Nov 7, 2009 7:17 am US/Eastern
USS New York To Enter Service
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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The USS New York, an amphibious transport dock ship, arrives in New York November 2, 2009. The ship, scheduled to be commissioned November 7, 2009, has 7.5 tons of World Trade Center steel in her bow.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images
The Navy is commissioning its newest battleship with a bow forged from steel that once held up the World Trade Center.
The USS New York is to be placed in active military service during a ceremony on a Manhattan pier Saturday morning. Naval officials say the steel from the trade center attacked on 9/11 symbolizes that the United States will always persevere.
The $1 billion warship was built near New Orleans by workers who themselves survived Hurricane Katrina.
Just before the commissioning, a memorial to 9/11 heroes will be unveiled by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, New York Gov. David Paterson and Bill White, who's president of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
The memorial is also made of steel from the fallen trade center.
The war ship arrived in New York City on Monday for a week of ceremony and celebration. Its first stop was a very solemn one, occurring near Ground Zero, where the crew paid tribute with a 21-gun salute.
The New York is called an "amphibious transport" and once you step inside you can see she carries weapons of war as well as the Marines trained to use them.
"We're pretty much showing our enemies that you can do whatever you want and we're gonna sit here and smile at you," said Lance Corporal Nelson Acevedo, originally from Miller Place, N.Y.
On display were the rifles snipers use with deadly accuracy from thousands of meters away, along with tripod and shoulder-launched anti-tank and aircraft missiles. Also shown were mortars and the troop vehicles needed once they reach land.
Stepping out onto the flight deck you'll find the air component. Think of the New York as an aircraft carrier for helicopters, like the CH-46 Sea Knights that flew us on board Sunday. The ship can carry four at a time. She also supports the expensive and controversial MV-22 osprey, a vertical takeoff plane whose development was plagued by accidents, but finally deployed just two years ago.
The ship's bow is built from 7 and 1/2 tons of World Trade Center steel and it's here the ships motto, "Strength through sacrifice. Never forget," has meaning for New Yorkers and the ship's crew.
"I was standing over the Palisades looking down the Hudson at what was the World Trade center, but just a pile of smoke was left over," recalled Lance Cpl. Adam Liguori of Fort Lee.
As time goes on, the USS New York and the sailors and Marines that live aboard her will forge their own history in service to the country. "Good duty" is a term service members use to describe a plum assignment, and while all time aboard a ship has its challenges, being assigned to the USS New York is considered good duty.
CBS 2HD's Rob Morrison contributed to this report.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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