The Navy has sent a congressional notification that it intends to name a new Military Sealift Command fleet replishment oiler ship (T-AO-206) after gay rights icon and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk.
Harvey Milk was commissioned in 1951 and served as a drive officer in San Diego during the Korean War.
The notification was signed July 14 by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus.
The Navy is declining to comment further until the official naming announcement. However, according to USNI, Mabus has said the John Lewis-class of ships will be named after civil rights leaders. John Lewis, himself, was a civil rights activist and congressman.
Other names in the class include former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren whose court ruled to desegregate U.S. schools, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, women’s right activist Lucy Stone and abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth.
