USS Doris Miller

	Sister ship John F. Kennedy
History
United States
Name	Doris Miller
Namesake	Doris Miller
Awarded	31 January 2019
Builder	Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down	2026 (expected)
Launched	October 2029 (planned)
Sponsored by	Charlene Austin ; Taya Miller;
Commissioned	2034 (planned)
Identification	CVN-81
Status	Under construction
General characteristics
Class & type	Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	About 100,000 long tons (100,000 tonnes) (full load)
Length	1,106 ft (337 m)
Beam	134 ft (41 m)
Draft	39 ft (12 m)
Installed power	Two A1B nuclear reactors
Propulsion	Four shafts
Speed	In excess of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	Unlimited distance; 20–25 years
Complement	4,660
Armament	Surface-to-air missiles; Close-in weapons systems;
Aircraft carried	80 to 90 combat aircraft
Aviation facilities	1,092 ft × 256 ft (333 m × 78 m) flight deck

USS Doris Miller (CVN-81) is planned to be the fourth Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy.^[6]^[7] Doris Miller is expected to be laid down in 2026, and commissioned in February 2034.^[8] She will be built at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (formerly Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding) in Newport News, Virginia.^[1]

Naming

The ship, named for Messman Second Class Doris Miller, marks two historic firsts as the first aircraft carrier named for an enlisted sailor, as well as the first named for an African American.^[9] The ship will be the second to honor Miller, who received the Navy Cross for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor; the first ship was USS Miller (FF-1091).^[10]

In August 2026, speculation arose that the acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao and the Trump administration were investigating changing the ship's name from Doris Miller. A number of official publications, including the National Security Memorandum that directed the replacement of the ship's electromagnetic catapults with steam catapults, made no reference to the ship's name, instead referring to it as CVN-81. This led to further speculation that there would be an attempt to rename the ship, potentially after Donald Trump. Were this to take place, it would be the first instance of a US Navy aircraft carrier named after a sitting president.^[11]

Construction

On 25 August 2021, with six members of Doris Miller's family in attendance, the Navy conducted the First Cut of Steel ceremony at Newport News Shipbuilding, signaling the formal start of construction for the fourth Ford-class aircraft carrier.^[12]

Doris Miller was scheduled to be laid down January 2026, launched October 2029, and commissioned in February 2032,^[2] but construction was delayed due to delays in the prior ship of the class, USS Enterprise (CVN-80).^[8]

In August 2026, President Donald Trump sent a memo to the acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao instructing him to develop a plan regarding measures required to remove the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), as well as the electromagnetic weapons elevators.^[13] General Atomics, who supplies the EMALS, stated that this change would "introduce significant cost, schedule and integration risks."^[14]

References

1 2 "Navy Awards 2-Carrier Contract to Newport News Shipbuilding". USNI. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
1 2 3 Malone, Capt. Phillip (May 6, 2019). "Sea Air Space Exposition: John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) Enterprise (CVN 80) & Unnamed (CVN 81) – Two Ship Buy" (PDF). navsea.navy.mil. Naval Sea Systems Command. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
↑ "SECNAV Names Future Replenishment Oiler Ship Thurgood Marshall and Sponsors for USS Doris Miller" (Press release). United States Navy. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
↑ "Report to Congress on Gerald R. Ford Carrier Program". USNI. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
↑ "Aircraft Carriers - CVN". Fact File. United States Navy. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
↑ "Navy Names Future Aircraft Carrier Doris Miller During MLK, Jr. Day Ceremony". U.S. Navy. 20 January 2020. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020.
↑ LaGrone, Sam (18 January 2020). "Next Ford-class Carrier to be Named After Pearl Harbor Hero Doris Miller". U.S. Naval Institute. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
1 2 Shelbourne, Mallory (8 May 2026). "Future Aircraft Carrier Doris Miller Delayed by 2 Years". USNI News. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
↑ Price, Jay (29 September 2020). "A Military 1st: A Supercarrier Is Named After An African American Sailor". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
↑ "Doris Miller: US Navy aircraft carrier to honor black sailor". BBC. 19 January 2020. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
↑ Britzky, Haley; Brown, Pamela (20 August 2026). "Exclusive: Navy weighs renaming carrier slated to honor Black war hero, potentially switching it to Trump". CNN. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
↑ "HII Celebrates First Steel Cut for Aircraft Carrier Doris Miller (CVN 81)". Naval News. 26 August 2021. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021.
↑ Mackey, Robert (14 August 2026). "Trump orders Pentagon to redesign US aircraft carrier to use steam catapults to launch jets". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
↑ MITTELSTADT, NATALIA (14 August 2026). "Trump orders DOD to redesign aircraft carrier with steam catapults to launch jets". The National Desk. Retrieved 16 August 2026.

[USNI-1] 1 2 "Navy Awards 2-Carrier Contract to Newport News Shipbuilding". USNI. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.

[Malone-2] 1 2 3 Malone, Capt. Phillip (May 6, 2019). "Sea Air Space Exposition: John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) Enterprise (CVN 80) & Unnamed (CVN 81) – Two Ship Buy" (PDF). navsea.navy.mil. Naval Sea Systems Command. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2021.

[3] "SECNAV Names Future Replenishment Oiler Ship Thurgood Marshall and Sponsors for USS Doris Miller" (Press release). United States Navy. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.

[4] "Report to Congress on Gerald R. Ford Carrier Program". USNI. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.

[5] "Aircraft Carriers - CVN". Fact File. United States Navy. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.

[6] "Navy Names Future Aircraft Carrier Doris Miller During MLK, Jr. Day Ceremony". U.S. Navy. 20 January 2020. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020.

