USNS Harvey Milk to be renamed for WWII Medal of Honor recipient

(NewsNation) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that the Navy will rename the USNS Harvey Milk after Oscar V. Peterson, a Medal of Honor recipient who served in World War II.

The move, part of what Hegseth called an effort to take “the politics out of ship naming,”

comes as Pride Month nears its end.

The decision follows a directive laid out in an internal memo, which reportedly aligns with President Donald Trump and Hegseth’s broader goal to “reestablish the warrior culture” within the military.

The USNS Harvey Milk was originally named in 2016 by then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who said the John Lewis-class oilers would honor leaders in civil and human rights.

Milk, a four-year Navy veteran forced out of service due to his sexuality, later became one of the world’s first openly gay politicians. He served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and championed legislation to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation before he was assassinated on Nov. 27, 1978.

The ship was christened in 2021. Operated by Military Sealift Command with a civilian crew of 125, the USNS Harvey Milk conducted its first at-sea resupply mission in fall 2024. It remained active until entering maintenance earlier this year at Alabama Shipyard in Mobile.

Renaming ships is uncommon, though the Biden administration renamed two Navy ships in 2023 as part of its efforts to eliminate Confederate legacies. The USS Chancellorsville became the USS Robert Smalls, and the USNS Maury was renamed the USNS Marie Tharp.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.