04/28/2026
The U.S. Navy’s First African American Flag Officer
Vice Adm. Samuel Lee Gravely Jr. didn’t just break barriers — he raised the standard. Promoted to Rear Admiral on this day in 1971, Samuel Lee Gravy Jr. became the U.S. Navy’s first African-American flag officer.
Enlisting in 1942 as a fireman apprentice, he served on the submarine chaser PC-1264 and built a 38-year career defined by excellence.
He became:
• The first African American to command a Navy warship (USS Theodore E. Chandler)
• The first to command a ship in combat since the Civil War (USS Taussig, Vietnam)
• The first to command a major warship (USS Jouett)
• And the first African American promoted to flag rank — later Vice Admiral and Commander, Third Fleet (Left is the USS Gravely Arleigh Burke, named in honor of Vice Admiral Burke.)
