USNS John Lewis (T-AO 205) sits pierside at Naval Surface Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, Calif., Friday, Nov. 4., 2022. USNS John Lewis is the first in a new class of oilers being procured by the U.S. Navy. (Dana Rene White/U.S. Navy)
Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro on Wednesday announced that a future John Lewis-class oiler (T-AO 205-class) will be named for the prominent labor and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, a major figure in the farmworkers’ labor movement from the 1950s to the 1990s.
Del Toro’s announcement about the naming of the future USNS Dolores Huerta (T-AO 214) came at a speaking engagement at the Veteran Affairs Center for Minority Veterans Hispanic Heritage Month Commemorative Event in Washington.
In his remarks, Del Toro — who is the first Cuban-American Secretary of the Navy — commented on his background as a refugee from Cuba and noted the history of Hispanic American contributions to the U.S. military. He then added that service to the country can also take the form of “championing causes to improve the lives of other Americans,” and announced the future oiler’s renaming.
Huerta cofounded the National Farm Workers Association, a precursor to the United Farm Workers, with Cesar Chavez in 1962. She went on to lead various strikes and boycotts and famously coined the term motto “Sí, se puede” (“yes, we can”). She is a recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The USNS Dolores Huerta will be the 10th ship of the John Lewis Class, and its naming is a continuation of the trend of bestowing John Lewis-class oilers with the names of civil rights leaders. Other ships following the convention include the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsberg, USNS Harriet Tubman and the lead ship USNS John Lewis.
The John Lewis-class oilers are intended to supply the U.S. Navy’s carrier strike groups and replace the aging Kaiser-class oilers, according to the Navy. They have a capacity to carry 162,000 barrels of oil.
Current Navy plans call for procuring a total of 20 such replenishment ships, though experts have expressed doubts about the branch’s capacity to fully staff them, given that they are primarily crewed by civilian mariners who are at-will employees that can resign at any time.
