For Immediate Release | October 15, 2009

NAVY ANNOUNCES WELCOME SALUTE AND PUBLIC VISITATION FOR FUTURE USS NEW YORK (LPD 21) DURING COMMISSIONING WEEK EVENTS IN NEW YORK CITY

NEW YORK, OCT 15 – The future USS NEW YORK (LPD 21), built with 7.5 tons of steel from the World Trade Center in her bow, will be commissioned in New York City on November 7, 2009.  The ship will actually arrive on November 2, when the public can welcome her as she renders honors at the World Trade Center site, and by visiting the ship before she leaves on November 12, 2009.

At approximately 8:00 a.m., on November 2, the future USS NEW YORK will come to a standstill across from the World Trade Center site, dip her flag, and deliver a 21-gun salute.  Members of the Fire Department of New York, the New York Police Department, Port Authority Police, members of the families of 9/11 victims and veteran’s will gather on the shore at the North Cove in the World Financial Center to return the salute.  Members of the general public are encouraged to attend

There will also be several opportunities for the general public to tour the ship when she is docked at Pier 88 at 12^th Avenue and West 48 Street.  The schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, November 4 – 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Thursday, November 5 – 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, November 8 – 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Monday, November 9 – 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Tuesday, November 10 – 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Wednesday, November 11 – 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Note that times and dates are subject to change.
Visit www.ussny.org for the latest schedule

Members of the general public wishing to tour the ship should:

- arrive early as lines my be long, especially on the Sunday, Nov. 8.

- enter at West 46^th Street and 12^th Avenue (by the Intrepid).

- bring a photo ID (adults).

- wear comfortable shoes.

No large packages or backpacks will be permitted.

“It is an honor to be associated with the ship.  We are all looking forward to sailing her to New York City for Commissioning,” Commanding Officer F. Curt Jones said.  “I have members of my crew that joined the Navy as a direct result of 9/11. I have crew members that have lost family members on 9/11. I have met numerous people as a result of being associated with the ship that lost family, friends…so we know that the steel that is part of the ship represents in some fashion those people. It represents loss but for us it also represents hope and we keep both of those things close to us,” he added.

Download the SPMAGTF-26 PDF

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By Letters to the Editor http://www.nola.com

October 18, 2009, 1:29AM

Oh, what a day Tuesday was!

Despite foggy conditions as we went down the Mississippi River, we saw and heard the support of people. We were amazed and humbled by the number of people who came out to witness the U.S.S. New York’s maiden voyage. And we thank them.

The shipbuilders of Northrop Grumman Avondale have constructed an incredible ship.
This ship is the best in the class. We look forward to demonstrating that to all. We know that the spirit of both 9-11 victims and Katrina survivors has been built into our ship. It gives us a sense of purpose like no other.

Over the last year, we have enjoyed the hospitality of the region. We thank the citizens of New Orleans and South Louisiana for welcoming us while we were preparing the ship and ourselves to get under way. It is a bittersweet time as we leave behind many new friends, but return to our families and get this ship operational.

We would like to offer special thanks to the Greater New Orleans Executive Association and the Ehrhardt Group for organizing and sponsoring this very special send-off. Crew members who were on watch inside the ship were disappointed they could not participate. Lining the levees was truly magnificent!

We thank each citizen, firefighter, police officer, school class, sailor, Marine, Coast Guard member, airman and soldier who lined the levees as we sailed by. It is with their support that we will go forward and complete our missions, to succeed in our role as part of the global force for good.

We will carry their well-wishes and support to New York City and beyond.

Curt Jones
Commanding Officer
U.S.S. New York

Source

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2009/10/uss_new_york_grateful_for_leve.html

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Broadside Blog – Bonded by a miracle, Posted by Bacon on February 18th, 2009 filed in Hero of the week

As Scott Koen gunned his engines, heading into the Hudson River and toward the floating Airbus 320, it was as if destiny had put him there.

His boat, an old Coast Guard buoy tender, was one of the first vessels to arrive at the crash scene of US Air flight 1549. Since it was low on the water and had a rotating screw, it was perfectly suited for easing up to one of the wings and boarding survivors. In the end, all 155 passengers and crew members were rescued thanks to a combined effort by several vessels, with no loss of life.

His boat’s participation in the “Miracle on the Hudson” was a final chapter in an extraordinary story marked by bravery, symbolism, and tribute – a story that began on September 11, 2001.

Scott had been the Director of Operations at the Intrepid Museum in New York when terrorists flew two aircraft into the Twin Towers. The event so affected him that he asked his boss what he thought about, “…taking steel from the World Trade Center and actually pouring it into the foundation of ships?” (NorthJersey.com)

The two men approached the Navy about the idea – the CNO agreed, and Scott was tasked with finding the scrap. Governor George Pataki asked that the ship – the fifth vessel in the LPD 17 class – be named USS NEW YORK (LPD 21), and on September 7, 2002 the Secretary of the Navy made it official. The steel from the towers would comprise a portion of her bow – the leading edge of the mighty warship.

Almost three years later, Navy S.E.A.L. LT Michael Murphy died in an intense firefight in Afghanistan while trying to save the lives of his teammates. For his sacrifice, he was awarded the Medal of Honor (see story here). LT Murphy was a New York native who grew up in Patchogue, N.Y. on Long Island. “When he deployed overseas, Murphy carried a patch from New York Fire Department’s Engine Company 53 and Ladder Company 43, in Manhattan’s El Barrio neighborhood, ‘as a symbol of why he was there and what he was doing.’” (Military Times)

Three years later, Scott Koen purchased a boat on eBay. He refitted the old buoy tender, and to honor the Navy’s first Medal of Honor recipient since Vietnam, he christened it M/V LT Michael P. Murphy.

Shortly thereafter, the vessel that bears LT Murphy’s name pulled shaken survivors from the cold waters of the Hudson near the site of the Intrepid Museum. Everyone survived thanks partly to the flying abilities and heroism of the pilot (Captain Chesley Sullenberger, an Air Force veteran who was the last person to leave the sinking aircraft – he checked the aisles twice to be sure everyone had gotten out); and partly to a man who once found scraps of metal from the Twin Towers to be used in a warship built to fight back against terrorism. He skippered a boat named for a man who gave his life doing the same.

Three weeks after the crash, Chris Cuomo of ABC News recounted the skill and composure of Captain Sullenberger, and lauded the speed with which rescue vessels arrived on the scene. He gave his report from the deck of one of those boats – the M/V LT Michael P. Murphy. He ended his report by saying, “The Lieutenant was called to duty one more time…and he helped save lives that day.”

They all did.

http://www.militarytimes.com/blogs/broadside/2009/02/18/bonded-by-a-miracle/

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