by Lionel Bascom — February 27th, 2008 — No comments
The Virginia Pilot reports:
The World Trade Center may have come down, but some of the steel that was once part of its backbone will soon serve in the nation’s defense.
On Saturday, the Navy’s newest San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship, the New York, is to be christened in ceremonies at the Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding facilities in Avondale, La., near New Orleans.
It is named in honor of the city and state New York, as well as the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that leveled the Trade Center. And within its hull is 7 1/2 tons of steel salvaged from the wreckage of the Twin Towers.
That steel was melted and given new life in fashioning the ship’s “stem bar.” That is the most forward portion of a vessel.
“After the keel, the stem is the most important structural part of a ship,” Drew Demboski, assistant design manager for the San Antonion Class program, told MarineLink.com.
“Use of this steel symbolizes the spirit and resiliency of the people of New York,” the Navy said in a press release this evening. The official motto of New York is: “Never Forget.” The ship will call Norfork, Va. its homeport.
9:42 PM in Uncategorized, World Trade Center, Ground Zero, Related Stories, We Will Never Forget, Terrorist Threat, Freedom Tower News, America at War