Navy destroyer to be named for Winter Park veteran
WINTER PARK — Ima Black’s apartment is a shrine to the U.S. Navy and her late husband, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Delbert D. Black.
There are photos of her husband with retired admirals, and more than 100 collectible coins and medals her husband earned during his distinguished career. She also has statues and other mementos she has been given by sailors who have visited her.
Some of her collection will soon have a new home at sea aboard the USS Delbert D. Black, a guided-missile destroyer named in her husband’s honor.
The ship, which is still under construction, will be christened Saturday in Pascagoula, Miss., with Ima Black in attendance.
“Everybody on that ship will know who that ship is named for,” said the 96-year-old widow who also served in
“Everybody on that ship will know who that ship is named for.” Ima Black, widow of Delbert D. Black
the Navy during World War II.Delbert Black, who in 1967 became the first sailor to hold the highest enlisted rank in the Navy, died in 2000 in Winter Park at age 77. He was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
As Master Chief of the Navy, Black worked in Washington, D.C., advising admirals and congressional committees on problems enlisted sailors faced with salary, housing, policy and leadership.
“[The Navy] needed someone who can speak to the young recruits and someone who can speak to the admirals — and someone who can take their concerns to Congress and to the House Armed Services Committee,” Ima Black said. “He was the one who had a clear vision of what it should be, and the office now is a huge success.”
Today the office is held by Steven Giordano, the 14th person with the rank.
Soon after enlisting in the Navy 1941, Delbert Black was stationed on the USS Maryland in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked the base, killing 2,403 Americans. At the time Delbert Black was working in the ship’s mess hall. The hull received minor damages in the attack.
He spent the next several years as a gunner’s mate aboard the Maryland, which was in many of the battles in the South Pacific.
Ima Black also joined the Navy as part of a group known as WAVES — Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. She served as a storekeeper for four years and left the Navy in 1947.
But they didn’t meet until a basketball game in Washington in 1948. She said she liked his legs.
They got married in 1949, and he was sent to Japan. Eventually, she was allowed to go, too, and they lived on Yokosuka Naval Base for about two years.
Over the years they also lived in France and Hawaii, but “he was always on a ship,” she said. After he retired in 1971, the couple moved to Winter Park.
Ima Black learned that a war ship would bear her husband’s name about two years ago when then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus called. In March 2015, she was honored in Washington, D.C., where she spoke at a ceremony alongside Mabus.
That July, she also got to push a button at the shipyard that started the machinery to begin construction of the vessel.
“In the Navy, our destroyers are named after naval heroes, and the career of Master Chief Black is an example of selfless service to country and personal sacrifice,” Lt. Joshua Kelsey, a Navy spokesman said. “The ship was named after Delbert Black because he was the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, and [it] is a testament to his service and a symbol of his lasting legacy.’’
The destroyer will be the 69th ship of the Arleigh Burke class that respond to “low-intensity” conflicts and can attack targets on land, sea or air. The $1.5 billion ship’s home port will be Norfolk, Va.
“It’s very exciting,” Ima Black said. “Of course, I was also saddened, too, because he can’t be here to share this honor with me.”
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