US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the renaming of a naval vessel honouring a gay rights pioneer in a landmark crackdown on "activism" in the military. The USNS Harvey Milk, named after the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California,

Hegseth said that he would be renaming the USNS Harvey Milk in honor of Chief Watertender Oscar V. Peterson. Peterson heroically sacrificed his life while his ship, the USS Neosho, was under attack by the Japanese during the Battle of the Coral Sea.