Published 24 September 2026 · Last updated 24 September 2026
In January 2020 the Navy announced that its fourth Gerald R. Ford-class carrier, CVN-81, would be named for Doris Miller. It was the first carrier named for an enlisted sailor and the first named for a Black American. Six years later, that name is in question. This post sets out what has been reported, what has been confirmed, and what the historical record says about the man at the centre of it.
What has been reported
On 20 August 2026, CNN reported, citing anonymous sources, that the Navy has effectively stopped referring to the ship as the USS Doris Miller internally and calls it only by its hull number. A recent White House executive order on shipbuilding also referred to the ship only as CVN-81. Internal discussions have included the possibility of naming the carrier after President Donald Trump, according to CNN’s sources.
The same reporting said Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao and his office have also been reviewing the rules on how Navy ships are named and who they can be named after, including presidents. The review was described as part of efforts within the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to remove names chosen for what the administration considers diversity, equity and inclusion purposes. When the Navy renamed the USNS Harvey Milk in 2025, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth was committed to names reflecting the commander-in-chief’s priorities, the nation’s history, and the warrior ethos.
One source also told CNN that the Navy will name another warship after Miller instead and is recommending him for the Medal of Honor.
What has been confirmed
As of this date, nothing. The Navy has not publicly confirmed a final decision, and no on-the-record Navy statement naming a new namesake has been issued. The official name remains USS Doris Miller.
The timing matters. The Navy is under pressure to finalize the name because the keel-laying ceremony is expected at the end of this year. Separately, the Navy’s FY2027 budget shows the carrier’s delivery slipping from 2032 to 2034 because of shipyard space constraints.
The response
Representatives Kweisi Mfume, Wesley Bell and Marilyn Strickland led more than 70 House Democrats in a letter to Hegseth and Cao asking them to keep the name. The letter argued that “renaming this ship after a sitting President would be unprecedented and break longstanding tradition.” Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, the state that gave its name to Miller’s battleship, told WVVA that, as the daughter of a World War II veteran, she believes keeping Miller’s name on the ship is right and proper, and she hopes the Secretary of the Navy decides to do so.
Miller’s family says it was not consulted. His great-nephew, Thomas Bledsoe, said the family was told about neither the possible name change nor the renewed Medal of Honor effort. He described the Medal of Honor recommendation as very positive, since the family has sought it for years. Speaking to WFAA in mid-September, Bledsoe described reactions within the family ranging from anxiety to sadness to anger.
On 19 September, Thomas Modly, the acting Navy Secretary who named the ship in 2020, argued in the Virginian-Pilot that the Navy should never give the name up.
The Medal of Honor question is already before Congress. H.R. 2335, introduced by Rep. Mfume on 25 March 2025, would authorize a posthumous award. It remains in the House Armed Services Committee.
What the record says
Accounts of Doris Miller have grown in the retelling for more than eighty years, and some of that retelling appears in this month’s coverage. The original documents tell a story that needs no additions: a mess attendant with no battle station on deck went into the open under fire, helped his dying captain, and took up a gun. Here is how a few commonly repeated details compare with those documents.
On aircraft shot down. Many reports say Miller downed one or more planes. No Navy document we have examined credits him with any. In his statement of 11 December 1941, Lt. (jg) Frederic White records that he and Miller manned the two machine guns forward of the conning tower, and he makes no claim of a hit. The Secretary of the Navy’s commendation of 30 March 1942, signed by Frank Knox, says Miller “later manned and operated a machine gun until ordered to leave the bridge.” The Navy Cross citation of 27 May 1942 adds that the gun was aimed at attacking aircraft. Neither document claims a hit. Later accounts give numbers anywhere from one to six, and even published summaries disagree about what the Navy credited. The record establishes that he fired. It does not settle whether he hit anything.
On his training. Miller held no gunner’s rating. As a mess attendant in the segregated Steward’s Branch, he had no assignment to a gun. One secondary source places him at a gunnery school aboard USS Nevada in July 1940, but no official Navy history mentions it. That point remains unresolved.
On how long he fired. Some accounts say he fired until his ammunition ran out. The citation says he fired until he was ordered to leave the bridge.
On his captain. Miller helped carry the mortally wounded Captain Mervyn Bennion away from the fire. Bennion did not want to be moved, and he died on the bridge.
What the action report does credit. The ship’s own report singles Miller out for something else: with Lt. White, he hauled men through oil and water to the quarterdeck, and the report says this unquestionably saved lives.
Every one of these corrections leaves the essential story standing. The documents record a young man, barred by his era from nearly every role but serving meals, who chose the most dangerous place on the ship when it mattered. That is why the Navy honored him in 1942.
What to watch
The key date is the keel laying, expected late 2026. We will update this post when the Navy makes an official statement, or if H.R. 2335 moves out of committee.
Sources
- CNN, Navy weighs renaming carrier slated to honor Black war hero, 20 Aug 2026
- NBC News, Navy discusses renaming aircraft carrier, 20 Aug 2026
- Military.com, Doris Miller name controversy draws backlash
- Office of Rep. Kweisi Mfume, press release on House letter
- WFAA, Doris Miller’s family reacts, 16 Sep 2026
- WVVA, Capito responds, 20 Sep 2026
- Thomas Modly, Virginian-Pilot, 19 Sep 2026, republished by RealClearDefense, 22 Sep 2026
- Naval History and Heritage Command, USS West Virginia action report, 11 Dec 1941
- Naval History and Heritage Command, Enclosure H: statement of Lt. (jg) F.H. White
- Congress.gov, H.R. 2335 text
- Secretary of the Navy commendation, 30 March 1942, NARA NAID 74876313