The U.S. Navy has named the T-AO 209 and T-AO 210 fleet replenishment oilers in honor of two American civil and human rights heroes during a ceremony held at the Boston Public Library.
T-AO 209 and T-AO 210 will respectively bear the names USNS Lucy Stone and USNS Sojourner Truth, the Navy said Monday.
“Both Lucy Stone and Sojourner Truth fought relentlessly for all human rights,” said Ray Mabus, secretary of the Navy.
“It is important to recognize and honor those who have strived to fulfill the promise laid out in our Constitution — to form a more perfect union.”
Stone was a 19th-century abolitionist, suffragist and women’s rights advocate who organized the first National Women’s Rights Convention and helped form the Woman’s National Loyal League and the American Women Suffrage Association.
Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree and was a civil rights and equality advocate as well as an African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist who escaped from slavery in 1826.
The Military Sealift Command will operate the ships to help replenish the fuel of deployed Navy ships and carrier-based aircraft.
Construction of the USNS Lucy Stone is set to begin in 2021 to be followed by USNS Sojourner Truth in 2022, the Navy said.