D efense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday the USNS Harvey Milk is being renamed the USNS Oscar V. Peterson, after he ordered the Navy to strike the name of the pioneering gay rights activist ...

Navy replenishment oiler, which was previously named for gay rights leader, has been renamed for World War II hero Oscar V. Peterson.

Navy Chief Watertender Oscar Verner Peterson died while performing damage control on his ship during the Battle of the Coral ...

The USNS Harvey Milk was named in 2016 by then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who said at the time that the John Lewis-class of oilers would be named after leaders who fought for civil and human rights.

"People want to be proud of the ship they're sailing in," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in announcing the ship named after the gay rights leader would now be called the USNS Oscar V. Peterson.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the new name for the naval ship USNS Harvey Milk will be the USNS Oscar V. Peterson. "We are taking the politics out of ship naming," Hegseth said in a statement to ...

John Lewis-class replenishment oiler USNS Harvey Milk (TAO-206), center, conducts a replenishment at sea with USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) on Dec. 13, 2024. US Navy Photo.

The USNS Harvey Milk is part of a fleet of replenishment oilers named after civil rights advocates including Chief Justice Earl Warren and US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

The USNS Harvey Milk was named in 2016 by then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who said at the time that the John Lewis-class of oilers would be named after leaders who fought for civil and human rights.

The USNS Harvey Milk is being renamed after Oscar V. Peterson, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Friday.