Black History

Navy ship named for civil rights leader Medgar Evers

By theGrio

4:06 PM on 11/12/2011

READ MORE: Civil Rights, Medgar Evers, Myrlie Evers, NAACP, Navy, Ship

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Myrlie Evers-Williams, right, christens the U.S. Navy's newest supply ship, the USNS Medgar Evers while her daughter Reena Denise Evers, left, and her son James Van Evers, right, look on, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Park)

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The widow of Medgar Evers broke a bottle of champagne against the hull of a new Navy ship that has been named in honor of the slain civil rights leader.

Myrlie Evers was among a thousand people who attended the christening of the USNS Medgar Evers in San Diego on Saturday.

WATCH NBC SAN DIEGO's COVERAGE OF THE SHIP CHRISTENING HERE:

View more videos at: http://nbcsandiego.com.

Naval officials, politicians, local citizens and members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People were on hand to hear a speech honoring Evers by Ray Mabus, the Secretary of the Navy.

The 689-foot cargo ship will deliver food, ammunition, fuel and other provisions to Navy combat ships at sea.

The vessel was built in San Diego by General Dynamics NASSCO.

Medgar Evers, a World War II veteran and field secretary for the NAACP, was shot to death in 1963.