Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the U.S. Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, a ship originally named after the late San Francisco gay rights activist and Navy veteran. The decision, revealed in a Department of the Navy memorandum, signals a broader cultural shift within the Department of Defense toward what leaders are calling a “reestablishment of the warrior ethos.”
According to reporting from Military Times, the directive came from Secretary Hegseth and was formally issued to Navy Secretary John Phelan. A defense official cited in the report stated that preparations are already underway to remove the ship’s current name. The source also said the announcement’s timing during Pride Month was deliberate, underscoring the administration’s repositioning on cultural and symbolic military matters.
The USNS Harvey Milk, a fleet oiler, was named in 2016 during the Obama administration and completed its first operational deployment in 2024, docking in San Francisco to celebratory fanfare. Milk, a Navy veteran, who was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S. before his assassination in 1978. He served in the Navy from 1951 to 1955, resigning with the rank of lieutenant junior grade amid official scrutiny of his sexual orientation.
The internal Pentagon memo, as reported by Military Times, stated that the name change reflects the current administration’s focus on realigning Department of Defense assets with what it described as “the president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture.”
Pentagon press secretary Sean Parnell provided a written statement that did not deny the renaming but suggested additional changes may be forthcoming.
“Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all DOD installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief’s priorities, our nation’s history, and the warrior ethos,” Parnell wrote. “Any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.”
With input from Fox News.
