Report: Trump DoD to Rename Navy Ships to Reflect “Warrior Culture"
The Trump administrate has reported begun to review the names of U.S. warships as part of an effort to “align” with the president and secretary of defense’s objectives of reestablishing the "warrior culture,” according to a leaked memo from the Pentagon. First in the effort, the reports are saying, is the renaming of USNS Harvey Milk, a John Lewis class replenishment oiler named for a slain gay rights activist and elected San Francisco supervisor who became a symbol of the gay community after his 1978 murder.
The website Military.com was first to report on the leaked memo and the story has now been confirmed by major news outlets including CBS News and Reuters. The initiative is reported to be coming from the office of the Secretary of Defense, ex-Fox reporter Pete Hegseth. Navy spokespersons only confirmed that any renaming would be announced “after an internal review.”
The stories are saying that preparations are underway for the renaming, although they were unable to learn the new name of the USNS Harvey Milk. Reports are saying the Secretary of Defense planned to announce the changes on June 13. Military.com writes the timing is intentional to make the announcement during the Pride month celebrations in the U.S., which is dedicated to celebrating the contributions of the gay community.
Milk served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War in the early 1950s. According to his official bio, he was however effectively booted from the Navy in 1955 after questions arose about his sexual orientation. He was elected as an openly gay San Francisco supervisor in 1977 and was outspoken before he was murdered in San Francisco City Hall on November 27, 1978, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, by an ex-supervisor named Dan White.
The Navy decided to name the new class of oilers after prominent civil rights leaders and activists. The class is still under construction, although the Navy has published names for the additional ships. CBS is reporting that in addition to Harvey Milk, renaming is under consideration for two vessels named after U.S. Supreme Court Justices, USNS Thurgood Marshall and USNS Ruth Bader Ginsberg, as well as USNS Harriet Tubman named for an abolitionist leader and others including USNS Dolores Huerta, USNS Lucy Stone, USNS Cesar Chaver, and USNS Medgar Evers.
CBS spoke with former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and San Francisco resident Nancy Pelosi who called the rumored action “shameful” and “vindictive.” Reuters is quoting U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as calling the actions “disgusting” and “blatant discrimination.”
Trump and Hegseth have both called for restoring the focus on warfighting and promising to rid the military of all DEI efforts (diversity, equity, and inclusion). Hegseth also ordered the military to stop marking celebrations such as Black History Month and to purge DEI references from all areas ranging from libraries to materials and programs.
The Navy has rarely renamed active vessels. It has a long tradition of naming vessels after elected officials and prominent veterans and people in society as well as geographic locations. In 2023, the Navy renamed two vessels, USS Chancellorsville and USNS Maury, as part of a Congress-directed effort at removing names associated with the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War. It also took the names of Confederate generals off military bases, which was reversed by the Trump administration in March.