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.
Construction The ship is the first to be fully designed from the CAD-screen up to support all three of the Marines' primary mobility capabilities—Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) Landing Craft, Landing Craft Air Cushioned vehicle and the MV-22 Osprey.
Shortly after 11 September 2001, Governor of New York George E. Pataki wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy Gordon England requesting that the Navy bestow the name USS New York on a surface warship involved in the War on Terror in honor of September 11's victims.
The contract to build New York was awarded to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems of New Orleans, Louisiana in 2003. New York was under construction in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina.
Seven and a half tons of the steel used in the ship's construction came from the rubble of the World Trade Center. 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 seven tons 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. Indeed, one worker delayed his retirement after 40 years' work to be part of the project.
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.
Christening & commissioning New York was christened on 1 March 2008, in a ceremony at Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dotty England, the ship’s sponsor, smashed the traditional champagne bottle on the ship’s bow and christened the ship New York. Several dignitaries were in attendance, including 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 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 US Navy on 21 August 2009 at New Orleans. The ship's delivery was accepted by its first captain, Curt Jones. It set sail for Norfolk VA on 13 October. The ship commissioning of USS New York is planned to take place on 7 November 2009. The commanding officer is Commander F. Curtis Jones, a native of Binghamton, New York. Approximately 10% of the plank owners are native New Yorkers.
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: 20 December 2007
Christened: 1 March 2008
Commissioned: 7 November 2009 (scheduled)
Motto: "Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget."
Status: Christened
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 (24.2 mph)(41 km/h)
Boats and landing
craft carried: 2 Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC)s or 1 Landing Craft, Utility (LCU);
14 Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles (EFV) or 14 Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV)s
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 CH53E Super Stallion, two MV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft, four CH-46 Sea Knight, four AH-1 SeaCobra or four UH-1 Iroquois helicopters.
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