A US Navy ship partially made from steel taken from the wreckage of the World Trade Centre has arrived in New York harbour, poignantly sailing past One World Trade Center which was built in the wake of 9/11.
The ship, the USS New York, was one of several ships participating in this year’s Fleet Week, which kicked off on Wednesday as those boats arrived at piers in Manhattan. An 11 gun salute was planned for the USS New York as it passed by Fort Hamilton.
The USS New York was built using 24 tonnes of scrap steel from the World Trade Centre, which collapsed during the 911 terror attacks in 2001.
It was designed to carry a crew of 360 sailors, with 700 combat-ready Marines who could be left at shores by helicopters and assault ships.
The steel itself was taken from the wreckage site in lower Manhattan to a foundry in Amite, Louisiana, where it was poured into moulds in 2003.
“Those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,” Navy Captain Kevin Wensing has said of the pouring, according to the Associated Press.
New York’s fleet week is held every year, and kicked off on Wednesday at 7.30am, when Navy and Coast Guard ships sailed up the Hudson river to Pier 86, and then docked around the city.
Fleet week lasts a week, and gives the public the opportunity to meet Marines, sailors, and Coast Guardsmen, as they come ashore in the city.
