McGrath, Kathleen

▪ 2003

      captain (ret.), U.S. Navy (b. June 4, 1952, Columbus, Ohio—d. Sept. 26, 2002, Bethesda, Md.), was appointed captain of the guided-missile frigate USS Jarrett in 1998 and thereby became the first woman to command a navy warship. In 2000 she became the first woman to command a warship at sea when the Jarrett, with a crew of 262 members, carried out a six-month mission in the Persian Gulf to search for boats smuggling oil from Iraq, and she later led the ship on search-and-rescue missions. McGrath, who died of lung cancer, counted the Legion of Merit among her numerous honours.

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