first responder - uss new york lpd21
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Strength Forged Through Sacrifice. Never Forget.
FIRSTRESPONDER
COMMISSIONINGNOVEMBER 7, 2009CO SS O G
USS NEW YORK
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NEVER FORGET
We were there when it started, we will be there when it is finished.
Halmar … when it matters. Proud to be part of the team rebuilding the World Trade Center.
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Time and again, when America has asked, our military has bravely answered. And at Remington, we are proud and honored
to have provided the tools to defend freedom since 1816. As we mark this day with solemn reverence, we affi rm our commitment
to those who so selfl essly protect and defend the liberties we all share – one precision shot at a time.
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The New York Yankees are Honored to Support the Commissioning
of the USS NEW YORK
Dear Friends and Family,
It is truly an honor and a privilege to bring this magnificent warship to New York for her commissioning and to “bring her to life.” The commissioning of a naval vessel is traditionally a time of celebration, the welcoming of a new ship and its crew, to the fleet. This ceremony marks the culmination of much hard work and is a symbol of our great national pride and steadfast resolve. Today’s events capture these things, but also encapsulate so much more. Specifically, this commissioning is also a homecoming, a chance for each of us to bring NEW YORK home and introduce her to all New Yorkers.
September 11, 2001, will forever be a day that stands in the minds of those who experienced it. On that day, all
the citizens of the United States became New Yorkers, and our country was transformed. An act that was meant to tear us apart and show our weakness brought us together as a nation and made us stronger. With 7.5 tons of steel recovered from the World Trade Center site and forged into the bow of this ship, the crew of USS NEW YORK will ensure that the world will never forget that day. The spirit of those who have gone before us inspire us each day. We draw strength from their sacrifice and have placed the mantle of their memory upon our shoulders.
Today, Mrs. Dotty England will help commission NEW YORK with the words, “Man our ship and bring her to
life.” This moment is the product of several years of planning and dedicated effort by many great Americans. The shipbuilders of Northrop Grumman persevered in the aftermaths of Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav to complete this very special ship built to carry the Navy-Marine Corps team well into the 21st century. Many of those shipbuilders, as well as the Navy’s support team, made significant sacrifices to continue production, in order to get us here today. My heartfelt thanks to them, for their hard work and dedication and to so many more, who were vital in completing this effort that we now know as NEW YORK.
Additionally, a specific group of people have been relentless in their labors to make this day both a reality and a
success. We could not have reached this moment without the personal support of Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg. The Commissioning Committee, led by Mr. Robert “Woody” Johnson and RADM(ret) Robert Ravitz, have strived for years to bring this day to fruition. All of their work and support is humbly appreciated.
The Navy specifically selected the members of the crew before you today for the unique responsibilities and
challenges of pre-commissioning duty. NEW YORK sailors are smart, hard-working and enthusiastic, and they have done a magnificent job in preparing her for fleet service. Each crew member has their own story as to how they became part of the NEW YORK team. I encourage you to talk to them, to find out why they have joined, why they are here and why they serve. I am incredibly proud of each and every one of them!
After commissioning, NEW YORK will take her place in the fleet and serve for 40 years as a roving ambassador
and symbol of American technological prowess, industrial might, security personified and dreams fulfilled. Thank you for joining us to celebrate the commissioning of this great warship and to commemorate those who
have gone before us.
Strength Forged through Sacrifice. Never Forget.
F.C. Jones CDR, USN
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVYUSS NEW YORK (LPD 21)
FPO AE 09579-1721
David A. Paterson, Governor, New York State
Patrick Hooker, Commissioner, New York StateDepartment of Agriculture & Markets
THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS
congratulatesCOMMANDER CURT JONES, USN
AND THE CREW OF THE
USS NEW YORK
New York’s agricultural producers are proud to be part of this historic day.
H H H
H H H
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IPAA Leadership:
H.G. “BUDDY” KLEEMEIER | CHAIRMANBRUCE H. VINCENT | VICE CHAIRMAN
DIEMER TRUE | TREASURERBARRY RUSSELL | PRESIDENT AND CEO
INDEPENDENT PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
THANK YOU.
TO THE MEN AND WOMEN OF AMERICA’S ARMED SERVICES WHOSE DEDICATION
AND BRAVERY KEEP OUR NATION SAFE AND PROTECT FREEDOM ABROAD.
ENDURINGRESOLVE.
The MissionMatters Most
We honor the many lost in the
name of freedom. We remember
their sacrifice and congratulate
the crew of LPD 21.
Every day, Alion’s maritime
experts help the Navy
engineer mission success.
