Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the renaming of the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson on Friday. By changing the ship’s name to honor a U.S. Navy Congressional Medal of Honor recipient instead of a gay rights activist, Hegseth claimed the Trump administration is “taking the politics out of ship naming.”
In a video message shared Friday on X, formerly Twitter, Hegseth said, “Well, I’m pleased to officially announce that the Department of the Navy is renaming the fleet replenishment oiler, formerly known as the USNS Harvey Milk, to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson.”
“We are taking the politics out of ship naming,” Hegseth added. “We’re not renaming the ship to anything political. This is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration. Instead, we’re renaming the ship after a United States Navy Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, as it should be.”
In Friday’s video message, the secretary of defense claimed that the USNS Harvey Milk was being renamed to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson in honor of a former Navy chief because “people want to be proud of the ship they’re sailing in.”
READ MORE: SECDEF Hegseth orders Navy to rename ship named after gay rights activist: Report
Hegseth explained that Peterson led a repair party on the USS Neosho during the Battle of Coral Sea in 1942. Hegseth noted that the USS Neosho was “severely damaged by Japanese dive bombers,” and all the members of Peterson’s repair party were severely wounded or killed. While Peterson was “gravely wounded” in the battle, Hegseth said he was able to “single-handedly” close the ship’s bulkhead stop valves, which kept the ship operational during the battle.
“In performing his historic actions and heroic actions, Peterson received additional injuries and burns, which tragically resulted in his death, but his spirit of self-sacrifice and concern for his crew mates was in keeping with the finest traditions of the Navy, and for his heroic actions, Oscar Peterson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor,” Hegseth added.
Earlier this month, Hegseth ordered the U.S. Navy to change the name of the USNS Harvey Milk. According to CBS News, the ship was originally named after Harvey Milk under former President Barack Obama’s administration in August of 2016. The outlet noted that Milk was a gay rights activist and the first openly gay official to be elected in California. Milk was assassinated in 1978.
A memorandum obtained by Military.com explained that the ship’s name change was part of the “alignment with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture.”
