Shortly after September 11 2001 New York Governor
George Pataki wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Navy requesting that the Navy bestow the name USS New York on the surface of a warship involved in the War on Terror in honor of those who died at the September 11 tragedy.
State names are currently reserved for submarines but special permission was granted for a surface ship to adorn the name USS New York.
The USS New York was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the rubble of the
World Trade Center. It is the fifth in a new class of warship- designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. The ship will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft. It is the first ship fully designed to support all three of the Marines primary mobility c
apabilitiesExpeditionary Fighting Vehicles (EFV) Land Craft and Landing Craft Air Cushioned vehicles and the MV-22 Osprey.
On 9 September 2004 the Secretary of the Navy announced that two of her sister ships will be named Arlington and Somerset in commemoration of the places two of the other planes used in the attack came down: Somerset County Pennsylvania and Arlington Virginia.
In attendance for the christening of the USS New York were Louisiana Congressman William J. Jefferson Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England members of the New York Police Department and New York Fire Department and family members of 9/11 victims.
The USS New York is the sixth ship of the
United States Navy to be named for the state of New York.
The ships motto? Never Forget.
