U.S. Navy ship will honor Billy Frank Jr., tribal rights leader

SEATTLE — Billy Frank Jr. was arrested over 50 times trying to preserve his and his tribe's treaty right to fish in their ancestral waters. Now, the legendary Nisqually elder who was a central figure in the fight for tribal fishing rights and environmental protections in the Pacific Northwest will have a U.S. Navy ship named after him.

A future U.S. Navy Navajo-class towing, salvage and rescue ship — TATS-11 — will be named the USNS Billy Frank Jr., officials announced this month.