Monday the USS New York came home, for the first time. Forged from the steel recovered from the Word Trade Center, the New York sailed up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge, turned around, and saled back down to pier 88. Crowds of onlookers watched, including dignitaries and families of survivors.
According to NPR:
Families of September 11th victims as well as first responders gathered at a viewing area where they could see the crew on the deck of the battleship. Shots were fired in three bursts in a 21-gun salute
There are 361 sailors serving aboard the ship at present and about 13 percent are from New York State. There were many requests from Navy personal to serve on the ship. Rosaleen Tallon, who lost her brother, a firefighter, said she was proud the military was using the steel, transforming something twisted and ugly.
After the ceremony, the USS New York headed up the Hudson River toward the George Washington Bridge. An official commissioning ceremony will take place Saturday. It will remain in New York until after Veterans day and will then go to Norfolk, Va. for about a year of crew training and exercises
Click here to see a video of the making of the USS New York and her sister ships. It is truly amazing to see this ship arise from the ashes.
A fascinating story. Nice piece of work, Moon-Howler. Well done.
Pretend this is new. I was too tired to hunt up a new one last night. Everything was election news.
After all, this is pretty neat to make a ship from WTC.
Thank you Wolverine. I want to see the rest of the ceremonies. Isn’t this warship a GREAT sleeping giant?
You’re absolutely right, Moon-howler. As an old Navy man who has been aboard almost everything from Swift boats to attack carriers, I have never seen anything quite like this new class of ships. The superstructure itself is daunting. I imagine it might be like an old medieval infantry conscript coming face to face for the first time with a mounted knight in full armor. “Whoa, boy, I don’t know about this thing here.”
Ha! Great imagery! What does this one do that others don’t do? I sort of got stuck on the mechanics of making it. It certainly looks spiffy though. You get to be our resident expert on everything that sails or moves in the water.
She’s beautiful, Moon-howler. LPD (Landiing Platform Dock) — amphibious assault ship. I would call her the naval equivalent of a SWAT team. Over 700 battle-ready Marines aboard. Choppers; tilt-rotor Ospreys, several kinds of assault vehicles, and even some rocket launchers. No doubt there is state of the art electronic gear all over the place. 22 knots top speed. She is longer than some of the battleships of WWII. Man, if I was a Somali pirate and a couple of these babies showed up off the Somali coast, I would think about making a quick career change.
How many others were made of that steel? Will they also become battleships? I confess to knowing next to nothing about ships.
I still haven’t gotten over seeing the dedication of the USS Bush. He must have been so proud!!
I am trying to figure out why you got stuck in moderation. I will be working on the problem so it doesn’t happen again.
And the New York Yankees win the World Series!
Fox and Friends broadcasts from the USS New York this morning.
The 21 gun salude happened Monday right across from where the WTC stood.
Neat. Glad I got up early.
I would have liked to have seen that 21 gun salute across from where the WTC was. That’s pretty neat.
This new class of Navy ships is pretty neat too and represents the latest thinking in Navy ship design. Much improved over the old battleships.
I would have liked to have seen that also. Post a link, GR, if you find it in your travels.
what a wonderful tribute to the people who perished that horrible day.
I once worked on the staff of the admiral who commanded the Naval Air Forces/Atlantic Fleet and attended a change of command ceremony on the carrier USS John F. Kennedy. At the time. I thought about what a significant tribute that great carrier was to the late President. But this — this idea of dedicating a capital ship to a whole group of innocent Americans who died at the hands of heinous terrorists and then using the steel from the Twin Towers to shape the very bow of the ship — this truly exceeds anything we have ever done. This is not some monument carved in stone. It is a living, moving, breathing memorial which will carry our remembrance to ports around this country and around the world.
And your words are a tribute also, Wolverine.