Like the rest of her sister ships, the John Lewis class is intended to replace the older Henry J. Kaiser-class oilers and is heavily based on the former's design. As replenishment oilers, the vessels transport fuel and cargo to other ships at sea to extend their range and capabilities.[6]
In early June 2025, an internal defense department memo was leaked that directed the Navy to rename Harvey Milk. According to the leaked materials, the reason for renaming the civilian crewed oiler was to "reestablish the warrior culture" of the U.S. military.[9][10]Military.com reported that an unnamed defense official indicated that the announcement was intentionally timed to take place during LGBTQ Pride Month.[11]
The new name, Oscar V. Peterson, was announced at the end of June 2025. Peterson was a U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer and Medal of Honor recipient who died after the attack on USSNeosho during the Battle of the Coral Sea in World War II.[12] All the other ships in the class are named after civil rights leaders.[9]
Harvey Milk at her christening and launch ceremony, November 2021
The first cut of steel for Harvey Milk occurred on 13 December 2019, marking the beginning of construction of the vessel.[16] The ship had her christening ceremony and was then launched on 6 November 2021, with Milk's nephew Stuart Milk, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, and the ship's sponsor, prominent LBGTQ activist Paula Neira, in attendance.[2][17]
On 11 July 2023, she entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under the control of the Military Sealift Command.[3]
Career
In March 2024, during the Gaza war, nine pro-Palestinianprotesters attempted to board the ship and create a disturbance. They were stopped at the gangway before they could board; however, they managed to chain themselves to the gangway until San Francisco Police removed them. The protest was organized by, amongst others, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, which claimed that the oiler was carrying weapons to Israel.[18] After the ship left San Francisco it transited the Panama Canal on 10 April 2024[19] and arrived at Norfolk on 16 April 2024 to conduct sea trials.[20][21] The ship then operated off the US east coast from Norfolk and refueled Japanese training ships in September[22] and USSGerald R. Ford in December.[23]
Harvey Milk was scheduled for a $24 million post-shakedown availability shipyard period at Alabama Shipyard in Mobile from January to June 2025.[24][25]
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