GALVESTON, Texas (AP) – The 421-foot USS Gabrielle Giffords will be commissioned this weekend in Texas.
Navy officials say ceremonies will be held Saturday in Galveston to commission the warship named for the former Arizona congresswoman, who was shot in 2011 in Tucson, Arizona, but survived the assassination attempt.
The $475 million ship was constructed by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, and arrived in Galveston last weekend.
Giffords helped christen the ship in 2015. It’s the ninth in a series of high-speed vessels designed to navigate in shallow coastal regions known as littoral waters.
Giffords’ husband is retired astronaut Mark Kelly, a former Navy captain stationed in Galveston County during his NASA service.
Free public tours of the ship are available each afternoon through Friday in Galveston.
(Copyright 2017. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
