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/

Tags: air flight, airbus 320, captain, combined effort, crash scene, crew members, director of operations, el barrio, firefight, George Pataki, governor george pataki, Hudson, Intrepid Museum, ladder, lpd 17, lpd 21, new york fire, new york fire department, New York Metro, Scott Koen, secretary of the navy, september 11 2001, survivors, USS New York, USS New York LPD-21, warship, World Trade Center, york fire department

The Record, North Jersey Online, www.northjersey.com

Thursday, February 28, 2008

The brains behind the use of salvaged World Trade Center steel in a new Navy warship is a Rutherford volunteer firefighter excited about seeing his vision christened this weekend as the USS New York.

NORTHROP GRUMMAN / SPECIAL TO THE RECORD

Rutherford native Scott Koen championed the use of steel from Ground Zero for the warship.

Her name is New York, but to Scott Koen, she is a phoenix.

The christening will take place Saturday at a Louisiana shipyard with a bottle of champagne smashed across her bow, which contains 24 tons of steel that once towered over Lower Manhattan.

Armed with air-defense missiles and two 30mm guns for close combat, the USS New York is designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It can carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines who can reach shore by helicopter and assault craft.

“Eventually, the idea would have occurred to a lot of people,” Koen said. “I just happened to be at the right spot at the right time.”

FAST FACTS

• The ship’s motto is “Never Forget.”
• Commissioning will happen in New York City next year.
• Top speed is 22 knots.
• It’s two football fields long.

The right spot was the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, where Koen had worked as director of operations. And the right man was Bill White, the museum’s president.

“He had asked, ‘What do you think about taking steel from the World Trade Center and actually pouring it into the foundation of ships?’ ” said White, recalling a conversation with Koen from March 2002. “And I said, ‘Oh, my God. That would be unbelievable.’ ”

While enthusiastic about the concept, White said he had some reservations and wondered if the government wanted to keep the steel as evidence. But he fired off an e-mail anyway to Adm. Vern Clark, then-chief of naval operations in the Pentagon.

Several months later, the military tasked Koen with finding the World Trade Center steel.

Koen said he recalled an awkward and now-humorous conversation with a Newark recycler, who had a hard time understanding why a guy from Rutherford wanted WTC scrap. The recycler cooperated once Koen explained the military part.

Then-New York Gov. George Pataki also helped find World Trade Center steel, and asked the Navy to commemorate the terrorist attack by reviving the name New York for a ship whose role would include fighting terrorism.

The $700 million ship that would become USS New York was already on the drawing board on Sept. 11, 2001, but had not been assigned a name.

It’s the fifth in a class of amphibious transport dock ships, which are designed to bring troops into a war zone and then deploy them via helicopters and boats.

Future ships in the class will also carry names commemorating places struck by the Sept. 11 hijackers — USS Arlington, the location of the Pentagon; and USS Somerset, the Pennsylvania county where United Flight 93 crashed after its passengers fought off hijackers.

The last navy ship christened New York was a battleship whose construction began on Sept. 11, 1911 — 90 years to the day that terrorists struck the towers.

For USS New York, construction using the World Trade Center steel happened in September 2003, when steelworkers in Amite, La., poured molds for the bow stem, the first part of the ship to cut through the water.

Koen said the steel will lead the way for USS New York, which will cruise into waters around Manhattan for a commissioning sometime next year.

“To add the steel, it makes a phoenix out of it,” Koen said.

E-mail: clunn@northjersey.com

http://www.northjersey.com/news/newyorkmetro/WTC_steel_lives_on_in_naval_warship.html

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Modern Casting – December 1, 2006 – Shannon Kruse

When Neil Sweet moved from Omaha Neb. (pop. 390,000), to Amite, La. (pop. 4,000), in 2003, he was bracing himself for a transition to the quieter life of a small town. But, just months after he took over as president of AmeriCast Technologies’ Amite Foundry and Machine, the casting facility was thrust into the national spotlight.

In January 2003, the U.S. Navy revealed that 24 tons of scrap steel from the fallen World Trade Center (WTC) towers would be used to produce the bow stem of the USS New York warship, and the piece would be cast at Amite Foundry and Machine. What followed was a hurricane of interviews with local and national media, facility tours for eager guests and the planning of the historic pouring event, which would bring together dignitaries from the U.S. Navy, shipbuilder Northrop Grumman, and state and local government. Even now, three years later, Sweet is fielding requests for tours and interviews as the ship nears completion.

