Navy Names Ship for Gabby Giffords

'Strength, courage, and resilience'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 13, 2015 1:40 PM CDT
Navy Names Ship for Gabby Giffords
In this March 4, 2015, photo, former Rep. Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords of Arizona speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

The Navy has named a ship in honor of former Rep. Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords of Arizona. Giffords joined others including Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, as the USS Gabrielle Giffords was christened in a ceremony this afternoon at a shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. The 419-foot ship was built at the Austal shipyard in Mobile. It's the Navy's 10th littoral combat ship designed to operate in shallow waters near the coast.

Giffords was badly wounded in a 2011 shooting that left six dead and a total of 13 injured in Tucson. The Democrat left Congress and later founded an organization that supports gun control. Officials said Giffords was chosen to be the vessel's namesake because she exemplifies strength, courage, and resilience. (More Gabrielle Giffords stories.)

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