From the November 20th Island Gazette.
The Gravely arrived at Wilmington November 12th and was commissioned Nov. 20th.
It is named after Vice Admiral Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr. (1922-2004), the first black to achieve the rank of Flag Officer in the Navy and to command a major warship and a fleet.
Some 6,000 attended the commissioning. The ship was built and christened in Pascagoula, Mississippi, is 510 feet long and has a crew of 276.
It is the 57th ship of the Arleigh Burke class of destroyers.
destroyers came about after the Chilean Civil War of 1891 and the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, when small torpedo boats could dart up to large warships, launch a torpedo and dart away.
The torpedo boat destroyer was developed as a counter weapon and the name later shortened to destroyer.
The Gravely is armed with missiles, torpedoes and one lone gin.
The Latest Pride and Joy of the US Navy. --DaCoot
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