Because that’s what matters.
www.alionscience.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS .............................................................................................................. 22
COMMANDING OFFICER ............................................................................................................... 29
EXECUTIVE OFFICER ....................................................................................................................... 31
COMMAND MASTER CHIEF.......................................................................................................... 33
DOROTHY HENNLEIN ENGLAND ............................................................................................... 34
USS New York Sponsor
OFFICIAL SPONSORS ........................................................................................................................ 36
USS NEW YORK COMMISSIONING COMMITTEE .............................................................. 39
MARK OF WARRIORS ........................................................................................................................ 41
By Rear Adm. Joseph F. Callo, USNR (Ret.)
USS NEW YORK: A NEW SHIP, A NEW MISSION, A NEW RESOLVE.............................. 44
By Arthur Herman
NEW YORK, NEW YORK ................................................................................................................... 58
By Bob McManus
THE MAIN BATTERY .......................................................................................................................... 60
By Col. Gary J. Ohls, USMCR (Ret.) and Lt. Col. David F. Overton, USMC (Ret.)
USS NEW YORK WELL DECK AND FLIGHT DECK OPS .................................................... 68
By Mark D. Faram
BUILDING USS NEW YORK ............................................................................................................. 80
Pride Overcomes Construction Challenges
By Edward L. Winter
A SHIP, A STATE, A CITY, AND ITS PEOPLE ........................................................................... 90
By Doug Tsuruoka
USS NEW YORKSTRENGTH FORGED THROUGH SACRIFICE. NEVER FORGET.
COMMISSIONING NOVEMBER 7, 2009
For over forty years, ACL has safely transported
thousands of shipments across the Atlantic. This
particular shipment was one tall order!
ACL transported the steel beams that anchor New
York City’s FREEDOM TOWER. The first shipment of 99
beams, ranging in length from 31' to 56', was manufac-
tured in Luxembourg. They were secured at the steel
mill onto ACL’s unique 42' flatbed trailers and then
driven directly onto the ACL vessel in Antwerp. The
load presented no problem for the ship’s 420 metric
ton capacity stern ramp.
Upon arrival in the USA, ACL followed up with the
delivery – all the way to the building site at Ground Zero
in New York City. The steel columns that ACL transported
are being used to anchor the FREEDOM TOWER, rising
from approximately 70' below street level.
Shipping to/from Europe, West Africa, Mediterranean
and the world, ACL is the recognized expert in handling
shipments that are too tall, too wide, too long or too
heavy for other carriers. We also carry the component
parts in our containers, making ACL the ideal carrier
for all aspects of project cargo. If your cargo is hard-
to-handle, remember to call ACL first!
800-ACL-1235
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The MissionMatters Most
Naval Architecture.
Marine Engineering.
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Management.
Production Support.
With 70 years of innovation
and experience, Alion helps
you achieve your mission.
Because that’s what matters.
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CLEAR VISION.DECISIVE RESULTS.
THE WAY AHEAD FOR AMERICA’S SEA SERVICES ........................................................... 98
A Strategy for the 21st Century
By Rear Adm. Joseph F. Callo, USNR (Ret.)
EXPEDITIONARY WARFARE COMES OF AGE IN WORLD WAR II ............................... 110
By George Daughan
THE LEGACY OF THE SHIPS NEW YORK ..............................................................................124
By James L. Nelson
THE HISTORY OF THE U.S. NAVY AND MARINE CORPS RELATIONSHIP AND
ITS IMPACT ON AMPHIBIOUS WARFARE ...............................................................................132
By Col. Gary J. Ohls, USMCR (Ret.)
THE NAVY AND NEW YORK CITY .............................................................................................144
By Richard H. Wagner
SILVER WEDDED TO STEEL:
A TRADITION CARRIES ON IN USS NEW YORK (LPD 21) ................................................156
By Colin E. Babb
A HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK COUNCIL ............................................................................ 162
Navy League of the United States
By Richard H. Wagner
SHIPBUILDER: AN INTERVIEW WITH MIKE PETTERS,
PRESIDENT OF NORTHROP GRUMMAN SHIPBUILDING ................................................ 171
By John D. Gresham and Susan L. Kerr
PLANKOWNERS ................................................................................................................................. 177
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
22
Colin E. Babb
Colin Babb is a senior writer with Naval Air Systems Command, and he previously served for more than six years
as an associate editor for U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings and Naval History magazines. He is currently working on
his doctorate in military history at the University of Maryland in College Park. email: [email protected]
Rear Adm. Joseph F. Callo, USNR (Ret.)