“For me personally, I came to this little town from a much larger city, yet I was given this great opportunity,” Sweet said. “It’s something in your life you never thought you’d be a part of. It was one of the most awesome experiences of my life, and it never seems to quit.”

Getting the Call

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, months were spent cleaning tip the Twin Towers’ rubble, which included close to 200,000 tons of structural steel. Most of this steel was sold around the globe for regular steel mill and casting production, but the last piece of steel removed from the site–a chunk of I-beam–was set aside and eventually tagged to be used for the Navy ship.

Amite Foundry had produced castings for Northrop Grumman before. The OEM builds a wide range of defense systems for sea, land, air, space and cyberspace applications, and the Louisiana metalcasting facility had supplied castings for its marine contracts a number of times.

One of Northrop Grumman’s current defense projects, which began in 1996, is the construction of a new class of amphibious transport dock (LPD) ships for the U.S. Navy. Named the San Antonio class (the first ship of this class is named the USS San Antonio), these ships are meant to replace four classes of older amphibious ships. When Northrop Grumman requested bids for a bow stem component for the fifth ship of the class (LPD 21), the job was just another happy contract for Amite Foundry, which was trying to bide its time through the slow years of the first part of the millennium without permanent scars.

Sweet did not find out about the WTC steel until three or four months before the casting was slated to be poured. By that time, the ship had been designated the USS New York to commemorate the disaster of 9/11. When the name was announced, then-Navy Secretary Gordy England said the ship would “project American power to the far corners of the Earth and support the cause of freedom well into the 21st century.”

With the name, motto (Never Forget) and symbolic casting, the USS New York became a 9/11 monument that would fight back.

Remembering 9/11

The bow stem is the forward-most portion of a ship, breaking through the water to make way for the rest of the vessel. At 22,000 lbs. (9,979 kg), the casting is not the largest to be made at Amite Foundry (the facility can cast up to 50,000 lbs. [22, 679 kg]), but it has grabbed the most attention from the local community and instilled the most awe into the seasoned employees.

“The casting was a great experience for our metalcasting facility and for our small town in Louisiana,” said Junior Chavers, plant operations manager. “The town was tickled. And the making of the mold and pouring of the casting was an all-out effort from everyone in the facility.”

Unlike newcomer Sweet, Chavers was born in Amite and has worked for the town’s metalcasting facility through 41 years of name changes and ownership overhauls. He’s poured his share of castings and spent a lifetime “playing in the sand,” as he calls it. But when the scrap steel was delivered for the bow stem casting for the USS New York, Chavers felt there was something different this time around.

“When the towers fell, I watched on TV all these people lose their lives for nothing. I’m a grown man, but I shed some tears that day,” Chavers said. “So when this steel came in and I laid my hands on a piece of it, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. There was something present in the air.”

Using scrap steel for casting is not a new concept for the nobake casting plant, which uses it daily in casting production. Usually the scrap is purchased through trade auction, but this time it was donated by the people of New York. When the metal was delivered, Sweet had the pile roped off so it wouldn’t get confused with the rest of the casting facilities’ metal charge. For this steel, the facility took a sample of the metal to check the grade (A757 grade C1Q) and then adjusted the charge materials to achieve the proper metallurgical balance.

On Sept. 9, 2003, local dignitaries, members of the media, U.S. Navy representatives, Secret Service personnel, Northrop Grumman associates and several sailors from New York City gathered at Amite Foundry for the historical pouring event. The ship’s sponsor, Dotty England, wife of former Secretary of the Navy Gordon England, pulled the lever to start the tap for the heat coming out of the furnace, while Chavers and another Amite Foundry worker handled the actual pouring of the molten steel.

“In ancient times, warriors traveled to the ends of the earth in search of the best metals for their swords,” said acting Secretary of the Navy Hansford Johnson at the ceremony. “They sought out those regions which produced metal with strength, agility and endurance. We did not have to go far to find the precious steel that gives our ship the same qualities. We found our mettle in New York.”

Nearing Completion

The molten steel was poured into a mold 138 in. wide, 327 in. long and 88 in. tall. The metal was allowed to cool to a certain temperature before it was removed from the mold and heat treated to achieve the specified properties. Because of its application, the casting underwent rigorous inspection to ensure the quality of the casting. These inspections included visual, ultrasonic, radiographic and die penitrant.

