General Dynamics NASSCO laid the keel for USNS Medgar Evers, the thirteenth ship of the Lewis and Clark class of dry cargo-ammunition ships (T-AKE). The ship is named in honor of Medgar Evers, the African American civil rights activist whose 1963 murder prompted President John F. Kennedy to ask Congress for a comprehensive civil rights bill. Mrs. Gina Buzby, wife of Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby, commander, Military Sealift Command, was the honoree for the keel-laying ceremony. Mrs. Buzby authenticated the keel of T-AKE 13 by welding her initials onto a metal plate which will be permanently affixed to the ship. Construction of the Medgar Evers began in April 2010. When T-AKE 13 joins the fleet in the first quarter of 2012, the 689-foot-long ship will be used primarily to stage U.S.
