USNS ''Harvey Milk'' (T-AO-206) is the second of the of underway replenishment oilers, operated by the

Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

(MSC) to support ships of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. In July 2016, Ray Mabus, then

United States Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the United States Department of the Navy, Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States D ...

, advised Congress that he intended to name the ''John Lewis''-class oilers after prominent

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

leaders, with this ship to be named in honor of gay rights activist Harvey Milk. The ship was officially named at a ceremony in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

on 16 August 2016. Though Milk was gay, this ship is not the first US Navy ship named for an openly gay person, as that would be the WWI troopship , commissioned in 1917 and named for a revolutionary war hero and one of the

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...

Namesake

Milk served in the US Navy during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

aboard , a

submarine rescue ship A submarine rescue ship is a surface support ship for submarine rescue and deep-sea salvage operations. Methods employed include the McCann Rescue Chamber, deep-submergence rescue vehicles (DSRV's) and diving operations. List of active subm ...

, and held the rank of

lieutenant (junior grade) Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), is ...

. In 1955, he was forced to resign and accept an "other than honorable" discharge, rather than face a court martial for his

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

Construction

Construction for both ''Harvey Milk'', and , the lead ship of the class, was authorized on 30 June 2016. Building got underway for ''John Lewis'' in 2018 at

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

NASSCO in San Diego. The first cut of steel for ''Harvey Milk'' occurred on 13 December 2019, marking the beginning of construction of the vessel. The ship had her christening ceremony and was then launched on 6 November 2021, with Milk's nephew

Stuart Milk Lawrence Stuart Milk (born December 26, 1960) is an American LGBT human rights activist and political speaker. The nephew of civil rights leader Harvey Milk, he is the co-founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation. He has engaged in domestic and intern ...

, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, and the ship's sponsor, prominent LBGTQ activist Paula Neira, in attendance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey Milk (T-AO-206) Harvey Milk John Lewis-class oilers Tankers of the United States Navy

Namesake

Construction

See also

References