Rear Adm. Callo’s latest book, John Paul Jones: America’s First Sea Warrior, earned the Naval Order’s Samuel
Eliot Morison Award. He has also written three books about Adm. Lord Nelson and was U.S. editor for Who’s Who
in Naval History. He writes frequently on naval subjects for magazines and newspapers. Callo is a Yale University
NROTC graduate, and he earned a Surface Warfare designation during two years of sea duty in the U.S. Navy’s
Atlantic Amphibious Force. He was a senior advertising agency executive and a producer for NBC-TV and PBS
programs. He earned a Peabody Award as line producer for the NBC-TV prime time program, “Tut: The Boy King,”
and a Telly Award for his script “The Second Life of 20 West Ninth,” which aired on the History Channel and PBS.
He is a Naval History magazine Author of the Year. email: [email protected]
George Daughan
George Daughan holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He spent three years in the United States Air Force dur-
ing the Vietnam War and was an instructor at the Air Force Academy. Subsequently, he taught at the University of
Colorado, the University of New Hampshire, Wesleyan University, and Connecticut College. He is the author most
recently of: If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy From the Revolution to the War of 1812, for which he
received the Samuel Eliot Morison Award from the Naval Order of the United States. email: [email protected]
Mark D. Faram
Mark Faram is currently the senior staff writer and the Hampton Roads Bureau Chief for the Navy Times.
His assignments have taken him on board scores of U.S. Navy operating units, including USS San Antonio,
the first of the Amphibious Transport Dock (LPD)-class ships. His interests include researching and writing
about the lives and history of those in the Navy and he has published a book entitled Faces of War – The
Untold Story of Edward Steichen’s World War II Photographers. Faram served on active duty in the Navy
for nine years as a photographer’s mate and as a diver, second class, and he continues to apply his special
combination of writing and photographic skills in his work. He is a graduate of the Military Photojournalism
Program at Syracuse University. email: [email protected]
John D. Gresham
John D. Gresham lives in Fairfax, Va. He is an author, researcher, game designer, photographer, and mili-
tary commentator with numerous publishing, design, speaking, and television appearance credits in his
portfolio. He was the primary researcher and partner to Tom Clancy on his best-selling series of non-fiction
“guided tour” books about military units. These include Submarine (1993), Armored Cav (1994), Fighter
Wing (1995), Marine (1996), Airborne (1997), Carrier (1999), and Special Forces (2001), all published by
Berkley Books.
His book DEFCON-2 (with Norman Polmar), a new single-volume history of the Cuban missile crisis,
was published in 2006. His latest book, Beyond Hell and Back (October 2007, with Dwight Zimmerman),
describes seven key U.S. special operations missions. email: [email protected]
Arthur Herman
Arthur Herman has authored five books. His latest, Gandhi and Churchill: The Epic Rivalry That Destroyed an
Empire and Forged Our Age (2008), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His previous book, Rule the Waves: How the
British Navy Shaped the Modern World (2004), moved him to the forefront of American naval historians and was a
U.S. and Canadian best-seller. How the Scots Invented the Modern World (2001), a New York Times best-seller, sold a
half-million copies. His military analyses appeared in Commentary, The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and Wall
Street Journal Asia. His Commentary article predicting the success of the Iraq surge circulated at senior Pentagon
and White House levels, while his article, “Who Owns The Vietnam War?”, was featured in a public discussion with
Henry Kissinger at the New York Historical Society. He has been commentator on military matters on major network
television news programs. email: [email protected]
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
For employment opportunities, visit www.buschjobs.com
25
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
Bob McManus
Bob McManus has lived in Buffalo, Binghamton, Albany, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. He is editorial page editor of The
New York Post and a Cold War veteran of the U.S. Navy’s submarine service. email: [email protected]
James L. Nelson
James L. Nelson was born and grew up in Lewiston, Maine, and after working in the television industry for two
years he ran away to sea, sailing aboard reproductions of three famous ships of the Age of Sail: Golden Hind, Lady
Washington and HMS Rose. In 1994, Nelson finished By Force of Arms, his first book, and married former ship-
mate Lisa Page. They now live in Harpswell, Me., with their four children. Nelson has written 14 books, both fiction
and nonfiction. His novel Glory in the Name was the 2004 winner of the American Library Association/William
Young Boyd Award for best Military Fiction and his latest nonfiction work, George Washington’s Secret Navy was
selected for the 2009 Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval History. He is a graduate of UCLA Film School. Noted
author Patrick O’Brian described Nelson as “a master of both his period and the English language.”
email: [email protected]
Col. Gary J. Ohls, USMCR (Ret.)
