after a small electrical fire.
The ship was scheduled to leave Naval Station Norfolk on Thursday around 1 p.m. for a regularly scheduled deployment. The small fire, that did not cause any injuries, pushed back the deployment about 4 hours.
When it deploys, the guided-missile destroyer will conduct maritime operations as the flagship of NATO’s Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 in the Navy’s U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations.
Onboard there are usually 36 officers and 282 enlisted sailors.
The ship is the 57th Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in the United States Navy named after Vice Admiral Samuel L. Gravely, Jr.
Gravely had a Navy career that lasted 38 years that included many distinguished accomplishments. He became the first African American to command a U.S. Navy warship (Theodore E. Chandler), the first African American to command an American warship under combat conditions (Taussig).
Gravely was also the first African American to command a U.S. Fleet (Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet).
USS Gravely was commissioned at Wilmington, North Carolina on November 20, 2010.
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