USS Gravely (DDG-107) is an 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.
Construction
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. The ship is named after Vice Admiral Samuel L. Gravely, Jr. 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. She successfully completed sea trials in June 2010. Gravely, Northrop Grumman's 27th Aegis'equipped guided missile destroyer, was commissioned at Wilmington, North Carolina on 20 November 2010.
Service history
In late August 2013 along with her sister ships , , and , 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. On 28 October 2013, the destroyers Gravely and Ramage answered a distress call from a vessel carrying immigrants located off the coast of Kalamata, Greece. On 18 November 2013, Gravely returned to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, completing her first overseas deployment.
On 28 March 2016, Gravely provided assistance to , which had seized a stateless dhow transporting weapons. Once the weapons were offloaded, the dhow and its crew were released. In June 2016 while escorting the aircraft carrier 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. 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.
On 13 May 2022, Gravely took part in a PASSEX training with the Finnish and Swedish navies in the northern Baltic Sea. 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 .
On 24 June 2022, Gravely returned to Norfolk.
2023 Israel-Hamas war
On 14 October 2023, Lloyd Austin directed and her carrier strike group, which includes the cruiser , along with Gravely and sister-destroyers and , to the eastern Mediterranean in response to Israel's war with Hamas. This is the second carrier strike group to be sent to the region in response to the conflict, following and her group, which was dispatched only six days earlier.
References
External links
Official website of PCU Gravely Retrieved 2016-07-01.