Gary Ohls currently serves as associate professor of Joint Maritime Operations in the Naval War College Program
at the Naval Post Graduate School. He received a Ph.D. in history from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas,
holds three master’s degrees, and is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I. Prior to
his current assignment, Professor Ohls served as a member of the Maritime History Department at the Naval War Col-
lege in Newport. Colonel Ohls served 35 years in the United States Marine Corps, including duty as an enlisted man,
regular officer, reserve officer, and reserve officer on active duty. During this service, he performed in both command
and staff positions at various locations worldwide and at sea. Additionally, he has worked in management positions
with Northrop Grumman Corporation and the Aerospace Corporation. email: [email protected]
Lt. Col. David F. Overton, USMC (Ret.)
David F. Overton, MS, is associate professor of Joint Maritime Operations at the U.S. Naval War College in Mon-
terey, Calif., and adjunct faculty for the Marine Corps University Command and Staff College Distance Education
Program. He served 26 years in the U.S. Marine Corps; four years as an enlisted electronics technician and 22 years
as a Naval Flight Officer in the EA-6B Prowler aircraft. He has more than 2,000 flight hours, with 250 hours logged in
air combat operations. He and his wife, Susanne, are both Norwalk, Conn., natives. He is a retired lieutenant colonel
and now resides in Monterey with his wife. email: [email protected]
Doug Tsuruoka
Doug Tsuruoka is a former foreign correspondent who has worked for Newsweek, the Far Eastern Economic Review,
AP-Dow Jones News Service and other publications. He is currently an editor at Investor’s Business Daily. A native New
Yorker, Tsuruoka spent his early years editing community papers in Brooklyn. He also worked on the staff of the New York
State Assembly and the New York City Board of Correction. He graduated from Harvard College and the Graduate School
of Journalism at Columbia University. email: [email protected]
Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner is a writer and photographer specializing in ships and history. He is the editor of The Log, the official
journal of the Navy League of the United States, New York Council and publishes Beyondships.com, which is devoted to
ships and naval history. His articles have also appeared in The Supreme Court Historical Society Quarterly, the World
Ship Society Porthole, the Journal of Supreme Court History, and the New York Law Journal Magazine. Mr. Wagner holds
degrees from Cornell University, John G. Hagan School of Business and Pace University School of Law. He also studied
law at Cambridge University. A member of the New York bar, he was Senior Litigation Counsel for Verizon and appeared
regularly before the federal and New York courts. He is an officer and director of the New York Council of the Navy
League and a member of the Naval Order of the United States. email: [email protected]
Edward L. Winter
Edward Winter, APR, is manager of communications for the Avondale Facility of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding –
Gulf Coast. He has worked at the Avondale shipyard in the New Orleans area, where USS New York (LPD 21) was built, for
nearly 25 years in various positions in employee relations, public affairs, public relations, and communications. A native
of New Orleans and a graduate of the University of New Orleans, Winter is an accredited member of the Public Relations
Society of America and a member of the International Association of Business Communicators and the Press Club of New
Orleans. He is also a board member of the Jefferson Parish Chamber of Commerce and Raintree Children Services. He
resides in the New Orleans area with his wife of 25 years, Yolanda, and the couple has one daughter, Emily.
email: [email protected]
Services provided by Empire HealthChoice HMO, Inc. and/or Empire HealthChoice Assurance, Inc., licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans.
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Looking to the future with their strength and spirit in mind.
Empire BlueCross BlueShield is proud to support the launch of the USS New York, representing the best of our city and the people we serve.
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Cover photo courtesy
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Contributing Writers
Colin E. Babb, Rear Adm. Joseph F.
Callo USNR (Ret.), George Daughan
Mark D. Faram, John D. Gresham
Arthur Herman, Bob McManus
James L. Nelson, Col. Gary J. Ohls
USMCR (Ret.), Lt. Col. David F. Overton
USMC (Ret.), Doug Tsuruoka,
Richard H. Wagner, Edward L. Winter
Editorial Director
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Consulting Editor
Rear Adm. Joseph F. Callo
USNR (Ret.)
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Strength Forged Through Sacrifice. Never Forget.
FIRSTRESPONDER
COMMISSIONINGNOVEMBER 7, 2009COMMISSIONING
USS NEW YORK
More than seven tons of steel that once towered above a nation will now be put into service to protect it.
With more than seven tons of steel from the World Trade Center forged into her bow, the USS New York has entered service as a fully commissioned ship in the greatest Navy on earth. Campbell-Ewald and The Interpublic Group of Companies are proud to serve as sponsors of such an inspirational part of America’s past, present and future.
Photograph courtesy of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.
The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey celebrates the commissioning of USS New York.
“Strength forged through sacrifi ce. Never forget.”
29
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
Cmdr. F. Curtis Jones was born and raised in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
He has most recently been on the staff of the Naval Personnel Command (NPC) as deputy direc-
tor of Surface Warfare Officer Distribution. While attached to NPC, he deployed to Afghanistan and
became part of Joint Task Force Paladin, the counter-improvised explosive device team.
He previously served as executive officer of USS Coronado (AGF 11), the flagship of the Com-
mander, Third Fleet based in San Diego. Prior to duty on USS Coronado, Jones was assigned to the
United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) in Omaha, Neb., as an emergency actions officer
and later became aide-de-camp for the Deputy Commander, USSTRATCOM.
Jones’ previous sea duty included the pre-commissioning crew of USS Bataan (LHD 5), both in
Pascagoula, Miss., and Norfolk, Va., and as chief engineer for USS Cleveland (LPD 7), homeported in
San Diego. There he received the Surface Navy Association’s Arleigh Burke Award for operational
excellence.
His initial sea assignment was in 1989 on the USS San Jose (AFS 7), homeported in Guam. From
1989 to 1993 he made deployments to the Western Pacific and the Middle East, including Operation
Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.
A 1989 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in philoso-
phy, Jones received his commission through the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps at MIT.
He earned a master’s degree in national security affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School in
Monterey, Calif., where he was active in student government and served a term as chairman of the
Officer Student Advisory Committee.
Jones’ personal awards include the Defense Meritorious Medal (two awards), Meritorious Service
Medal (three awards), Navy Commendation Medal (two awards), Navy Achievement Medal (two
awards), and the Army Achievement Medal.
COMMANDER F. CURTIS JONES
COMMANDING OFFICER
31
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
Cmdr. Erich Schmidt was most recently on the staff of the Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces
Command as the current readiness officer.
He previously served as chief of staff for Maritime Pre-positioning Ship Squadron One,
forward-deployed to the Mediterranean. Prior to duty with the squadron, Schmidt was as-
signed to the Operational Test and Evaluation Force Command in Norfolk, Va., as the op-
erational test director for the Navy’s newest amphibious ship type, the San Antonio class.
Previous sea duty included USS Sides (FFG 14), homeported in San Diego, where he
served as operations officer. During that tour, the Sides was awarded the “Battle E” award
for operational excellence on a deployment to the Western Pacific in support of a readiness
and training exercise with five allied navies. He later served as operations officer in USS
Austin (LPD 4), homeported in Norfolk.
In 1997, Schmidt was assigned to the Expeditionary Warfare Training Group, Pacific in
San Diego, Calif., as an instructor in amphibious warfare, where he qualified as a master
training specialist.
Schmidt’s initial sea assignment in 1992 was with the USS South Carolina (CGN 37),
aboard which he deployed to the Mediterranean and Adriatic in support of peace-keeping
operations in Bosnia. In 1995 he served on the staff of Commander, Amphibious Squadron
Five, where he was supporting arms coordinator and assistant operations officer, deploy-
ing to the Western Pacific and the Arabian Gulf.
Schmidt graduated from the University of Arizona in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in me-
chanical engineering, receiving his commission through the Navy Reserve Officer Train-
ing Corps. He earned a master’s degree in educational technology in 2004 from Troy State
University.
Schmidt’s personal awards include the Navy Commendation Medal (four awards), the
Navy Achievement Medal (three awards), and numerous campaign and unit citations.
COMMANDER ERICH SCHMIDT
EXECUTIVE OFFICER
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33
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
CMDCM(SW) Robert W. Stocklin has served on active duty for 28 years.
Stocklin’s most recent assignment was command master chief of Naval
Support Activity Mid-South in Millington, Tenn. He was previously command
master chief of USS John L. Hall (FFG 32), homeported in Pascagoula.
Prior to serving in USS John L. Hall, he was CMC of USS Portland (LSD
37), during which time he deployed with Amphibious Task Force East,
landing Marines in the Gulf Region in advance of the initial air strikes at
the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Previous sea duty included USS Inchon (MCS 12), where he served as
legal officer and force protection officer; USS Detroit (AOE 4), where he was
legal officer; and USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), where he served in the legal de-
partment.
Stocklin entered active service in 1981 at the Great Lakes, Ill., Recruit
Training Center, receiving yeoman training at “A” School prior to reporting
to USS Peterson (DD 969) in 1982. He earned a legalman rating, attended
Naval Justice School, and served in the staff judge advocate’s office in New-
port, R.I. He is a native of Philadelphia, Pa.
