Harvey Milk in San Francisco Bay, 28 March 2024 | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Harvey Milk |
Namesake | Harvey Milk |
Awarded | 30 June 2016 |
Builder | National Steel and Shipbuilding Company |
Laid down | 3 September 2020 [1] |
Launched | 6 November 2021 [2] |
Sponsored by | Paula Neira [2] |
Christened | 6 November 2021 [2] |
In service | 11 July 2023 [3] |
Identification |
|
Motto | Courage and Conviction [4] |
Status | In active Military Sealift Command service |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Type | Oiler |
USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206) is the second of the John Lewis-class of underway replenishment oilers, operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) to support ships of the United States Navy.
In July 2016, Ray Mabus, then United States Secretary of the Navy, advised Congress that he intended to name the John Lewis-class oilers after prominent civil rights leaders, with this ship to be named in honor of gay rights activist Harvey Milk. [5]
The ship was officially named at a ceremony in San Francisco on 16 August 2016. [6] [7] Though Milk was gay, this ship is not the first US Navy ship named for an openly gay person, as that would be the WWI troopship USS Von Steuben (ID-3017), commissioned in 1917 and named for a revolutionary war hero and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. [8]
Milk served in the US Navy during the Korean War aboard USS Kittiwake (ASR-13), a submarine rescue ship, and held the rank of lieutenant (junior grade). [5] In 1955, he was forced to resign and accept an "other than honorable" discharge, rather than face a court martial for his homosexuality. [9] [10]
Construction for both Harvey Milk, and USNS John Lewis (T-AO-205), the lead ship of the class, was authorized on 30 June 2016. [11] [12] Building got underway for John Lewis in 2018 at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego. [13]
The first cut of steel for Harvey Milk occurred on 13 December 2019, marking the beginning of construction of the vessel. [14] 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] [15]
On 11 July 2023, Harvey Milk entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under the control of the Military Sealift Command. [3]
In March 2024, many pro-Palestinian protesters boarded the ship and caused a ruckus on board. Some of them chained themselves to the ship. The protesters thought that the ship was an Israeli ship. [16]
The Lewis and Clark class of dry cargo ship is a class of 14 underway replenishment vessels operated by the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. The ships in the class are named after famous American explorers and pioneers.
USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE-1) is an American dry cargo ship, the lead ship of her namesake class. It was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The contract to build her was awarded to National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) of San Diego, California, on 18 October 2001 and her keel was laid down on 22 April 2004. She was launched on 21 May 2005, co-sponsored by Jane Lewis Sale Henley and Lisa Clark, descendants of the ship's namesakes. She was delivered to the Navy on 20 June 2006.
The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US military services as well as for other government agencies. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's ocean transport needs. The MSTS was renamed the Military Sealift Command in 1970.
The Henry J. Kaiser class is an American class of eighteen fleet replenishment oilers which began construction in August 1984. The class comprises fifteen oilers which are operated by Military Sealift Command to provide underway replenishment of fuel to United States Navy combat ships and jet fuel for aircraft aboard aircraft carriers at sea.
USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE-5) is a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship in the United States Navy. She is the fourth Navy ship named for Arctic explorer, Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary (1856–1920).
USNS Kanawha (T-AO-196) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler of the United States Navy in non-commissioned service in the Military Sealift Command.
USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE-11) is a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship of the United States Navy, named in honor of Captain Washington Chambers (1856–1934), a pioneer in US naval aviation.
USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE-13) is a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship of the United States Navy. As part of the Navy's Combat Logistics Force, her mission is to deliver ammunition, provisions, dry stores, refrigerated food, spare parts, potable water, and diesel and jet fuel to U.S. Navy and allied ships while at sea. The ship is named for civil rights movement activist Medgar Evers, a World War II veteran who was assassinated in 1963. The Navy announced the naming on 9 October 2009.
An Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD), formerly the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP), is designed to be a semi-submersible, flexible, modular platform providing the US Navy with the capability to perform large-scale logistics movements such as the transfer of vehicles and equipment from sea to shore. These ships significantly reduce the dependency on foreign ports and provide support in the absence of port availability. The class also houses a sub-class variant called the Expeditionary Mobile Base (ESB), formerly the Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB).
The Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force is a division of the US Navy. The 42 ships of the Military Sealift Command's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force are the supply lines to U.S. Navy ships at sea. These ships provide virtually everything that Navy ships need, including fuel, food, ordnance, spare parts, mail and other supplies. NFAF ships enable the Navy fleet to remain at sea, on station and combat ready for extended periods of time. NFAF ships also conduct towing, rescue and salvage operations or serve as floating medical facilities. All NFAF ships are government owned and crewed by civil service mariners. Some of the ships also have a small contingent of Navy personnel aboard for operations support, supply coordination and helicopter operations.
USNS Montford Point (T-ESD-1),, the lead ship of her class of Expeditionary Transfer Docks (ESD), is a ship named in honor of African American Marine Corps recruits who trained at Montford Point Camp, North Carolina, from 1942 to 1949. After $115 million was allocated for long-lead time material and advanced design efforts, in late 2010 General Dynamics's National Steel and Shipbuilding Company was awarded the contract, worth approximately $500 million, to build the first of three planned vessels.
USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2), is a United States Navy Expeditionary Transfer Dock ship named in honor of John Glenn, a Naval Aviator, retired United States Marine Corps colonel, veteran of World War II and the Korean War, astronaut, and United States senator.
USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3), is the first purpose-built expeditionary mobile base vessel for the United States Navy, and the second ship to be named in honor of Chesty Puller. The lead ship in her class of expeditionary mobile bases, she is also a sub-variant of the Montford Point-class expeditionary transfer docks. Lewis B. Puller replaced USS Ponce with the U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf in late 2017.
USNS John Lewis (T-AO-205) is a United States Navy replenishment oiler and the lead ship of her class. She is part of the Military Sealift Command fleet of support ships.
USS Hershel "Woody" Williams (ESB-4) is a Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base (ESB), currently in service with the United States Navy. The ship is also a sub-variant of the Montford Point-class expeditionary transfer dock (ESD). The ESDs are operated by the Navy's Military Sealift Command with predominantly civilian crews, while the ESBs, owing to the nature of their operations, have been commissioned and commanded directly by the U.S. Navy. The ship was named in honor of Hershel W. "Woody" Williams in an announcement by then-Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, on 14 January 2016. Williams was a Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor in the Battle of Iwo Jima, during World War II.
The John Lewis class is a class of fleet replenishment oilers which began construction in September 2018. The class will comprise twenty oilers which will be operated by Military Sealift Command to provide underway replenishment of fuel and limited amounts of dry cargo to United States Navy carrier strike groups, amphibious ready groups, and other surface forces, to allow them to operate worldwide.
USNS Earl Warren (T-AO-207) is the third of the John Lewis-class of underway replenishment oilers, operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) to support ships of the United States Navy.
USS John L. Canley (ESB-6) is the fourth Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base (ESB) of the United States Navy, and the first ship to be named for Medal of Honor recipient John L. Canley. John L. Canley was constructed in San Diego, California by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO). Like her sister ships, she is also a sub-variant of the Montford Point-class expeditionary transfer dock (ESD). The ESDs are operated by the Navy's Military Sealift Command with predominantly civilian crews, while the ESBs, owing to the nature of their operations, have been commissioned and are operated directly by the Navy with military personnel.