Thursday, July 29, 2010

USS Gravely to Be Commissioned in Wilmington, NC

July 27th Wilmington Star-News "USS Gravely accepted by Navy; Destroyer coming to Wilmington for commissioning this fall" by Gareth McGrath.

The commissioning of the Navy's newest guided missile destroyer will be November 20th in Wilmington.

The Aegis-class vessel was built by Northrop Grumman in Mississippi and is 510 feet long and weighs 9,500 tons.

It was christened May 2009 and named after the late Vice Admiral Samuel Lee Gravely, the Navy's first black admiral. It is undergoing sea trials right now.

This will be the second Navy vessel commissioned recently on the Cape Fear River. In 2008, the nuclear attack submarine USS North Carolina was commissioned amid high security.

Of course, Wilmington is also the home port of the battleship USS North Carolina.

I've never been to a commissioning.

I'd Sure Like to Be There. Control of the Seas Keeps Us Free. --DaCoot

No comments: