USS NEW YORK LITERALLY ARISING OUT OF THE ASHES OF THE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 ATTACKS, A POWERFUL NEW WARSHIP IS COMING THAT WILL BEAR A PROUD AND ILLUSTRIOUS NAME. BY RICHARD H. WAGNER (Originally published in the Program 103 rd Anniversary Dinner, Navy League of the United States, New York Council, March 2006) T onight s dinner is the kick-off of a campaign leading to the commissioning ceremony for USS NEW YORK (LPD 21), now under construction in Louisiana. This ship will be special not just because it will bear the name of a great State and City but because the name for this ship was selected in order to honor the heroes and victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Accordingly, the commissioning of this ship, which will take place in New York harbor in early 2008, must be done in the best style that New York is capable of rendering. The New York Council is proud to be one of the leaders in the campaign to focus public attention on this occasion and one of the organizers planning this week-long event. The Predecessors L PD 21 will be the ninth Navy ship to bear the name NEW YORK. However, she may be the first ship to be named after both the State and the City. The first NEW YORK, a gondola, was launched just as the United States was beginning in the summer of 1776. She was built by General Benedict Arnold's troops to counter the British forces on Lake Champlain and, given the fact that she was built upstate, her name probably refers to the State rather than the City. NEW YORK fought at the Battle of Valcor Island on October 13, 1776 and then again two days later near Crown Point. Like the rest of Arnold's flotilla, she was so badly damaged by these engagements that she was run aground and burnt. While these battles were tactical defeats for the Americans, they were strategic victories. The British had planned to split New York and the colonies in two by proceeding down the lake from Canada and eventually joining with British forces coming north from New York City. Arnold's flotilla delayed the British advance until the approaching winter made it impractical to continue the campaign until the next year. In the meantime, the Americans prepared and were able to defeat the British at the crucial battle of Saratoga. The next NEW YORK was commissioned in 1800 and was one of five frigates built by the States for the federal government. She mounted 36 guns and fought in the undeclared war with France and in the Barbary Coast War. During the latter conflict, she met the British fleet off Malta and received a 17-gun salute from Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson. Unfortunately, those good feelings did not last and, some 11 years later, the British burned the NEW.
YORK at the Washington Navy Yard where she had been placed in reserve. A similar fiery fate awaited the next ship to bear the name NEW YORK. In 1816, Congress authorized a 74-gun ship of the line and she was laid down at Norfolk Navy Yard in 1820. Inasmuch as Navy policy was to name ships of the line after the states, this ship was named after of the State of New York rather than the City. Work did not proceed apace on this ship and, by the time the Civil War broke out, she still had not been completed. To prevent her from falling into enemy hands, Federal troops burnt the ship before Confederate forces seized the Navy Yard. In 1863, work began on a screw frigate to be named ONTARIO at the New York Navy Yard. However, work was suspended on this ship shortly after the end of the Civil War. In May 1869, she was renamed NEW YORK but like her predecessor little action was taken to complete her. She was sold while still on the stocks in 1888. The next NEW YORK broke the string of misfortune that had beset the last two ships that had borne the name and not only did she get to sea but she had a long and productive career. Indeed, she was an important step in the revitalization and modernization of the Navy that took place at the turn of the 19th century. Although she had the hull number ACR 2, she is considered the first United States Navy armored cruiser. (ACR1 was the famous MAINE which was re-designated as a battleship shortly after her construction. (BB 00)). The 8,200 ton NEW YORK was faster than any more powerful ship and capable of overtaking 95% of the world's merchant fleet and thus was well-suited to be a commerce raider. However, with her main battery of six eight inch guns, she 2 was considered capable of operating with battleships. She saw action in the Spanish American War and, at various times following that war, she was the flagship of the U.S. Asian Fleet and the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Because the Navy was planning to use the name NEW YORK for a new battleship, ACR 2 was renamed SARATOGA in 1911. Her name was again changed in 1917 to ROCHESTER perhaps because the name SARATOGA was being considered for a battlecruiser, which eventually became an aircraft carrier (CV 3). ROCHESTER participated in World War I escorting convoys and continued in service until 1933. After decommissioning she was moored at Subic Bay in the Philippines. Like her ship of the line predecessor and despite her age, ROCHESTER was scuttled by U.S. forces to prevent her from falling into the hands of the enemy in December 1941. (This ship's wooden figurehead bearing the great seal of the State of New York has been preserved and can be seen at the INTREPID Sea/Air/Space Museum). The ship that prompted the first name change of ACR 2 was the battleship NEW YORK (BB 34). Although built in Brooklyn, there is no doubt that she was named after the State rather than the City as all battleships (except U.S.S. KEARSARGE (BB 5)) were named after States. Commissioned in 1914, NEW YORK served as the flagship of the American battleship squadron that was attached to the British Grand Fleet following America's entry into the First World War. Between the world wars, the Navy's first operational shipboard radar, the XAF, was installed aboard NEW YORK. Designed and built by one of tonight s award winners, the Naval Research Laboratory, the radar