[LaGrone-7] LaGrone, Sam (18 January 2020). "Next Ford-class Carrier to be Named After Pearl Harbor Hero Doris Miller". U.S. Naval Institute. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.

[Shelbourne-8] 1 2 Shelbourne, Mallory (8 May 2026). "Future Aircraft Carrier Doris Miller Delayed by 2 Years". USNI News. Retrieved 12 May 2026.

[9] Price, Jay (29 September 2020). "A Military 1st: A Supercarrier Is Named After An African American Sailor". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2022.

[10] "Doris Miller: US Navy aircraft carrier to honor black sailor". BBC. 19 January 2020. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2020.

[11] Britzky, Haley; Brown, Pamela (20 August 2026). "Exclusive: Navy weighs renaming carrier slated to honor Black war hero, potentially switching it to Trump". CNN. Retrieved 20 August 2026.

[12] "HII Celebrates First Steel Cut for Aircraft Carrier Doris Miller (CVN 81)". Naval News. 26 August 2021. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021.

[13] Mackey, Robert (14 August 2026). "Trump orders Pentagon to redesign US aircraft carrier to use steam catapults to launch jets". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 August 2026.

[14] MITTELSTADT, NATALIA (14 August 2026). "Trump orders DOD to redesign aircraft carrier with steam catapults to launch jets". The National Desk. Retrieved 16 August 2026.

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Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers
Gerald R. Ford John F. Kennedy Enterprise Doris Miller William J. Clinton George W. Bush
Preceded by: Nimitz class Followed by: None
List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy

United States Navy aircraft carrier hull numbers
Fleet carrier (CV)¹	CV-1 CV-2 CV-3 CV-4 CV-5 CV-6 CV-7 CV-8 CV-9 CV-10 CV-11 CV-12 CV-13 CV-14 CV-15 CV-16 CV-17 CV-18 CV-19 CV-20 CV-21 CVL-22 CVL-23 CVL-24 CVL-25 CVL-26 CVL-27 CVL-28 CVL-29 CVL-30 CV-31 CV-32 CV-33 CV-34 CV-35^X CV-36 CV-37 CV-38 CV-39 CV-40 CV-41 CV-42 CV-43 CV-44^X CV-45 CV-46^X CV-47 CVL-48 CVL-49 CV-50 to CV-55^X CVB-56^X CVB-57^X CVA-58^X CV-59 CV-60 CV-61 CV-62 CV-63 CV-64 CVN-65 CV-66 CV-67 CVN-68^C CVN-69^C CVN-70^C CVN-71^C CVN-72^C CVN-73^C CVN-74^C CVN-75^C CVN-76^C CVN-77^C CVN-78^L,^C CVN-79^P CVN-80^P CVN-81^P CVN-82^P CVN-83^P
Escort carrier (CVE)²	CVE-1 CVE-2 to CVE-5^X CVE-6^NC CVE-7 CVE-8 CVE-9 CVE-10^NC CVE-11 CVE-12 CVE-13 CVE-14 CVE-15^NC CVE-16 CVE-17^NC CVE-18 CVE-19 CVE-20 CVE-21 AVG-22^NC CVE-23 CVE-24^NC CVE-25 CVE-26 CVE-27 CVE-28 CVE-29 CVE-30 CVE-31 ACV-32^NC CVE-33 CVE-34 CVE-35^NC ACV-36 ACV-37^NC ACV-38^NC ACV-39^NC CVE-40 CVE-41^NC ACV-42^NC CVE-43^NC CVE-44^NC CVE-45^NC CVE-46^NC CVE-47 CVE-48 CVE-49^NC CVE-50^NC CVE-51^NC CVE-52^NC CVE-53^NC CVE-54^NC CVE-55 CVE-56 CVE-57 CVE-58 CVE-59 CVE-60 CVE-61 CVE-62 CVE-63 CVE-64 CVE-65 CVE-66 CVE-67 CVE-68 CVE-69 CVE-70 CVE-71 CVE-72 CVE-73 CVE-74 CVE-75 CVE-76 CVE-77 CVE-78 CVE-79 CVE-80 CVE-81 CVE-82 CVE-83 CVE-84 CVE-85 CVE-86 CVE-87 CVE-88 CVE-89 CVE-90 CVE-91 CVE-92 CVE-93 CVE-94 CVE-95 CVE-96 CVE-97 CVE-98 CVE-99 CVE-100 CVE-101 CVE-102 CVE-103 CVE-104 CVE-105 CVE-106 CVE-107 CVE-108 CVE-109 CVE-110 CVE-111 CVE-112 CVE-113 CVE-114 CVE-115 CVE-116 CVE-117 CVE-118 CVE-119 CVE-120 CVE-121^X CVE-122 CVE-123 CVE-124 to CVE-139^X
British escort carrier (BAVG/BACV)³	BAVG-1^NC BAVG-2^NC BAVG-3^NC BAVG-4^DC BAVG-5^NC BACV-6^NC
Aircraft carrier, helicopter assault (CVHA)	CVHA-1
Drone aircraft catapult control craft (YV)	YV-1 YV-2 YV-3
¹ The hull number sequence for fleet carriers has used many variations of the original "CV" classification symbol, which sometimes changed throughout a ship's service. The most relevant symbol is listed for each ship. ² Prior to July 1943, escort carriers were classified as auxiliary vessels with the "AVG" and "ACV" hull classification symbols. Aside from the symbol, hull numbers did not change. ³ Hull numbers with the "BAVG" and "BACV" symbols were used for American-built escort carriers intended for the Royal Navy. Italics Active • ^C Currently commissioned • ^P Planned/under construction • ^NC Never commissioned • ^X Canceled/not assigned • ^DC Commissioned with a different hull number Underline Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers • ^L Lead ship

Naming

Construction

See also

References