Military.com said it had reviewed a memo from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy that said the move was in line with Hegseth's purported goal of "reestablishing a warrior culture" in the US armed forces.

Military.com quoted an unidentified defense official as saying that Navy Secretary John Phelan had been ordered by Hegseth to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, and the timing of the announcement -- during LGBTQ WorldPride month -- was intentional.

CBS News said the navy is considering re-titling several other ships including two named after former US Supreme Court justices -- Thurgood Marshall, the first Black member of the top court, and liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

There was no immediate response from the Pentagon to an AFP query about the reports.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, condemned the reported move to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, calling it "a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream."

"Harvey Milk proudly served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and was a formidable force for change -- not just in California, but in our Country," the California congresswoman said in a statement.

"This spiteful move... is a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country."

Milk served as a US Navy diver at a time when there was a ban on homosexuality in the military.

One of the first openly gay politicians in America, Milk was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, where he was instrumental in passing laws banning discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Months later, in 1978, Milk was shot dead along with mayor George Moscone, by a disgruntled former city supervisor.

Milk's murder helped cement his reputation as a civil rights icon, and he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The USNS Harvey Milk, a 227-metre (744-foot) refuelling vessel, was christened at a ceremony in 2021 attended by then-secretary of the navy Carlos Del Toro.

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has moved to ban transgender troops from the military and to dismantle diversity programs, claiming they "undermine leadership, merit, and unit cohesion, thereby eroding lethality and force readiness."