“This casting had a little bit of a tighter spec on it, so there was more testing involved,” Chavers said. Once the casting made its way through the cleaning room, it was transported to the shipyard in Avondale, La. But before it was shipped out, several local citizens requested and received the opportunity to see the casting. For many, it was an eye-opening experience about the city fixture. Originally a steel mill, the casting facility was still considered as much by many people in town. “It was neat to show them what we actually do. But they still refer to us as The Mill,” Sweet deadpanned.

The keel of the ship was laid September 2004. This August, the bow stem was welded to the ship. Now, the USS New York is nearly 50% finished, with an expected completion date in mid-2007. After it’s commissioned, the ship’s homeport will be Norfolk, Va.

Return to Normalcy

Since the pouring of the casting in 2003, work has shifted into a higher gear for Amite Foundry. Improved economics has boosted the casting facility from 130 employees in 2003 to 220 employees currently. The firm pours 35 clean tons per day compared to 18 tons three years ago.

“Every customer’s volumes have gone up,” Sweet said. Caterpillar, its biggest customer, is ordering six 400-ton trucks a month, compared to two, and six 992 trucks a week, compared to 11-12 per month. “Even with the added capacity, we still cannot meet demand.”

Although it’s been years since the casting of the USS New York bow stem, people are still seeking out Amite Foundry to hear its story. A month ago, Sweet fielded a phone call from a woman who was trying to document where all the scrap steel went after the disaster site was cleared. She requested a short visit. The short visit turned into an hour and a half interview, and eventually, Sweet found himself in front of two TV cameras The footage and interview will be used in a video memorial that will be shown at the planned World Trade Center Memorial and Museum at the WTC site.

For the most part, work has gone back to normal for Sweet and Amite Foundry and Machine, but the experience, like the events of 9/11, will not be forgotten easily by this crew.

“We were given this opportunity to be a part of something that took that which was destroyed, melted it down and made it into something that will protect the country,” Sweet said. “What a fulfilling chance to be part of the whole thing.”

What’s in a Name?

The naming of the USS New York broke conventional guidelines for U.S. Navy vessels. Normally, state names are reserved for naval submarines. Special consideration was taken for the amphibious transport dock (LPD) 21, however, after New York Gov. George Pataki requested the ship be named for the state of New York to commemorate the events of 9/11. Normally, warships are named after U.S. cities.

Future ships in the San Antonio class of LPDs also will be named in honor of those killed during the terrorist strike. LPD 24 and LPD 25 will be the USS Arlington and the USS Somerset for the attack on the Pentagon and the thwarted terrorist attack that ended in the fields of the Pennsylvania town.

The USS Now York File

The USS New York will be part of the San Antonio class of amphibious transport dock (LPD) vessels. The warships in this new class will replace more than 41 older ships and provide the Navy and Marine Corps with more modern platforms to aid in embarking, transporting and landing elements for a variety of expeditionary warfare missions. Technological and design advances provide enhanced survivability, state-of-the-art command and control capability, modernized weapons stations and enhanced ergonomics to improve the quality of life at sea for the sailors and Marines.

Following are the general characteristics for this class of LPDs:
Propulsion: Four sequentially turbocharged marine Colt-Pielstick diesels, two shafts, 41,600 shaft horsepower.
Length: 684 ft.
Beam: 105 ft.
Displacement: Approximately 24,900 long tons full load.
Speed: In excess of 22 knots.
Crew: Ship’s company: 360 (28 officers, 332 enlisted); Embarked Landing Force: 699 (66 officers, 633 enlisted); surge capacity to 800.
Armament: Two Bushmaster II 30 mm close-in guns, fore and aft; two Rolling Airframe missile launchers, fore and aft.
Aircraft: Launch or land two CH53E Super Stallion helicopters or two MV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft or up to four CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, AH-1 or UH-1 helicopters.
Landing/Attack Craft: Two LCACs or one LCU and 14 expeditionary fighting vehicles.
Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Bob Houlihan, U.S. Navy.
Shannon Kruse Assistant Editor

Citation Details
Title: Building New York: twenty-four tons of steel from the fallen World Center was used to cast a piece of the USS New York, the fifth in a new class of U.S. Navy warships.
Author: Shannon Kruse
Publication: Modern Casting (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 96 Issue: 12 Page: 22(5)

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