Pete Hegseth orders Navy to rename USNS Harvey Milk

(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - The U.S. Navy is removing the name of a gay rights activist from one of its ships.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk.

The oiler, which is a support ship for the Navy, was named after Milk in 2016.

Milk served in the Navy during the Korean war before going on to become the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California.

According to a Defense Department official, the name change will be quick, and it is not yet clear what the new name will be.

The move is the latest military name change under Secretary Hegseth as the traditional names of Fort Bragg and Fort Benning were restored earlier this year, albeit honoring new namesakes and not the Confederate generals for which they were originally named.

The Biden Administration initially removed the Confederate names following protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.