WAVY’s Navy Ship Salute: USNS Harvey Milk

WAVY’s Navy Ship Salute is a feature on WAVY News 10 Today. Each month, in partnership with the U.S. Navy, WAVY-TV 10 will profile a different ship based at the world’s largest Navy base: Naval Station Norfolk. The series aims to better introduce our viewers to some of the largest floating taxpayer assets there are, as well as life aboard a U.S. Navy ship.

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — USNS Harvey Milk is a John Lewis-class replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command.

Built by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, the Milk entered non-commissioned service in July 2023 as the second ship of 20 planned. She is currently the newest ship in the U.S. Navy.

Towering 13 decks, a length of 746 feet and a fully loaded weight of nearly 50,000 tons, she is hard to miss on the waterfront.

Capt. Jim White, who has served the Navy for more than 36 years, said the oiler’s existence allows the U.S. Navy to have the strength it has.

“The ship’s mission is to replenish Navy ships at sea, to refuel them, and also resupply them with food, spare parts, mail to keep them on station so they can keep doing their job,” White said. “Without us, we’d need to have a Navy three times the size with all the ships having to come back for fuel.”

This newest class bears the names of Civil Rights leaders.

“Harvey Milk was the first gay man elected to office in San Francisco in the 70s,” White said.

Milk also served in the Navy during the Korean War.

But it was his quest to make government more responsive to the LGBTQ community that he’ll be remembered for.

White’s crew of 85 civil service mariners is tasked with performing what is known as UNREPS, short for underway replenishment, while traveling at 13 knots, roughly 180 feet apart.

“This is so we can still steer,” White said.

Cargo mate Jon Bruce is one of 85 civil service mariners who controls movements above deck.

“So we make the connection initially with a rifle,” Bruce said. “We’ll shoot around over. It’s got a rubber bowling with a small line.”

Eventually a larger line goes across, then a span wire, followed by the hose.

And up in cargo control, cargo engineer Jon Farnham pushes the necessary buttons to get the fuel flowing, or even bring in sea water to balance the ship.

“And from there, you would follow it through your pump and then have it go to whatever tank needed to be filled,” Farnham said.

The ship can carry up to seven million gallons of fuel in all. White said it is split 40/60 between jet fuel for aircraft carriers and diesel for most surface force ships.

They also bring the mail and food supplies. The ship is equipped with four giant freezers.

With 20 of this class of ship being built for the U.S. Navy, you’re going to be seeing more of them around. If you’re passing by on the Monitor-Merrimack Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, you’ll now know what this ship is all about.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.