Who Was Doris Miller & Why Did He Have An Aircraft Carrier Named After Him?
When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Doris Miller was doing laundry below decks of the USS West Virginia, a 32,600-ton Colorado-class battleship. During the battle, the USS West Virginia was one of four battleships lost at Pearl Harbor, suffering damage from at least seven torpedoes and two bombs, and sinking to the bottom of the harbor.
Doris "Dorie" Miller, born October 12, 1919, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1939, starting his Navy career as a ship's mess attendant, rising to the rank of ship's cook, third class prior to his death on November 24, 1943. Miller, along with 643 others, died aboard the Liscome Bay, an escort carrier, when it suffered torpedo damage. It sank 20 miles southwest of Butaritari Island, an atoll nearly 2,400 miles northeast of Australia in the Pacific Ocean.
Miller's heroic actions aboard the USS West Virginia during the attack on Pearl Harbor earned him the Navy Cross, the first ever awarded to an African American. Those heroics included carrying wounded sailors to safety and manning gun stations, including a 0.50-caliber antiaircraft gun, which he fired until running out of ammunition, with no previous training on the weapon. After receiving the order to abandon ship, Miller continued to assist in the evacuation of sailors. The Navy Cross was presented to Miller by Admiral Chester Nimitz, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, on May 27, 1942, aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.
Which aircraft carrier is named in Doris Miller's honor?
On January 20, 2020, then acting Secretary of the Navy, Thomas B. Modly, announced the USS Doris Miller as the name for the U.S. Navy's newest CVN-designated aircraft carrier, CVN 81, during a public ceremony honoring African Americans on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The historic event marks the first time a Navy aircraft carrier has been named after an African American or an enlisted Sailor. However, it is not the first Navy vessel named after Miller. That distinction goes to the USS Miller, initially designated as a Destroyer Escort when commissioned in 1973 and later reclassified as a Frigate until it was removed from the Naval Registry in 1995.
As the Navy's fourth Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, the USS Doris Miller has a future delivery date scheduled for February 2032. Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers span 1,092 feet from bow to stern, have 124 feet of beam, a flight deck width of 256 feet, and a cruising speed of 30 knots. One of the most significant improvements Ford-class carriers possess compared to older Nimitz-class carriers is the reduced number of crew members required for operation of the ship. The reduction is a result of 23 new or upgraded systems aboard the newer carriers.
The new Ford-class carriers benefit from a new design, streamlined building processes, and upgraded ship's systems to deliver substantial savings. Ultimately, each new carrier is expected to realize a $4 billion savings over its projected lifetime compared to Nimitz-class carriers.