"We are taking the politics out of ship naming. We're not renaming the ship to anything political," Hegseth said in a video posted on X, without explaining specifically why the change was being made to the "USNS Harvey Milk."

The ship, a 227-meter (744-foot) refueling vessel that was named in 2021, will now be named for Oscar V. Peterson, a Navy sailor who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during World War II, Hegseth said.

The renaming of the ship was first reported earlier this month but the Pentagon said at the time that the change would only be announced after "internal reviews are complete."

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.

Since taking office, President Donald Trump and Hegseth have moved to ban transgender troops from the military and to dismantle diversity programs, arguing the measures undermine US military cohesion.