Navy ship named for Giffords christened

Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords of Arizona was honored Saturday with a Navy ship named in her honor at a shipyard in Mobile, Ala..

Giffords was on hand for the christening of the USS Gabrielle Giffords.

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.