Free Republic

The last of the 14 Lewis and Clark-class cargo ships that General Dynamics NASSCO is building in San Diego will be named after Cesar Chavez, the late civil rights and labor leader. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus will visit NASSCO on Tuesday afternoon to make the formal announcement. Some members of the Chavez family are expected to be in attendance, says NASSCO, which recently laid the keel of the ship. "We suggested the name Cesar Chavez for the ship because we're in Barrio Logan and want to be good neighbors, and we want to show respect for our workers,"...

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The Navy is considering naming a cargo ship that's being built after farmworker activist Cesar Chavez. James Gill, a spokesman for General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, said Monday the company suggested the name to honor its mostly Hispanic work force and the mostly Hispanic neighborhood, Barrio Logan, where the boat builder is located.

NASSCO launches a new breed of Navy ship By Michael Stetz UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER May 22, 2005 JOHN GASTALDO / Union-TribuneThe Lewis and Clark slid into the water last night at a ceremony attended by thousands. The Navy combat cargo ship is longer than two football fields. It is the first of its type to be built. With much pomp and circumstance and lots of grease to help the big thing slide down the sled and not, heaven forbid, get stuck; the Navy ship Lewis and Clark was launched last night. It had been four years since National Steel and...