WASHINGTON - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the Navy to rename USNS Harvey Milk, an extremely rare move that would deprive a murdered gay rights activist who served as a sailor during the Korean War.

Navy Secretary John Phelan formed a small team to rename the oilers and a new name is expected this month, U.S. officials said. Officials who asked not to be named said the next name had not been selected.

The change was brought in an internal memorandum, which officials said was a move in line with President Donald Trump and Hergers’ goals to “re-establish warrior culture.”

It marks the latest move by Hegseth and the wider Trump administration to clear all programs, policies, books and social media mentions about references to diversity, equity and inclusion. This is the emergence of Pride Month - the same timing as the Pentagon's movement that forced trans troops out of the U.S. military.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that Hegseth was “committed to ensuring that all Department of Defense installations and assets are the names of the Commander-in-Chief’s priorities, the history of our nation and the spirit of the fighters.”

The Philan's office did not respond to a request for comment on the decision, which was first reported by Martial.com.

USNS Harvey Milk was named in 2016 by then-Jewish Secretary Ray Mabus, who said at the time that John Lewis Class’s oil troop would be named after leaders fighting for civil and human rights.

Mill, portrayed by Sean Penn in a 2008 Oscar-winning film, served in the Navy for four years before being forced to become gay. Later, he became one of the first openly gay candidates to be elected to office.

Milk serves on the San Francisco Supervisory Board Committee and sponsors a bill that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientations of public accommodation, housing and employment. It passed, and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone signed it into law.

On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mostin were assassinated by Dan White, a disgruntled former city director who only voted for the Milk Act.

"This malicious move will not strengthen our national security or the spirit of the 'warriors'. Instead, it is a surrender of the basic values ​​of the United States: respecting the legacy of those who work to build a better country."

California Governor Gavin Newsom also slammed the move, calling Milk a veteran of the Korean War, whose commander called him "outstanding."

"Stripping his name from a naval ship won't eliminate his legacy as an American idol, but it does reveal Trump's contempt for the values ​​we veterans have for protection," the Democrat wrote on X.

The ship was named in 2021, and at the ceremony, then-secretary Carlos del Toro said he wanted to attend the event “not only to modify past mistakes, but to inspire all our LGBTQ community leaders, people in the Navy, today, today and in today’s uniforms, and in the civilian workforce, and to tell them, we’re going to tell them too.

The ship is operated by the Military Sealing Command and has a crew of about 125 civilian sailors. The Navy said it had its first resupply mission at sea when it operated in the Virginia Cape in the fall of 2024. It continues to replenish naval ships off the East Coast sea until maintenance began at the Alabama shipyard in Mobile, Alabama earlier this year.

While renaming is rare, the Biden administration has also changed the names of two naval ships in 2023, part of the removal of the names of allies from U.S. military devices.

Chancellorsville, named after the Civil War battle, was renamed as the Robert Smalls as sailors and formerly enslaved people. USNS Maury is a marine survey ship named after Confederate sailors, renamed USNS Marie Tharp after geologists and marine mapmakers created the first scientific map of Atlantic floors.

The legend of the ocean hints why the name-changed ship is so unusual, which suggests that changing the name is unfortunate luck and induces retribution from the God of the Ocean.