General Dynamics NASSCO launches the U.S. The ceremony took place at the NASSCO shipyard. Juan M. Garcia III, assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve affairs, was the ceremony's principal speaker. Mrs. Helen Chavez, widow of Cesar Chavez and the ship's sponsor, christened the ship by breaking the traditional bottle of champagne against its bow. The ship is named in honor of Cesar Estrada Chavez, the labor leader who founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). "This celebration marks the culmination of a successful U.S.