USS New York

Yesterday, Friday, 20 Aug 09, at precisely 9:11 am, the US Navy accepted the USS New York from its builders after two months of sea trials.

The USS New York is a San Antonio-class landing platform dock ship that was manufactured with over seven tons of reprocessed steel from the World Trade Center in its bow. It will be commissioned on 7 Nov 09 in NYC.

A beautiful, well-designed craft, platform dock ships are designed to transport nearly a thousand Marines as well as all their their gear to hot spots around the world.

The New York is one of three San Antonio-class ships to be named for sites associated with the 2001 terrorist attacks. The Somerset, named for the Pennsylvania county where one hijacked flight crashed, is being built in Avondale, and the Arlington, named for the site of the Pentagon, is to rise from Northrop Grumman's shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.

In speeches Friday, officers hailed the use of steel from the World Trade Center and the New York firefighters and police who lost their lives.

"You all are first responders now, " Jones told his crew. "This ship is now a first responder. Have no doubt of what our mission is. At the end of the day our job, our mission, is to be first responders. And it is my intent to execute that mission as fast as I can.

It's a great day for the Navy, a great day for the New York, a great day for the nation."

The ship's damage control systems are dedicated to the memory of Brian Hickey, captain of the Fire Department of New York's Rescue Company 4 in Queens. He was one of 343 firefighters who died in the World Trade Center towers.

Asked why the system is dedicated to Hickey, Northrop Grumman program manager John Wilson choked up. "A long story, " is all he could say.

I really, truly hope and pray that it kicks some terrorist ass. From the UK Times Online:

There is no shortage of scrap metal in New Orleans these days, but the girders taken from Ground Zero have been treated with a reverence usually accorded to religious relics. After a brief ceremony in 2003, about seven tonnes of steel were melted down and poured into a cast to make the bow section of the ship’s hull.

Some shipworkers say the hairs stood up on the backs of their necks the first time they touched it. Others have postponed their retirement so they can be part of the project.

One worker, Tony Quaglino, said: “I was going to go in October 2004 after 40 years here, but I put it off when I found out I could be working on New York. This is sacred and it makes me very proud.” Glen Clement, a paint superintendent, said: “Nobody passes by that bow section without knocking on it. Everybody knows what it is made from and what it’s about.”

The USS New York has its own website. From their website we learn this:

Governor George E. Pataki wrote a letter to Secretary England requesting that the Navy revive the name USS New York in honor of September 11's victims and to give it to a surface warship involved in the war on terror. In his letter, the Governor said he understood state names presently are reserved for submarines but asked for special consideration so the name could be given to a surface ship. The request was approved August 28, 2002.