Other shore assignments included a Naval Legal Service Office Detach-
ment in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the Senior Enlisted Academy in New-
port, R.I.
Stocklin’s personal awards include the Navy Commendation Medal (four
awards), the Navy Achievement Medal (two awards), and the Good Conduct
Medal (five awards).
CMDCM(SW) ROBERT W. STOCKLIN
COMMAND MASTER CHIEF
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
34
her husband was serving two separate tours as Secretary
of the Navy during 4.5 years between 2001 and 2006, she
devoted her time to the families of the men and women of
the Navy and Marine Corps, with particular emphasis on
their housing, medical care, and the other special needs of
our U.S. Navy and Marine Corps families. Presently she is
enjoying activities with her extended family, traveling, and
participating in community activities in Fort Worth.
As part of her role as the sponsor of USS New York, Mrs. Eng-
land also focused on the well-being of the shipyard workers
who were part of the ship’s construction team. She pointed out
that those workers, many of whom had their homes destroyed
and their families dispersed by Hurricane Katrina, had “re-
mained undaunted in carrying out the important work of build-
ing not only a ship, but a tribute to the spirit of America and to
the spirit of New York.”
In 2003, Mrs. England participated in the ceremonial pour-
ing of 7.5 tons of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center
Twin Towers to form USS New York’s bow stem. She also offici-
ated over the keel laying of the ship in 2004.
When asked to describe her role as the sponsor of USS New
York. Mrs. England put strong emphasis on the future:
“While part of USS New York’s motto is ‘Never Forget,’ it’s
very important to think in terms of this ship’s future and her
important role in the defense of the United States. The men
and women of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps who will go to
sea in USS New York embody the first half of the ship’s motto:
‘Strength Forged through Sacrifice,’ and they deserve every bit
of support we can give them in the coming days and years. They
are the best our nation has to offer, and they will be involved in
difficult and at times dangerous tasks, and I will do my part
in seeing that they continue to get the support they need and
deserve.” The last lines of that promise reflect the final part of
the traditional role of a ship’s sponsor: remain in contact with
the ship’s crew in the future.
With the words of that time-honored naval ceremony, includ-
ing the accompanying expression of hope for the safety of
those who defend our country on and from the sea, the wife of
then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England brought a
new ship another significant step closer to becoming an official
part of the United States Navy.
With her words, England was leading a traditional obser-
vance that has been an essential step in making a ship an of-
ficial unit of the United States Navy since the nation’s founding
more than two centuries ago. In this instance it was a ship with
a very special link to 9-11 and New Yorkers.
Following the ceremony at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding
in Avondale, La., she added a personal note:
“For me it is a humbling and profound honor to represent
the victims, their families, and the heroes of 9-11, the people
of New York, and all Americans in sponsoring this ship. Navy
tradition says that during christening the ship receives the
spirit of the sponsor. But with this unique ship, we now give
it not only my spirit but the spirit of the 9/11 heroes, the spirit
of New Yorkers, and the indomitable American spirit. We will
keep that same spirit in our hearts and minds forever. … We
will never forget our heroes and their loved ones, and we will
never forget all those who stand on watch today to preserve
our freedoms and liberties.”
England is a native of Maryland and is a proud resident of
Fort Worth, Texas. She and her husband met when they were
students at the University of Maryland, and they were married
in the campus chapel. She and former Secretary England
have three grown children and three grandchildren. During
her husband’s service in Washington, she divided her time
between Texas and Virginia and took an active interest
in community and cultural affairs in both locations. While
DOROTHY
HENNLEIN
ENGLAND
With a firm two-handed swing, the bottle
shattered and the Champagne sprayed over
the bow of a ship with a unique place in
history from her very beginning. The future
USS New York’s sponsor, Dotty England,
spoke the essential words: “In honor of the
city, the state, and the people of New York and
in the name of the United States of America,
I christen thee New York. May God bless this
ship and all who sail in her.”
USS New York Sponsor
©T
&C
O.
200
9
TIFFANY & CO.
CONGRATULATES
THE OFFICERS AND CREW OF
USS NEW YORK (LPD-21)
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
36
ADMIRALCity of New York
Edelman
Robert Wood Johnson IV, Owner and Chairman, New York Jets
Merrill Lynch
New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets
COMMODOREINTREPID Sea, Air and Space Museum
New York Yankees
North American Airlines
CAPTAINConde Nast
New York Yacht Club
Tiffany & Co.
COLONELCampbell-Ewald Advertising
DeVito Fitterman Advertising
Interpublic Group
Navy League of the United States, New York Council
New York Post
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
September 11th Families’ Association
COMMANDER
American Society of Composers,
Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
American Defense Systems, Inc.
