Debate underway about possible name change of future Ford-class aircraft carrier

Five years ago, relatives of World War II Navy hero Doris Miller gathered at HII Newport News Shipbuilding for the “first cut” of steel to be used on the future CVN-81.

The fourth 100,000-ton Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier would be the first named for an enlisted sailor and the first Black recipient of the Navy Cross for “extraordinary heroism in combat against an enemy.”

Thomas Bledsoe, Miller’s great-nephew, gave the ceremonial order on Aug. 25, 2021, to “cut that steel” to Newport News, Va., shipyard workers who sliced the first steel plate with a large plasma-cutting machine. U.S. Navy leadership, elected officials, workers and Doris Miller’s relatives signed their names on the plate.

“It is so fitting and timely during a period of significant discussion and change we come together to begin construction of one of our Navy’s next great aircraft carriers, in the name of one of the finest heroes of the greatest generation,” said Adm. James Downey, then the carrier program director. “We will construct a sound and mighty warship worthy of his legacy.”

Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly had made the original naming announcement on Jan. 20, 2020, during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.

Today, the construction of CVN-81 has been delayed by the same shipyard capacity and worker issues that have slowed many new ship projects in the Navy. The carrier is not expected to be commissioned into active service until 2034.

When it does join the Navy, there are questions about whether the carrier will be named for Miller in the end.

The family of Doris Miller unveils a plaque commemorating the future Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Doris Miller (CVN 81) on Jan. 20, 2020, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. (Justin R. Pacheco/U.S. Navy)

CNN and NBC News, citing multiple unnamed sources, last week reported discussions within President Donald Trump’s administration to change the name of the carrier, possibly to something that would honor the president himself.

Some reports said the discussions included naming a different ship for Miller and having him posthumously receive the Medal of Honor, a step above the Navy Cross. The honor would require the approval of Trump and Congress.

The White House and Pentagon have not issued statements on the unnamed reports about a possible name change to the future USS Doris Miller.

The Defense Department and HII Newport News Shipbuilding referred questions to the Navy.

A Navy spokesman said Friday the “Navy has nothing to announce at this time.”

Even with no comment from the Pentagon, the possibility of renaming the carrier was criticized by some members of Congress, retired Navy admirals and civil rights groups.

Retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, urged the Trump administration not to “undo the excellent decision” to name the carrier after Doris Miller.

Bledsoe, Miller’s great-nephew, told CNN on Aug. 20 that the possibility of such a move “was quite a shock.”

NAACP President Derrick Johnson wrote on X on Aug. 21 that the idea of changing the name was “a slap in the face to every war hero and to every service member who has worn the uniform.”

Changing the names of ships, especially major ones such as aircraft carriers, is relatively rare, according to Ronald O’Rourke, a retired analyst for the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. O’Rourke has authored several reports for lawmakers on Navy ship-naming rules and traditions. His most recent revision came out in December 2025.

“Names for Navy ships traditionally have been chosen and announced by the secretary of the Navy, under the direction of the president and in accordance with rules prescribed by Congress,” O’Rourke wrote.

When it comes to aircraft carriers, that has led to a limited selection of names.

Of the Navy’s 17 most recently named aircraft carriers, 12 have been named for past U.S. presidents and two for members of Congress, O’Rourke wrote. The last three Nimitz carriers were named for Harry S. Truman, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. The first Ford-class honored Gerald R. Ford, and the second is named for John F. Kennedy.

The string of presidential names was interrupted in 2020, when Modly announced the third carrier would carry the name USS Enterprise, a storied ship name throughout Navy history, particularly in World War II, and the name of the first nuclear-powered carrier of the Cold War. It was inactivated in 2012.

The fourth carrier would be named for Miller.

Then-Navy Mess Attendant First Class Doris Miller wearing the Navy Cross he received for action on Dec. 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)

The son of a Texas sharecropper, Miller enlisted in the Navy in 1939. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, he was serving as a mess mate on the battleship USS West Virginia when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

Miller helped with the wounded, then ran to the deck where he found an unmanned machinegun. Though untrained, he started firing back at the planes attacking Battleship Row.

“It wasn’t hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine,” Miller said in news reports after the attack. He later abandoned ship and helped sailors swim to safety.

Miller was awarded the Navy Cross, the service’s second-highest award for gallantry, just below the Medal of Honor. He returned to combat in 1943 as a senior steward on the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay. The night before Thanksgiving, he was prepping the holiday feast for the next day when the ship was torpedoed off the Gilbert Islands. He did not survive.

The Navy named a frigate, USS Miller, after him, which served from 1973 to 1991.

Miller’s name has remained attached to the carrier through Democratic and Republican administrations since. Under Democrat Joe Biden, the naming process for aircraft carriers reverted to honoring presidents. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced in January 2025 that the fifth and sixth Ford-class carriers would be named USS William J. Clinton and USS George W. Bush.

O’Rourke said in an interview this week that changing the name of ships once they are announced — or even in active service — is atypical.

O’Rourke said the Navy originally planned to name the Nimitz-class carrier CVN-75 as USS United States. It was changed at the request of Congress to USS Harry S. Truman to honor the former president.

But aircraft carriers are the highest-profile ships due to their place at the center of the American projection of Navy power.

“Secretaries of the Navy and administrations have generally, though not completely, avoided changing ship names selected by previous secretaries of the Navy or administrations,” O’Rourke said.

Changing a name unilaterally could leave a future administration with an opening to switch names again.

“If you change the name of a ship selected by a prior secretary of the Navy or administration, you are playing with fire in a way that could, over the longer run, burn down your own house by having your own naming selections overturned by one or more future secretaries of the Navy or administrations,” O’Rourke said.

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on May 16, 2026. CVN-81, which was announced to be named USS Doris Miller, would be the fourth Ford-class carrier to be built for the U.S. Navy. (Michael Shen/U.S. Navy)