was able to detect ships at 12 miles and aircraft at 85 miles. During World War II, she did convoy duty and provided gunfire support for the invasions of North Africa, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. NEW YORK was one of the target ships in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll following the war. Surviving the atomic blasts, she was towed to Pearl Harbor for study, and then, in 1948, towed out to sea where she withstood eight hours of bombardment by ships and aircraft before sinking. The last ship to bear the name of either the State or the City was a Los Angles-class nuclear submarine was launched in June 1977 bearing the name NEW YORK CITY (SSN 696). She served during the Cold War and until 1997 when she was decommissioned. The Idea With the smoke clouds still hanging over the World Trade Center site following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Governor of New York George E. Pataki wrote a letter to then-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. In his letter, the Governor said he understood that State names presently are reserved for submarines but asked for special consideration so the name could be given to a surface ship. The request was approved 28 August 2002. The decision to name a ship after both the State and the City was announced on 11 September 2002 at a ceremony at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. Secretary England said: "When our Sailors and Marines set out 3 to sea on the USS NEW YORK, this ship will serve as a worldwide deployable symbol of the spirit of all heroes, past and present, living and fallen, who have blessed this great city and great state...the citizens of America will never forget what happened in New York on September 11, will never forget the sacrifices of the brave citizens of this city and state, and the Navy and Marine Corps will never forget. On 10 September 2003, over twenty tons of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center were melted and poured into the mold for the bow stem of the NEW YORK at Amite Foundry and Machine Inc. in Louisiana. "A piece of our city will travel the world in democracy and freedom," former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani wrote in a letter read at the ceremony. Dotty England, wife of the former Secretary and sponsor of the NEW YORK, said as the steel was poured into the mold: For all who will serve on USS NEW YORK, and for all who suffered from the attacks of 9-11, let us never forget. Never forget will be the motto of the ship. An additional 21,000 pounds of World Trade Center steel was put aside and will be made into anchorhandling castings. Later that year, the Navy announced that it had awarded an $816.6 million contract to Northrup Grumman Ship Systems to construct the NEW YORK. The ship would be built at the company s Avondale Operation in New Orleans with fabrication support from three other company facilities located at Passagoula, Miss., Gulfport, Miss., and Tallulah, La. We are honored to build NEW YORK. commented Dr. Philip A. Dur, then-president of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.
One day short of the third anniversary of the attacks, the keel of the NEW YORK was laid. Secretary England commented that NEW YORK and her sisters will take the fight to the terrorists who threaten the peace and freedom of the world. The Ship In the post-cold War era, protecting America s interests often depends upon being able to insert ground forces into world troublespots in a timely fashion. Consequently, it is a great advantage to be able to position Marines offshore so that they can be projected ashore from the sea when the policymakers so specify. It is for this purpose that the NEW YORK is being built. As noted by Dr. Dru, this class of fighting Gators will constitute a significant element of the sea base and the future of expeditionary warfare. NEW YORK will have fixed accommodations for 699 Marines but will be able to accommodate up to 800 Marines on a surge basis. Not just a transport, NEW YORK will be able to insert Marines into the action both by air and by sea. She will have an aircraft hanger and flight deck capable of handling the MV-22 Osprey as well as helicopters. In addition, she will have the ability to land Marines by the hovercraft-like LCAC and by more conventional landing craft or amphibious vehicles. To accomplish her mission, NEW YORK will be of substantial size. She will have a length of 684 feet and a full load displacement of 25,000 tons. With a beam of 105 feet, she will be able to squeeze through the Panama Canal, thus adding to her ability to respond quickly to trouble. Her four sequentially 4 turbocharged marine diesel engines will be able to drive the ship at more than 22 knots. Since NEW YORK is not intended to project power through her own firepower, her armament will be defensive. It will include two Mk 31 Mod-1 RAM launchers, two Mk 46 Mod 1 30 mm gun systems, and four fifty caliber machine guns. The ships of the San Antonioclass, including NEW YORK, are intended to replace four different classes of ships encompassing some 40 ships currently serving in the active fleet. They will be a marked improvement over earlier amphibious assault ships. Their extensive command and control spaces and flagship-like connectivity will enable the ships of this class to fully support independent split operations or to serve as an integral part of amphibious ready groups, joint task forces or expeditionary strike groups. They will also have substantially increased vehicle lift capacity, a large flight deck, and advanced ship survivability features that enhance their ability to operate in the unforgiving littoral environment. To enhance the quality of life for those aboard, they also feature the sit-up berth, ship services mall, a fitness center and learning resource center/electronic classroom. The design team also incorporated hundreds of suggestions and recommendations from more than 1,000 Sailors and Marines in the Design for Ownership process. USS SAN ANTONIO (LPD 17), the first ship of the class was commissioned this year. Four others are under construction and four more are planned including ships named after the other locations associated with the September 11 attacks, i.e., Arlingon, Va.
(the Pentagon attack), and Somerset, Pa. (the site of the crash of Flight 93). LPD 21 is currently about 43% complete. The stem casting which was poured from World Trade Center metal is installed in Unit 1120 which has been erected on board the ship. An American flag flies from the stem casting today. The ship will be 100% erected in November of 2006 and will be launched in April of 2007 at 70% complete overall. The ship will then go through an intensive finish, outfitting and testing phase leading to sea trials in July of 2008 and delivery to the US Navy and Marine Corps in November 2008. 5