U.S. Navy Names Ship in Honor of African-American War Hero

By Helen I. Rouce
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- U.S. Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig has announced his decision to name a ship of the United States Navy in honor of an African-American war hero.

The ship, designated DDG 91, the 41st ship of the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, will be named "Pinckney."

The name will honor Navy Cook Third Class William Pinckney (1915-1975), who received the Navy Cross for his courageous rescue during World War II of a fellow crewmember onboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise during the Battle of Santa Cruz.

The decision to name a ship after Pinckney was announced in a Navy press release on February 29, during the last week of Black History Month in the United States.

"The destroyer, DDG 91, will embody the name of William Pinckney very well," Navy Secretary Danzig commented in the release. "Like Pinckney, its relatively small size belies the tremendous feats that it will accomplish. Like Pinckney, the ship will be an individual force, often standing proudly alone for the nation -- yet it is also part of an unbeatable team.

"And as a warship, USS Pinckney will be an ambassador for American ideals that William Pinckney, through his single act of bravery, helped to strengthen as part of the American experience," Danzig said.

Pinckney's act of heroism occurred after an explosion killed four of the six men at his battle station in an ammunition handling room. When Pinckney and the other surviving sailor attempted to exit through a hatch to the hangar deck above, the other man grasped the scorching hatch and fell back unconscious. Despite the suffocating smoke, flames, and gasoline fumes surrounding him, Pinckney carried the sailor to safety. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his selfless heroism.

Pinckney was a third-class officer's cook in part because during his lifetime opportunities were limited for African-American sailors. But despite the discrimination he and other black sailors lived with on a daily basis, he demonstrated extraordinary heroism.

"He embodied the Navy's value of selfless service, at a time when the institution undervalued black service members," Danzig said. "His willingness to give so much, and sacrifice for an institution which gave him so little, makes these acts for which he earned the Navy Cross that much more heroic."

In announcing the decision to honor Pinckney, the Navy recalled the words of the former U.S. chief of naval operations, the late Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, who said in the early 1970s, "There is no black Navy, no white Navy -- just one Navy: the United States Navy."

Since World War II, some seven U.S. ships have been named for African-Americans, according to a Navy historian. Currently, there is one in active service. It is the Rodney M. Davis (FFG-60), a guided missile frigate, based in Yokosuka, Japan.

Another guided missile destroyer named for an African-American is currently under construction in Bath, Maine. It is the Oscar Austin (DDG 79).