Search the Site with

General Characteristics

Crew List

History

Image Gallery

to end of page

USNS Oscar V. Peterson (T-AO 206)

USNS OSCAR V. PETERSON is the second ship in the JOHN LEWIS - class of fleet oilers, previously known as the TAO(X) - class. These ships are built with double hulls to protect against oil spills and strengthened cargo and ballast tanks. They are equipped with a basic self-defense capability, including crew served weapons, degaussing, and Nixie Torpedo decoys, and have space, weight, and power reservations for Close In Weapon Systems such as SeaRAMs, and an Anti-Torpedo Torpedo Defense System.

The ship entered service as USNS HARVEY MILK, honoring the late politician and civil and human rights activist, who served in the Navy during the Korean War as a diving officer. After his naval career, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, becoming the first openly gay elected official in California. Milk was assassinated on November 27, 1978. National leadership directed a change in the ship's name on June 27, 2025, and the ship was renamed USNS OSCAR V. PETERSON to honor the World War II chief watertender and Medal of Honor recipient recognized for actions aboard USS NEOSHO (AO 23) at the Battle of the Coral Sea.

back to top

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USNS HARVEY MILK / OSCAR V. PETERSON. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

• Click here to view the list.

back to top

go to the end of the page

Ship's History:

USNS HARVEY MILK entered the Navy's story in the summer of 2016, when the Secretary of the Navy announced that the second unit of a new class of fleet replenishment oilers would bear Harvey Milk's name, tying the ship to a wider recapitalization of at-sea fuel logistics that also honored other figures from the American civil-rights era. Design and construction responsibility rested with General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego. The program moved from paper to steel on December 13, 2019, when the first plate was cut in NASSCO's fabrication halls, and crossed the traditional milestone of keel authentication on September 3, 2020, as prefabricated blocks began to take the ship's form in the graving dock. After two years of structural and systems work, HARVEY MILK was christened and launched on November 6, 2021; Paula Neira, a Navy veteran and one of the ship's sponsors, performed the bottle break, while the ceremony also recognized the ship's double-hull design and 157,000-barrel fuel capacity intended to sustain carriers, escorts, and aviation across long patrols.

Through 2022 and the first half of 2023, the ship remained at NASSCO for outfitting and test. Acceptance trials with the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey concluded in May 2023, demonstrating propulsion, navigation, cargo systems and alongside replenishment hardware at sea and in port. The Navy formally accepted delivery in San Diego on July 11, 2023, transferring the new oiler to Military Sealift Command for operational service with a civilian-mariner crew and a small embarked Navy department for communications and force protection. Post-delivery, the ship completed remaining punch-list items in Southern California while MSC finalized manning and certification for the first employment period.

In early 2024, the ship's movements took her to Northern California for final loadouts and administrative calls that became briefly newsworthy against the backdrop of the Gaza war. On March 29, 2024, while the ship lay at Piers 30-32 on San Francisco's Embarcadero, protesters gathered at the brow and some chained themselves to the gangway. City police cleared the pier after several hours without injuries, and the ship's schedule continued. HARVEY MILK then shifted to the U.S. East Coast to complete integration with Commander, U.S. Second Fleet. On April 10, 2024, she was recorded in the Miraflores Locks transiting the Panama Canal northbound, and on April 16, 2024, she arrived at Naval Station Norfolk to begin workups, logistics loadings, and area familiarization in the Virginia Capes (VACAPES) operating areas. By June 3, 2024, the ship's master and crew were hosting Navy leadership aboard in Norfolk as part of MSC's force generation and "new construction" integration discussions, a typical step as a first employment period transitions toward routine tasking.

Operationally, the oiler's first published replenishment evolutions came that autumn and reflected the class's role as a theater "fuel pipeline". On September 24, 2024, HARVEY MILK executed her first documented replenishment-at-sea with partner-nation warships, fueling the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force training squadron - JS KASHIMA (TV 3508) and JS SHIMAKAZE (DDG 172, operating as a training ship) - in the VACAPES sea space. The bilateral set occurred near the end of the JMSDF's around-the-world cruise carrying newly commissioned officers, and it doubled as a tactical interoperability drill on rig handling and approach procedures. As Atlantic training cycles intensified toward year's end, HARVEY MILK joined a large-unit evolution in blue water on December 13, 2024, coming alongside the carrier USS GERALD R. FORD (CVN 78) with USS ROSS (DDG 71) maneuvering in company. Imagery from the event also showed the legacy oiler USNS JOHN LENTHALL (T-AO 189) working the formation, illustrating how the new JOHN LEWIS-class was beginning to share the load with the older HENRY J. KAISER-class on the East Coast.

With initial operations complete, HARVEY MILK entered her first major maintenance period. Military Sealift Command awarded a fixed-price contract for the post-shakedown availability (PSA) in late 2024, scheduling the ship to Alabama Shipyard, Mobile, for a yard period beginning January 9, 2025, and planned to run through June 22, 2025. The PSA - a standard event about a year after delivery - focused on correcting trial discrepancies, completing deferred construction, inspecting tanks and pumps, preserving the underwater body, and tuning replenishment gear and auxiliary systems after the first months of fleet use. The ship arrived in Mobile on schedule and progressed through the package through the spring. During this maintenance period, national leadership directed a change in the ship's name: on June 27, 2025, the vessel was renamed USNS OSCAR V. PETERSON (T-AO 206) to honor the World War II chief watertender and Medal of Honor recipient recognized for actions aboard USS NEOSHO (AO 23) at the Battle of the Coral Sea. The announcement came while the ship remained in Mobile for the PSA, and local outlets noted the change as the availability continued under the new name. By late June, the contracted work had reached its planned completion window, closing the first life-cycle arc from construction and trials through initial operations and the inaugural yard period. Reactivation checks, certifications, and scheduling for renewed fleet tasking followed as the ship prepared to resume the oiler's day-to-day mission - keeping carriers, amphibious groups, and destroyer squadrons fueled across Atlantic tasking and, when directed, beyond.

back to top

go to the end of the page

USNS HARVEY MILK / OSCAR V. PETERSON Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the HARVEY MILK under construction at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, Calif., on November 28 and November 29 (aerial photos), 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HARVEY MILK under construction at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, Calif., on December 28, 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HARVEY MILK under construction at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, Calif., on May 29, 2022.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HARVEY MILK under construction at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, Calif., on October 10, 2022.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HARVEY MILK under construction at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, Calif., on May 28, 2023.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show USNS HARVEY MILK at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, Calif., on October 3, 2023.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HARVEY MILK at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif., on November 12, 2023.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show USNS HARVEY MILK at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 4, 2024.

back to top

Back to Fleet Oilers page.

Back to ships list.

Back to selection page.

Back to 1^st page.