Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be honoured with US navy ship named after her
The late supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is to be honoured by having a US navy ship named after her.
The yet-to-be-built USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg fuel tanker will join a fleet of John Lewis-class “replenishment oilers” named for historical figures in US movements for human and civil rights.
The navy took delivery last summer of the first of the fleet, itself named for Lewis, the former Democratic congressman from Georgia who died aged 80 in 2020.
Other ships are due to be named for Harvey Milk, Earl Warren, Robert F Kennedy, Lucy Stone, Sojourner Truth and Thurgood Marshall.
Announcing the move to honour Ginsburg, who died aged 87 in 2020 after 27 years on the supreme court, the navy secretary, Carlos Del Toro, noted the justice’s advocacy for women’s rights and gender equality. “She is instrumental to why we now have women of all backgrounds, experiences and talents serving within our ranks, side by side with their male sailor and marine counterparts,” Del Toro said in a statement.
“As secretary of the navy, it is my aim to ensure equality and eliminate gender discrimination across the Department of the Navy.”
The statement also noted that Ginsburg issued the majority opinion in a landmark 1996 ruling that struck down the male-only admissions policy at the Virginia military institute.
No expected launch date for the USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg was given.
It was also announced this week that items associated with Ginsburg including an example of the distinctive collars she wore over her supreme court robes will be donated to the Smithsonian Institution.
In Congress, a bill to commission statues of Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to sit on the supreme court, passed the House on Monday.