The renaming follows a memo recently by Secretary Hegseth to Navy Secretary John Phelan, directing him to rename a number of ships operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) that are or will be named after civil rights icons once built, including but not limited to the
USNS Thurgood Marshall,
USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
USNS Harriet Tubman,
USNS Dolores Huerta,
USNS Lucy Stone,
USNS Cesar Chavez, and
USNS Medgar Evers.
According to an official, the decision to announce the renaming of the Harvey Milk during Pride Month was intentional by the Defense Department.