Slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers has been honored with a Navy supply ship named for him.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, a former governor of Mississippi, announced the honor Friday during a speech at Jackson State University. The nearly 700-foot-long vessel named for Evers will deliver food, ammunition and parts to other ships at sea.

During the civil rights movement, Evers, a native of Newton County, organized nonviolent protests, voter registration drives and boycotts in Mississippi, rising to the post of national field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

In 1963, Evers was assassinated in the driveway of his home in Jackson after returning from a meeting with NAACP lawyers.

Sen. Roger Wicker released a statement after the announcement.

“I applaud the Navy for assigning a ship to be named after a great Mississippian and civil rights leader," said Wicker. "Medgar Evers lived and died in full commitment of freedom and equality. Now a ship named after him will fly our nation’s flag and support sailors around the world who are committed to protecting the rights and freedoms we all cherish. I cannot think of a more fitting way to honor Medgar Evers’ life and legacy.”

“Through his life and tragic death, Medgar Evers demonstrated a commitment to service and sacrifice, and I think it is fitting that the Navy is naming a ship in his honor," said. Sen. Thad Cochran, in a written statement. "He has an esteemed place in the history of Mississippi and the nation, and this honor should bring even greater attention to his civil rights legacy.”