Rear Adm. Joseph Callo, USNR (Ret.) and
Capt. Sally McElwreath Callo, USN (Ret.)
DRS Technologies, Inc.
Fairbanks Morse Engine
Gryphon Technologies
Hess Companies
Home Box Office (HBO)
L-3 Communications Corporation
Mutual of America
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems
Rolls-Royce Naval Marine, Inc.
Florence and Robert A. Rosen Foundation
Treadwell Corporation
MASTER CHIEF American Legion Post 754, New York Athletic Club
ASCO Power Technologies
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Benaroya
Dunkin’ Donuts
Faircount Media Group
H&H Bagels
New York Community Bank Foundation
Northrop Grumman Information Systems
Mr. and Mrs. Erik Olstein
Juliette and Frank Reidy
SERGEANT MAJORDiageo
Lt. and Mrs. Norman Keller, USNR (Ret.)
Mr. and Mrs. David Molloy
Overseas Military Sales Corporation
Sandy Hook Pilots
Sperry Marine Northrop Grumman
Matt Wilson – Insite Media, LLC
PETTY OFFICER Ms. Pauline Brown
Fleet Reserve Association, Northeast Region Fund, Erie, Pa.
Knights of Columbus, Cavallero Council, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. Scott Koen
The Wolkowski Family
OFFICIAL SPONSORS
The USS New York Commissioning Committee would
like to express appreciation for the generous support
of corporations, foundations, other organizations and
individuals. Listed by level of giving, they include:
37
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
SHIPMATE
American Legion, St. Stanislaus Memorial Post 1771,
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. Kenneth Anderson, USNR (Ret.)
Mr. Arthur S. Bookbinder
Ms. Martha Duncan and Ms. Maggie Thompson
EWA Technologies, Inc.
Fleet Reserve Association Branch 115, Bethlehem, Pa.
Albert Fried & Company, LLC
Mr. and Mrs. F. Thomas Jones
Mr. Timothy Jones
Mr. Michael A. Kling
Mr. J. Robert Lunney
Mr. Michael Luper
Mrs. Marilyn McLellan
Marine Corps League, ET Brisson Detachment, Naples, Fla.
Marine Corps League – Troy, New York Detachment
Naval Reserve Association,
ENS James Burke Chapter, Larchmont, N.Y.
Omni Financial
Mr. Raymond Saleeby
Mr. Kevin Wensing
NEW YORK CREW MEMBERMr. William Adelaar
American Legion, Board of Education Post 1088, Bronx, N.Y.
American Legion, Dan O’Connell Post 272
American Legion, Patrick J. Salessio Post 1310,
Staten Island, N.Y.
American Legion, Samuel H. Young Post
American Legion Watkins-Kellett Post 277, Staten Island, N.Y.
Capt. Robert S. Bazan, USN
Mr. Bryan Birch
Catholic War Veterans Post 1934, Staten Island, N.Y.
Catholic War Veterans, Eugene L. Kelley Post 1937,
Pine Bush, N.Y.
Capt. Matthew Coffey, USNR (Ret.)
Commander, Naval Enlisted Reserve Association 3rd District
COMSACO, Inc.
Mr. and Mrs. Donald P. Dillon
Mr. Bernard Eldredge
Mr. John Festa
Fleet Reserve Association Branch 226, Staten Island, N.Y.
Fleet Reserve Association, Long Island Branch 071
Fleet Reserve Association, James R. Smith, RVPNE
FRA, NERA, AL, Scranton, Pa.
Mrs. Antonia Fontana
Mr. Timothy Forbes
Radioman 1st Class Richard K. Hadley, USN (Ret.)
Mr. John M. Harrington
Joe Buff Incorporated
Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 171, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Korean War Veterans Association, Rockland County
Korean War Veterans, Central Long Island Chapter
Ladies Auxiliary, FRA Northeast, Manchester, N.J.
Ladies Auxiliary, FRA Unit 124, Lakehurst, N.J.
Ladies Auxiliary, FRA Unit 226
Dr. and Mrs. Michael Langan
Marine Corps League, Catskill Detachment
Masonic War Veterans Post 6, Staten Island, N.Y.
Mr. James V. Mazzone, Sr.
Mr. Albert Menendez
Naval Enlisted Reserve Association, USS Briarcliff Chapter,
Staten Island, N.Y.
Nicholas & Lence Communications LLC
Northeast New York State Chapter of the Chosin Few, Inc.
