The USS New York
The USS New York was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center. Seven tons melted down and cast to form the ship’s “stem bar” — part of the ship’s bow
It is the fifth in a new class of warship – designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Mar ines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.
Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, LA to cast the ship’s bow section. When it was pour ed into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003, “those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,” recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. “It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.”
The construction workers reportedly treated it with “reverence usually accorded to religious relics,” touching it as they walked by.
On 9 September 2004, the Secretary of the Navy announced that two of her sister ships will be named Arlington and Somerset, also to commemorate the attacks.
The contract to build New York was awarded to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems of New Orleans, Louisiana in 2003.
The ship’s motto? “Never Forget”.
Shortly after 11 September 2001, Governor of New York George E. Pataki wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy Gordon England The request was approved 28 August 2002.
