Alpha Phi Alpha’s Samuel L. Gravely Jr. Became the First Black Admiral in the U.S. Navy

Did you know that the first African American admiral in the history of the United States Navy was a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. who got his start at a historically Black university in Virginia? His name was Samuel L. Gravely Jr., and he spent a 38-year career breaking barriers at sea.

Samuel Lee Gravely Jr. was born on June 4, 1922, in Richmond, Virginia. He attended Virginia Union University, the historically Black university in his hometown, for three years before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1942. He returned after the war to complete his degree, graduating with a bachelor’s in history in 1948.

His naval career was a march of firsts. In 1944, he became one of the first African Americans commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy. In 1962, according to the U.S. Navy, he became the first Black officer to command a United States warship when he was named skipper of the destroyer USS Falgout. He went on to command the USS Taussig and the USS Jouett as well.

In 1971, while commanding the Jouett, Gravely was promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first African American admiral in the history of the U.S. Navy. As the U.S. Navy records, in 1976 President Gerald R. Ford appointed him vice admiral and placed him in command of the Navy’s Third Fleet, a force of 100 warships and 60,000 sailors and marines, making him the first African American to command a U.S. fleet.

After the Third Fleet, Gravely served as director of the Defense Communications Agency before retiring in 1980, closing out a 38-year career in uniform. According to VA News, he rose from a three-year stint at Virginia Union to the highest ranks of the Navy.

Samuel L. Gravely Jr. died on October 22, 2004, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. In 2010, the Navy commissioned a guided-missile destroyer, the USS Gravely, in his honor.

From Virginia Union University to the command of an entire fleet, Alpha Phi Alpha’s Samuel L. Gravely Jr. opened doors in the United States Navy that no Black American had opened before him.