USS_Falgout_(DE-324)

Today in American Military History -- 1961
Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr., becomes the first African American to command a warship, 'Falgout' (DE-324)

USS Falgout (DER-324) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. Post-war, she was borrowed by the U.S. Coast Guard and also served as a radar picket ship on the Distant Early Warning Line. She was named in honor of Seaman Second Class George Irvin Falgout, who was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously. During the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 12 November 1942 he remained at his gun, blazing away at a Japanese aircraft until it crashed his station, killing him.

Falgout (DE-324) was launched 24 July 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp, Ltd., Orange, Texas; sponsored by Mrs. H. J. Guidry, sister of Seaman Second Class Falgout; and commissioned 15 November 1943, Lieutenant Commander H. A. Meyer, USCG, in command. She was reclassified DER-324 on 28 October 1954.