New Military Vessel This bit of news brought out some pretty strong feelings for a lot of folks......








GOD BLESS AMERICA

USS New York

With a year to go before it even touches the water, the Navy's amphibious assault ship USS New York has already made history. It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.

USS New York is about 45 percent complete and should be ready for launch in mid-2007. Katrina disrupted construction when it pounded the GulfCoast last summer, but the 684-foot vessel escaped serious damage, andworkers were back at the yard near New Orleans two weeks after the storm.

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 Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

"It would be fitting if the first mission this ship would go on is to make sure that bin Laden is taken out, his terrorist organization is taken out," said Glenn Clement, a paint foreman. "He came in through the back door and knocked our towers down and (the New York) is coming rightthrough the front door, and we want them to know that."

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 poured into the moldson 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."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the tradecenter steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up." "It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto? - 'Never Forget'

I hope that she visits NYC for Fleet Week at some point after she's commissioned. I would love to go aboard and walk around.

That is very cool....

Originally Posted by AJChenMPH

NYC for Fleet Week

....was there a few years back for it...your all mental!
This is very cool alright. Arent they doing something with the Intrepid now as well... moving it to jersey or something (off point I know lol, just curious)

AJChenMPH

Hey you're from NYC. Me too! I was wondering how many folks from the Big Apple were on this site.

Its great there will be a new USS New York, there hasnt been one since 1945 (BB-34). I'm a little dissappointed the name wasnt reserved for a front line ship like a CG or a DDG rather than a LPH. The last USS New York was a Battleship.

Irishone

I can answer that, as I was on board USS Intrepid just last month. She being towed to NJ and then Staten Island where she'll undergo a refit, including to re-steel part of the Hull. In addition to renovating the main exhibit area they are also are going to open up parts of the below decks to the public. One of the curators gave me a private tour of the off-limits area, the below decks are in need of major renovation and repair.

The museum will be closed for almost 2 years.

well is the ship to be named after the state or the city?

Good Question

I believe its the State, if it were the city they would have included "City" into the name. For example USS Salt Lake City, USS Kansas City, etc.

Just a Guess, I could be wrong.

Originally Posted by mmarsh

Good Question

I believe its the State, if it were the city they would have included "City" into the name. For example USS Salt Lake City, USS Kansas City, etc.

Just a Guess, I could be wrong.

I think you are right, but typically the State names are/were reserved for battleships. Considering we don't have those anylonger they may have changed the "rules" about States and ships names.

I know that the USS Indianapolis was a Portland class heavy cruiser. So I suppose heavy cruisers were given City names.