Navy Ships!

The USS John C. Stennis--our port guard while we were in San Diego!

USS New York

USS New York, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, is the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the state of New York. The ship is designed to deliver a fully-equipped battalion of 699 Marines.

Shortly after 11 September 2001, Governor of New York George E. Pataki wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy Gordon England requesting that the Navy bestow the name USS New York on a surface warship involved in the War on Terror in honor of September 11's victims. In his letter, the Governor said he understood state names are currently reserved for submarines, but asked for special consideration so the name could be given to a surface ship. The request was approved 28 August 2002.

Oddly enough, a previous holder of the name, USS New York, had its keel laid on September 11, 1911, exactly 90 years to the day before the WTC was attacked.

Twenty-four tons of the steel used in its construction came from the rubble of the World Trade Center with seven tons melted down and cast to form the ship's "stem bar"--part of the ship's bow. The construction workers reportedly treated it with "reverence usually accorded to religious relics," touching it as they walked by.

On 9 September,2004, the Secretary of the Navy announced that two of her sister ships will be named Arlington and Somerset, also to commemorate the attacks.