NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — WAVY’s Navy Ship Salute is a feature on WAVY News 10 Today. Each month, in partnership with the U.S. Navy, WAVY-TV 10 will profile a different ship based at the world’s largest Navy base: Naval Station Norfolk. The series aims to better introduce our viewers to some of the largest floating taxpayer assets there are as well as life aboard U.S. Navy Ship.
To launch the feature, 10 On Your Side was welcomed on board USS Gravely (DDG 107).
The guided missile destroyer was first commissioned in 2010. Built at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, it is the 57th destroyer in her class. She is named after Vice Admiral Samuel Gravely, Jr.
Gravely, who passed in 2004, was the U.S. Navy’s first African-American commander, captain, rear admiral, and vice admiral according to the Navy.
The ship is 510 feet long and has 320 sailors serving onboard.
Gravely returned from its last deployment in June where it was a part of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group.
While deployed, the ship was employed by U.S. 6th Fleet to defend U.S., Allied and partner interests.
Gravely participated in several NATO exercises and activities with maritime forces from Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom, highlighting Gravely’s diverse mission set and capabilities while underscoring the importance of interoperability and operational readiness.
Gravely visited Helsinki, Finland, along with dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44), French
frigate FS Latouche-Tréville (D646) and German frigate FGS Sachsen (F 219) over Memorial Day
weekend, bolstering relations with a key NATO partner.