(TimesDispatch.com) The Navy will name its newest guided-missile destroyer in honor of Richmond native and Navy pioneer Samuel L. Gravely Jr…

The latest Arleigh Burke-class destroyer — the most advanced type of warship in the world will be named the USS Gravely.

“It’s fitting that this type of ship be named after a man who was able to set a true course for our nation’s Navy, and at the same time transform challenges into accomplishments and lead the way for a future generation of naval warfighters,” said Vice Adm. John Harvey in a statement.

Harvey, the Navy’s top personnel officer, announced the naming of Ship DDG-107 at the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Conference in Washington yesterday.

Gravely ultimately wore the three stars of a vice admiral, retiring as director of the Defense Communications Agency in 1980. He died in 2004 at age 82.

The Richmond sailor joins such Navy icons as John Paul Jones and Adm. “Bull” Halsey in having a Burke-class ship — which cost nearly $1 billion — named in his honor. (source)