The much awaited U.S.S New York, the newest of the U.S Navy warships was commissioned on Saturday with U.S Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton present at its side during the inception ceremony. The New York has been built with more than 7.5 tons of steel that was salvaged from the remains of the World Trade Center, that was demolished by audacious and horrendous terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001.

The New York is an amphibious transport warship designed specifically to ferry U.S naval and amphibious forces to the regions of conflicts and protect American interests overseas. As per traditions, the first watch for the U.S.S New York was set and sailors as well as the marines boarded the new vessel, signaling the commissioning of the New York. The commissioning ceremony as expected was an emotional one, with Sec. Of State  Hillary Clinton, Governor Paterson and the mayor of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg present at the ceremony.

The command of the newly inducted naval vessel as assumed by Commander Curt Jones, who also happens to be a native New Yorker at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, with an audience of more than 6,000 people. In statement, Commander Jones sad,

“There is a lot of emotion that is associated with this ship for all of us. The steel that is in the bow of the ship, that motivates us literally every day in what we do.”

The New York has an estimated crew capacity of 360 sailors and for the nest few days will be docked at Pier 88. later, it will begin its journey to its base of operations in at the Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia.

According to a firefighter present at the ceremony,

“To me it’s a show of resiliency to the whole tragedy that happened. The crew members are great. I met a Marine and went to say ‘Thank you’ to him. He said, ‘No, sir, thank you very much.’ We have a lot in common.”

Via NY Daily News.