The US Navy is working to rename an aircraft carrier under construction that was set to honour a Black sailor hailed for his heroic actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor, sources told CNN.
According to the report, the Navy announced during ’s first term that the Ford-class carrier would be called the USS Doris Miller, recognising an enlisted sailor who helped defend US forces from Japan’s attack.
It’s unclear what the Navy is seeking to change the name of the carrier to. However, two of the sources said there have been internal conversations about renaming it to honour .
It would be an unprecedented move to name an aircraft carrier after a sitting president.
The Navy is looking instead to rename another warship after Miller, according to one of the sources, and is recommending him for the Medal of Honor, the highest decoration for military valor. The final authorisation for the award is up to Congress and approval from Trump.
A Department of Defense spokesperson told CNN they had nothing to announce at this time.
The choice of marked the first time an aircraft carrier would honor an enlisted sailor, and the first aircraft carrier to be named for an African American. US aircraft carriers are often named after former US presidents and notable military or political leaders.
But, as per the report, the effort to rename the has been underway since earlier this year, the sources said.
Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao and his office have also been looking into updating the official guidance for how ships should be named and specifying who they can be named after, including presidents, two of the sources said.
They added that amid conversations over the ship’s name, the Navy has effectively stopped referring to the ship as the USS Doris Miller internally and is only calling it by its hull number, CVN-81.
A recent executive order on shipbuilding also referred to the ship only as CVN-81.
Miller’s family reacts
Thomas Bledsoe, Miller’s great-nephew, told CNN Miller’s family had not been informed of the change or the renewed effort to award his great-uncle with the Medal of Honor.
The family has been working to get him the Medal of Honor “for years,” Bledsoe was quoted as saying, and called the Navy’s move to recommend the honor “very positive.”
As the ship’s keel-laying ceremony is expected at the end of this year, the Navy is under a time crunch to finalise the carrier’s name. The ship is not expected to be delivered until 2034, USNI News first reported, due to shipbuilder constraints.
Who was Doris Miller?
Doris “Dorie” Miller, from Waco, Texas, enlisted in the US Navy in 1939, according to the National Museum of the Pacific War.
On the day of Japan’s attack, Miller — a Mess Attendant Third Class at the time — was retrieving laundry when bombs began falling on the US fleet.
Mess attendant was one of the only jobs in the Navy open to Black men, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs. Damage by Japan’s attack kept him from returning to his assigned battle station.
Miller proceeded to aid his wounded commanding officer. Despite having received no training on the system, took control of an anti-aircraft gun and opened fire on the Japanese aircraft.
“Although untrained,” the VA’s website says, “he laid down effective fire and stopped firing when he ran out of ammunition and the ship began to sink. Even then, he persisted in helping his fellow sailors to safety until he finally made his way to shore.”
In 1942, Admiral Chester Nimitz presented Miller with the Navy Cross, and he was then sent out on a War Bond tour with several white service members, “making him the first African American allowed on the speaking tour,” according to the VA.
Roughly a year later, Miller was killed during the Battle of Makin when his ship was hit by a Japanese submarine’s torpedo.
Miller was famously portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor.
(With inputs from CNN)
