The U.S. Navy has named the T-AO 209 and T-AO 210 fleet replenishment oilers in honor of two American civil and human rights heroes during a ceremony held at the Boston Public Library.

T-AO 209 and T-AO 210 will respectively bear the names USNS Lucy Stone and USNS Sojourner Truth, the Navy said Monday.

“Both Lucy Stone and Sojourner Truth fought relentlessly for all human rights,” said Ray Mabus, secretary of the Navy.

“It is important to recognize and honor those who have strived to fulfill the promise laid out in our Constitution — to form a more perfect union.”

Stone was a 19th-century abolitionist, suffragist and women’s rights advocate who organized the first National Women’s Rights Convention and helped form the Woman’s National Loyal League and the American Women Suffrage Association.

Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree and was a civil rights and equality advocate as well as an African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist who escaped from slavery in 1826.

The Military Sealift Command will operate the ships to help replenish the fuel of deployed Navy ships and carrier-based aircraft.

Construction of the USNS Lucy Stone is set to begin in 2021 to be followed by USNS Sojourner Truth in 2022, the Navy said.

U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has named the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers DDG 125 and DDG 126 after two former Marines who were awarded Medals of Honor for their efforts during World War II.

The service branch said Saturday DDG 125 and DDG 126 will be called USS Jack H. Lucas and USS Louis H. Wilson Jr., respectively.

Lucas was given a Medal of Honor at age 17 as a U.S. Marine Corps private first class for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima, making him the youngest Marine and WWII service member to receive the honor, according to the Navy.

The branch added Wilson received the Medal of Honor as a Marine Corps captain after he helped defeat an enemy force during the Battle of Guam.

He also pushed for the service branch’s force readiness, responsiveness and mobility programs during his tenure as Marine Corps commandant.

Huntington Ingalls Industries will build DDG 125 while General Dynamics‘ Bath Iron Works division will construct DDG 126.

Both ships are scheduled to enter service in 2023.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are designed to support various Navy operations such as peacetime presence, crisis response, sea control and power projection.

Stephen Welby, assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering, has said Defense Department must be more innovative than the U.S.’ adversaries if the country is to hold technological superiority in battle, DoD News reported Friday.

Welby discussed research-and-development efforts across the defense sector at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and outlined DoD’s strategies to further its innovation programs, Cheryl Pellerin reports.

He said technological superiority requires science and technology that helps to sustain fundamental research and make use of emerging tools in order to meet warfighter needs, according to the report.

“We need to be open and agile, to leverage all potential sources of technical advantage, from our traditional industrial base, from nontraditional suppliers and from academia to help to create competitive advantage,” Welby said at the event.

Welby also called on DoD laboratories to help translate technical capabilities into concepts that will help to address warfighter requirements to respond to threats, Pellerin reports.

As DoD’s chief technology officer, he said one of his responsibilities is to keep the department focused on its science and technology portfolio, the report says.

He cited technical focus areas of DoD that include autonomy, cyber, sensors, electronic warfare, ground and sea platforms, space, human systems, air platforms, biomedical, counter weapons of mass destruction and counter improvised explosive devices.

Welby said DoD plans to increase its use of prototypes and experiments to mature technologies, Pellerin reports.