Never Forget

The USS New York was launched last week by Northrop Grumman shipyards in Avondale, Louisiana. The ship is the fifth in the San Antonio class of amphibious assault ships. The image is a computer generated depiction of the ship in action.

The New York will be christened in a ceremony in Avondale on March 1, 2008, and is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2009.

In 2003, New York's keel was laid and in 2004, the Amite Foundry melted tons of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center to cast the ship's bow stem. The bow stem was eventually joined to the remainder of the bow section and last year became a part of the ship's hull. With the launching, World Trade Center steel will always lead the ship wherever the future USS New York sails, according to Northrop Grumman.

The ship's motto is Never Forget. It was built using 24 tons of steel recovered from Ground Zero and melted down to help form the bow stem.

HT: Doug Ross.