USS New York (LPD-21)

For other ships of the same name, see USS New York.

300px The New York in the Hudson River on November 2, 2009.
Career
Name:	USS New York
Namesake:	The state of New York
Awarded:	25 November 2003
Builder:	Northrop Grumman Ship Systems
Laid down:	10 September 2004
Launched:	19 December 2007
Christened:	1 March 2008
Acquired:	21 August 2009
Commissioned:	7 November 2009
In service:	8 August 2009
Motto:	"Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget."
Status:	in active service, as of 2024
Badge:	153px
General characteristics
Class and type:	San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock
Displacement:	24,900 tons full
Length:	208.5 m (684 ft) overall, 201.4 m (661 ft) waterline
Beam:	31.9 m (105 ft) extreme,   29.5 m (97 ft) waterline
Draft:	7 m (23 ft)
Propulsion:	Four sequentially turbocharged marine Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, two shafts, 41,600 shp (30 MW)
Speed:	In excess of 22 knots (25 mph; 41 km/h)
Boats and landing craft carried:	2 LCACs or 1 LCU; 14 EFVs or 14 AAVs
Capacity:	Embarked Landing Force: 699 (66 officers, 633 enlisted) surge capacity to 800.
Complement:	28 officers, 332 enlisted
Armament:	Two Bushmaster II 30 mm Close in Guns, fore and aft two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers, fore and aft.
Aircraft carried:	Launch or land two CH-53E Super Stallion two MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft four CH-46 Sea Knight four AH-1 SeaCobra or four UH-1 Iroquois helicopters.

USS New York (LPD-21), the fifth San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, is the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named after the state of New York. The New York has a crew of 360, and can also carry up to 700 Marines. The ship is notable for using steel that was salvaged from the World Trade Center, after it was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.

Construction

File:Steel from WTC for USS New York.jpg

Steel from the World Trade Center is poured for construction of the New York, September 2003.

File:US Navy 090720-N-7090S-021 Steel recovered from the World Trade Center is displayed aboard the amphibious transport dock ship Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) New York (LPD 21).jpg

Steel from the World Trade Center is displayed aboard the ship.

The ship is the first to be designed fully from the CAD-screen up to support all three of the Marines' primary mobility capabilities — the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), Landing Craft Air Cushion and MV-22B Osprey.

Shortly after 11 September 2001, Governor of New York George E. Pataki wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England requesting that the Navy bestow the name USS New York on a surface warship involved in the War on Terrorism in honor of September 11's victims.

The contract to build the New York was awarded to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems of New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2003. The New York was under construction in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

World Trade Center steel

7.5 short tons (6.8 t) of the steel used in the ship's construction came from the rubble of the World Trade Center; this represents less than one thousandth of the total weight of the ship. The steel was melted down at Amite Foundry and Machine in Amite, Louisiana, to cast the ship's bow section. It was poured into the molds on 9 September 2003, with 7 short tons (6.4 t) cast to form the ship's "stem bar" — part of the ship's bow. The shipyard workers reportedly treated it with "reverence usually accorded to religious relics", gently touching it as they walked by. One worker delayed his retirement after 40 years' work to be part of the project.

Sister ships announced

On September 9, 2004 Secretary England announced that two of the New York's sister ships will be named the USS Arlington (LPD-24) and the USS Somerset (LPD-25) in commemoration of the places two of the other planes used in the attack came down: Arlington County, Virginia, and Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

Christening

File:USS New York christening.jpg

Christening of the Pre-Commissioning Unit New York on 1 March 2008

File:USS New York.jpg

Commissioning in New York.

File:Cmdr. F. Curtis Jones and Secretary Hillary Clinton.jpg

CDR F. Curtis Jones, USN and Sec. Hillary Clinton at the commissioning

The New York was christened on 1 March 2008, in a ceremony at Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans. Dotty England, the ship’s sponsor, smashed the traditional champagne bottle on the ship’s bow and christened the ship the New York. Several dignitaries were in attendance, including Louisiana Congressman William J. Jefferson, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England, members of the New York City Police Department and the New York City Fire Department, and family members of September 11 victims. The champagne bottle did not break the first time it was struck against the hull of the ship, but the second attempt was successful.

The ship was delivered to the Navy on 21 August 2009 at New Orleans. The ship's delivery was accepted by its first commanding officer, CDR F. Curtis Jones, USN, a native of Binghamton, New York. It set sail for Norfolk, Virginia, on 13 October 2009. On 2 November 2009 the ship passed the World Trade Center site for the first time and gave the site a 21-gun salute.

Commissioning and trials

The ship commissioning of USS New York took place on 7 November 2009, in New York City. Speakers included Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, Gov. David Paterson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Admiral Gary Roughead, and Commandant of the Marine Corps James T. Conway.

Approximately one in seven of the plank owners are from New York state, a larger number than usual.

On January 11, 2010 the Navy announced that the ship would have to undergo repairs for faulty engine parts after a premature failure of bearings on the ship’s main propulsion diesel engines during a week long sea trial following the November commissioning. The Navy did not say how long the ship would be docked.

References

• This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[[Commons: Category:USS New York (LPD-21)

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• USS New York official Navy web page
• Official site of the USS New York commissioning
• Scott Koen's USS New York site
• Warship built out of Twin Towers wreckage