Steel From 9/11: Not Only the USS New York; USS Arlington and USS Somerset Too

April 13, 2010

This is from the US Navy website:

From flight deck to crew quarters, the LPD of the 21st century is state-of-the-art in design and technology, superseding four older classes of amphibious landing craft.

In fact, the vessel you see in New York harbor today is the latest in a long line of warships named for the state and city of New York (Click on ‘Other Former USS NEW YORKs’ tab, above).

She is one of three new amphibious assault ships named after places in three states where more than 3,000 people were murdered in the infamous terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.

Still in construction are the other two: the soon-to-be USS ARLINGTON (LPD-24) named for the Virginia county in which the Pentagon is located, and the USS SOMERSET (LPD-25) named for the Pennsylvania county where American Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field.

All three ships will go to sea with steel in their bows that was salvaged and re-formed from all three terrorist attack sites: LPD-24’s from the Pentagon building’s structural girders, LPD-25’s from the meltdown of a crane used to excavate the airliner wreckage.

The lead ship in the LPD series, USS SAN ANTONIO (LPD-17), was followed into the Navy fleet by USS NEW ORLEANS (LPD-18), USS MESA VERDE (LPD-19), USS GREEN BAY (LPD-20) and USS SAN DIEGO (LPD-22).

Compared to previous USS NEW YORKs, each of these modern-day ships is a swift and agile giant. LPD-21, for example, cruises significantly faster and her waterline is 111 feet longer than the long-ago decommissioned battleship USS NEW YORK (BB-34).