USS New York Sets Sail for
Commissioning in New York City

From the Big Easy to the Big Apple

USS New York, LPD-21, set sail from the Northrop Grumman Ship Systems shipyard in Avondale, Louisiana (greater New Orleans area), on October 13, headed for New York City, where she will be commissioned into active naval service on November 7, 2009.

Amid heavy pea-soup fog, and with security provided by an armed Coast Guard speedboat and a helicopter flying overhead, New York was met all along the banks of the Mississippi River with local residents waving American flags and wearing red, white and blue. At two locations along the 15-mile route from Avondale to New Orleans, the ship received traditional 21-gun salutes.

More publicity than usual has followed the construction of this newest amphibious warship. Seven and a half tons of steel from New York City's World Trade Center Twin Towers was recovered and transported to a foundry in Amite, Louisiana, where it was forged into the bow stem for USS New York. Wherever she goes, she will take a piece of New York City with her, and will pay tribute to those who were killed on September 11, 2001, in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil in history.

The ship's motto: "Strength Forged through Sacrifice: Never Forget" is a pledge of unwavering commitment to the defense of freedom around the world.

For now, the ship is technically PCU (Pre-Commissioning Unit) New York and will not officially become "USS New York" until the commissioning ceremony, when the new ship's captain, CDR Curt Jones, USN, will receive the order, "Man your ship and bring her to life!" That traditional order will convert the ship, her officers and crew into a fully integrated, ready-for-duty active component of the United States Navy.

PCU New York will sail through the Gulf of Mexico and around the southern tip of Florida before turning north towards New York, where she will dock near the USS Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum at Pier 86. She will be berthed along the Manhattan skyline from November 2 - 11, and will be open for public visits several of those days. Due to extremely limited space, however, attendance at the commissioning ceremony itself is by invitation only.

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Related pages:

USS New York (LPD-21), built with scrap steel from the Twin Towers.

At her christening ceremony, USS New York (LPD-21) is already demonstrating her toughness.

We Must Never Forget

We Remember

Letter to the terrorists from a US Navy pilot.

We Are the Nation

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