Interesting

My Mother In Law sent this to me via e-mail this morning, and I had not read anything about this. Thank you, for sharing, this is a great story.

The brand new assault craft with a capability of carrying around 800 marines and equipment is to be named the U.S.S. New York, in tribute to the almost 2,800 people who died in the attacks of September 11 2001.

The steel is set to be shipped to Northrop's shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, for construction to begin in the middle of next year. The 684-foot ship should be ready for service in 2007. The ship will have the motto "Never Forget".

The recycled steel from the Twin Towers, if it meets quality standards, will be used to form the ship's "stem bar". That is part of the ship's bow, where the vessel cuts the water.

New York authorities have the awesome problem of disposing of the 1.62 million tons of rubble that went to the nearby Fresh Kills landfill from the World Trade Center site.

Some memorial sculptures made from recycled steel have been commissioned by the city, and tribute sculptures have now been erected in many civic, and private facilities throughout the country.





The projected 12 San Antonio (LPD-17)-class amphibious assault ships are the Navy's top expeditionary warfare priority. The USS New York will be LPD-21.
Operating forward, from the sea, America's Amphibious Ready Groups (ARGs) and their Marine Expeditionary Units (Special Operations Capable) [MEU (SOC)s] are multimission crisis-response "tools." They are a mix of highly-mobile air and ground firepower with self-sustainable forces, that can quickly project compelling power, withdraw rapidly, and then reconstitute to re-deploy for follow-on missions. The LPD-17 class will be a fulcrum for future naval expeditionary operations.

The San Antonio class is being designed and built to fight. Its warfighting capabilities include a state-of-the-art command and control suite, substantially increased vehicle lift capacity, a large flight deck, and advanced ship survivability features that enhance its ability to operate in the unforgiving littoral environment. The deployment of LPD-17s will provide each naval expeditionary force with greatly enhanced operational flexibility. The LPD-17 can operate as part of an Amphibious Task Force - the "workhorse" of a three-ship ARG - organized to accomplish a broad range of military objectives; or as an element of a "Split-ARG" that has the LPD-17 detached and operating as a single ship, supporting lower-risk operations.









The 4th USS New York



When built this will be the fifth USS New York, the previous one was laid down 11 September 1911 by Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York and launched 30 October 1912. It served in both World Wars.
During her World War I service, New York was frequently visited by royal and other high-ranking representatives of the Allies, and she was present for one of the most dramatic moments of the war, the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet in the Firth of Forth 21 November 1918. As a last European mission, New York joined the ships escorting President Woodrow Wilson from an ocean rendezvous to Brest en route the Versailles Conference.
In 1937, carrying Admiral Hugh Rodman, the President's personal representative for the coronation of King George VI of England, New York sailed to take part in the Grand Naval Review of 20 May 1937 as sole U.S. Navy representative.
From America's entry into World War II, New York guarded Atlantic convoys to Iceland and Scotland when the U-boat menace was gravest. Submarine contacts were numerous, but the convoys were brought to harbor intact.
New York brought her big guns to the invasion of North Africa, providing crucial gunfire support at Safi 8 November 1942. She then stood by at Casablanca and Fedhala before returning home for convoy duty escorting critically needed men and supplies to North Africa. She then took up important duty training gunners for battleships and destroyer escorts in Chesapeake Bay, rendering this vital service until 10 June 1944, when she began the first of three training cruises for the Naval Academy, voyaging to Trinidad on each.
New York prepared at Pearl Harbor for the planned invasion of Japan, and after war's end, made a voyage to the West Coast returning veterans and bringing out their replacements. She sailed from Pearl Harbor again 29 September with passengers for New York, arriving 19 October. Here she prepared to serve as target ship in Operation Crossroads, the Bikini atomic tests, sailing 4 March 1946 for the West Coast. She left San Francisco 1 May, and after calls in Pearl Harbor and Kwajalein, reached Bikini 15 June. Surviving the surface blast 1 July and the underwater explosion 25 July, she was taken into Kwajalein and decommissioned there 29 August 1946. Later towed to Pearl Harbor, she was studied during the next two years, and on 8 July 1948 was towed out to sea some 40 miles and there sunk after an eight-hour pounding by ships and planes carrying out full-scale battle maneuvers with new weapons.New York received 3 battle stars for World War II service.