Navy Builds Amphibious Assault Ship from World Trade Center Steel

The Navy’s newest amphibious assault ship, the USS New York, is being built with scrap steel salvaged from the ruins of the World Trade Center terrorist bombings.By Linda Orlando

The USS New York has already made history twice, and it hasn’t even touched the water yet. The ship is being built from 24 tons of scrap steel that used to be the World Trade Center, and the 684-foot vessel survived Hurricane Katrina unscathed. The New York is the fifth in a new class of warship the Navy is building, designed specifically for missions that will entail special operations against terrorists. The ship is about 45% complete and should be ready in just over a year. Its crew complement will include 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines who can be transported ashore by assault craft and helicopters.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, LA, to cast the bow section of the USS New York on Sept. 9, 2003. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there" when the molten steel was poured into the molds, according to Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing. "Those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence." The foundry operations manager, Junior Chavers, said that when the Trade Center steel first arrived at the foundry, he touched it with his hand and the hair on his neck stood up. "It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can’t keep us down. We’re going to be back."

When the World Trade Center was demolished and nearly 2,800 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, the plans for the $700 ship were already in the works but it had not yet been assigned a name. Several months after the attack, New York Gov. George Pataki petitioned the Navy to commemorate the tragedy by naming the ship USS New York since its primary role would include fighting terrorism. Navy Secretary Gordon England, in announcing the decision to name the ship, said that the New York would "project American power to the far corners of the Earth and support the cause of freedom well into the 21st century." Other similar warships scheduled for construction include the USS Arlington, named for the location of the Pentagon, also struck by a hijacked jetliner on Sept. 11, and the USS Somerset, named for the county in Pennsylvania where United Flight 93 crashed after its passengers fought off the terrorists who had hijacked the plane.

At the shipyard in Avondale, LA, near New Orleans, Northrop Grumman used to employ 6,500 people. About 5,500 have returned to the job to work on the USS New York and three other ships. "Their dedication and devotion to duty has been, to say the least, epic," said Philip Teel, head of the ship systems division for Northrop Grumman. About 500 people are working on the New York, and most of them were back on the job two weeks after Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast last summer.

Tony Quaglino, a 66-year old crane superintendent, purposely postponed his retirement because he wanted to take part in constructing the warship. "I think Katrina made us more aware of the tragedy in New York, said Quaglino. "One was manmade, one was natural, but they’re both a common bond." Glenn Clement, a paint foreman, believes that he and his coworkers are building a gift for bin Laden. "It would be fitting if the first mission this ship would go on is to make sure that bin Laden is taken out, his terrorist organization is taken out," said Clement. "He came in through the back door and knocked our towers down and [the New York] is coming right through the front door, and we want them to know that."

Many of the shipyard workers lost their homes during the hurricane, and more than 200 people are now living at the shipyard, some on a Navy barge and others in bunk-style housing. "It sounds trite, but I saw it in their eyes," Teel told reporters. "These are very patriotic people, and the fact that the ship has steel from the trade center is a source of great pride. They view it as something incredibly special. They’re building it for the nation."
By Buzzle Staff and Agencies
Published: 4/5/2006