WASHINGTON – The commander of the USS Constitution was relieved of duty because of a “loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command,” a Navy spokesman said Thursday.
The Navy declined to provide specifics about why Cmdr. Thomas C. Graves was removed as senior officer of the historic warship, known as “Old Ironsides.”
Graves’ removal, however, was not the result of disciplinary action, said a Navy spokesman, Cmdr. Jeff Davis.
Graves, who took command in July 2005, had been about two months away from completing his two-year tenure aboard the Constitution, said Davis.
Graves was the 69th commander of the oldest commissioned ship afloat in the world. He has been temporarily assigned to Surface Warfare Officers School Command in Newport, R.I., Davis said.
The Constitution was commissioned in 1797 and is docked at Boston’s historic Charlestown Naval Yard, a national park. The ship never lost a battle, from fighting pirates in the Caribbean to the British in the War of 1812.
Active-duty sailors dressed in vintage 1812 uniforms lead free tours of the ship, which is a popular tourist destination. The Constitution sets sail five or six times each year for a “turnaround” in Boston Harbor.
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