Navy to name ship after Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The United State Navy announced Thursday that it would be naming a future refueling ship after the late Supreme Court justice.

“As we close out women’s history month, it is my absolute honor to name the next T-AO after the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” said Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro in a statement.

“She is a historic figure who vigorously advocated for women’s rights and gender equality.”

Ginsberg was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, the first Jewish woman and second woman overall to serve on the court. She was part of its liberal wing but maintained a close friendship with the late Antonin Scalia, one of the courts most conservative justices.

Ginsburg issued the majority opinion in the 1996 case United States v. Virginia that struck down the male-only admissions policy at the Virginia Military Institute.

“As Secretary of the Navy, it is my aim to ensure equality and eliminate gender discrimination across the Department of the Navy,” Del Toro wrote.

“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.”

RBG’s name will be given to a replenishment oiler in a class of ships named after the late civil-rights champion Rep. John Lewis (D-GA). Each T-AO ship is 742 feet (226 meters) long and can carry up to 162,000 barrels of oil, which it delivers to the Navy’s carrier strike groups.

Ships of this class tend to be named after deceased civil rights icons, such as abolitionist Sojourner Truth and openly gay San Francisco mayor Harvey Milk.

Del Toro made ending “the inexcusable issue” of sexual harassment in the military a key issues in his confirmation hearing last year, according to The Wall Street Journal.