USS New York

Befittingly, the felled World Trade Center lives on in a San Antonio class of amphibious transport dock ships in the US Navy.

The USS New York is being built in New Orleans and scheduled to be launched in mid -2007. Twenty-four tons of steel from the World Trade Center have been recycled for the project. About seven tons were melted down and poured into a cast to make the bow section of the ship's hull. When it was poured into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there." Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up." "It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back." Several workers have postponed retirements for the honor of working on the USS New York.

"This new class of ships will project American power to the far corners of the Earth and support the cause of freedom well into the 21st century," said Secretary of the Navy Gordon England when the project was announced in 2002.

It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

The half-built ship also has the distinction of surviving the destructive force of Hurricane Katrina, which slowed construction and left hundreds of shipyard workers homeless in August 2005. Many of the workers took up temporary residence at the shipyard so they could continue with the project.

Other ships are being born out of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In addition to the USS New York, the USS Arlington will be named because of the location of the Pentagon, which was hit by American Airlines flight 77. The USS Somerset will be named after the county in Pennsylvania in which United flight 93 crashed after being taken over by hijackers.