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Ship forged with 9/11 steel sails into New York
2009-11-02
NEW YORK (AFP) - The USS New York, a naval vessel whose bow was forged in part with steel from the World Trade Center towers destroyed on 9/11, sailed for the first time Monday into the city's harbor. The newly built 684-foot (208-meter) amphibious assault ship, designed to carry up to 800 marines and helicopters, marked its maiden voyage into New York with a 21 gun salute just off Ground Zero. Thousands gathered along the Hudson River to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed on September 11, 2001 and to salute the ship, whose bow section contains 7.5 tons of steel from the towers destroyed by the hijacked airliners. "I am here because my son Michael was killed on 9/11. He was a firefighter," said Nancy Cinei. "He was on the job only nine weeks. Knowing that the World Trade Center is a part of the USS New York means a lot to me. To know that that ship will go all over the world, and that the world and people will realize that it is part of the WTC which will never be forgotten." Brian Dunwoody, with the Port Authority police, had mixed emotions on seeing the navy's latest vessel steam into his native city. "It is a happy occasion. Unfortunately it is the result of something tragic. My police department lost 37 officers that day," he said. "The fact that they built this battleship with that steel is a nice way to remember those that we lost that day." The 1.2 billion dollar USS New York, an ultra-modern vessel with a low radar profile, was built in Louisiana. Two other ships -- the Arlington and Somerset -- are being built in honor of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, incorporating materials from the Pentagon, which was struck by an airliner, and United Flight 93, which crashed into a field after being hijacked. The arrival of the USS New York was carefully choreographed, tapping into patriotic sentiment over 9/11 and near universal respect for the military, despite the unpopularity of US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, standing for a third term in an election Tuesday, seized the opportunity to greet the city's namesake ship. He boarded a hovercraft to reach the USS New York late Sunday as they went from the naval base of Norfolk, Virginia, to Manhattan. Once aboard he joined sailors watching on television the New York Yankees take on the Phillies in the World Series baseball championship. The navy is to commission the USS New York, whose crest includes images of the Twin Towers behind a phoenix and the words "Never Forget," on Saturday.
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