Property Management Nation

Not long after the tragedy of September 11th, 2001, George E. Pataki the Governor of New York wrote a letter to Gordon England the Secretary of the Navy requesting that a surface warship be named after the city of New York to honor the victims of the terrorist act.  In 2003 the contract to build the sixth ship in the United States Navy to be named the USS New York was awarded to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in New Orleans, Louisiana.  This ship is special not only because of the name however, it was actually created from seven and a half tons of melted down steel recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center.  The ship was christened with a ceremony at Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans on March 1st, 2008 and was delivered to the Navy on August 21st, 2009.  The New York is a San Antonio-class amphibious dock vessel that is 684 feet long and can carry as many as 800 Marines and has a flight deck large enough to accomodate helicopters.  The crew of the ship contains 361 sailors, 13% of whom are from New York state.  This is an extremely high percentage due to many requests from Navy personnel from New York to serve on the ship.

AP

On November 2nd, 2009 the USS New York arrived in the city of New York very near ground zero to a 21-gun salute and an emotional viewing by the public. The warship was escorted by many vessels and tug boats up the Hudson River toward the George Washington bridge where it executed a U-turn and headed south to Pier 88.  There a short ceremony followed with a speech by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.  He said, “this ship is actually a physical representation of that spirit with the steel from the World Trade Center built into its bow so every friend that sets foot on it and every foe that dares challenge it will feel its power and know that it is literally made from the heart and soul of the city that has sacrificed so much,” (Yahoo News).   The New York will remain in its namesake city until Veteran’s Day and will be commissioned on November 7th in an official ceremony.  Afterwards the ship will head to Norfolk, Virginia for a year of exercises and crew training.  Two other ships are also being built to commemorate the victims of 9/11.  The USS Arlington was named to honor the attack on the Pentagon and the USS Somerset was named after the county in Pennslyvania where the United Airlines flight 93 crashed.