Mr. Jose Noyes
Mr. Benedict P. Reyes
Mr. John Reynolds
Ms. Melissa S. Ryan
Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson
Mr. Phillip Sattler
Ms. Kathleen Shear
Mr. Larry Slack
Mr. Andres Tous
United Staten Island Veterans Organization
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Argonne Marine Park Post 107,
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Ridgewood Post 123
Mr. Benedict J. Vilardo
Mr. and Mrs. Viviano
Mr. Russell Warshay
Ms. Alice White
Mr. Adrienne Zysman
FRIENDSAnheuser-Busch
AT&T
Empire State Building
Genpak
Gray Line New York
Hard Rock Cafe New York
I Love NY
L&B Spumoni Gardens
McDonald’s
Mini Cards NYC
Modell’s Sporting Goods
NYC & Company
New Yorker Hotel
New York Marriott Downtown
New York Marriott Marquis
PepsiCo
Planet Hollywood
Silverstein Properties
Starbright Floral Designs
Toys”R”Us
HESS CORPORATION
39
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
SPONSORDorothy Hennlein England
CHAIRMANRobert Wood Johnson IV
CO-CHAIRMAN & EXECUTIVE DIRECTORRear Adm. Robert A. Ravitz, USN (Ret.)
VICE-CHAIRMENMatthew J. Harrington
Merrill Lynch
Harold Z. Steinbrenner
DIRECTORCapt. Sally C. McElwreath, USN (Ret.)
FINANCECmdr. Peter D. Galasinao, USN (Ret.)
Richard T. Kenney
PROJECT COORDINATORPeter A. Wolkowski
WORKING COMMITTEESFund Raising: Erik K. Olstein, Chairman. Joseph Benaroya,
Senior Chief James E. Brown, USN (Ret.), BMCM(SW) Eugene Culligan, USN (Ret.),
The Hon. Steven S. Honigman, Councilwoman Sheila Marcotte
Special Events: Jenna Marrone, Chairwoman. Christopher Hughes, Kerri Giovanelli
Crew/Family Event Coordination: Jenna Marrone and Donald H. Rullman Sr., co-chairs.
Larry Bamberger, Ira Goldberg, John Romanovsky
Media: Christopher Mittendorf
Web Site: JOC Kerry E. Smith, USNR (Ret.), James Barker, Merrilly Noeth
Sponsor Relations: John R. Dillard, Chairman. Peter A. Wolkowski
Government Liaison: Capt. Christopher P. Boylan, USN (Ret.)
INTREPID Sea, Air & Space Museum Liaison: Lisa Yaconiello
Internal Ship Theme: Capt. Frank Pascual, USN
Advertising: Anthony DeVito
Gifts: Richard H. Wagner
Committee MembersJennifer Adams, Rob Binns, Lt. Col. Robert Black, NYNM, Bryan Birch, Larry Brennan, Lu Caldara,
Rear Adm. Joseph F. Callo, USNR (Ret.), Phil Crosland, Chris DeVito, Joan Donovan,
Linda Federici, Steven Forsyth, Robert Haggerty, Matthew Higgins, The Hon. John G. Ingram,
Ross Jobson, Jonathan Jones, Clarice Joynes, William Kraus, Lee Ielpi, The Hon. Vincent I. Leibell,
Steve Loevsky, J. Robert Lunney, James Mazzone, Debbi McCallam, James D. McDonough,
Capt. Andrew McGovern, Capt. Henry Mahlmann, Jack McDermott,
Roger Newman, Richard Othmer, Rear Adm. Robert A. Rosen, NYNM, Ralph Slane, Kenneth Sparks,
Thomas Spina, Dr. Daniel M. Thys, MD, Capt. Kevin Wensing, USN (Ret.), Ken Winkler
Navy Commissioning CoordinatorWilliam Huesmann
Commissioning ProtocolJanice Comber
USS NEW YORK COMMISSIONING COMMITTEE
41
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
It was a warm, crystal clear morning on March 1, 2008, as guests gathered at
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Avondale, La. They were at the shipyard for
the christening of USS New York (LPD 21). There was a special anticipation in
the air that you could feel. The speeches and the music – punctuated regularly
by heartfelt applause – moved briskly. As the ship rode comfortably at her
mooring lines, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead distilled her
mission into a few words: “to be globally positioned and to take the fight forward.”
By Rear Adm. Joseph F. Callo, USNR (Ret.)
MARK OF WARRIORS
Then came the climax. New York’s sponsor Dotty
Hennlein England gave a determined swing, shatter-
ing the Champagne bottle on the ship’s bow. Then
she followed quickly with an historic declaration and
an ancient blessing: “I christen thee New York. God-
speed to all who sail in her.”
A Special Mark
The bow of the ship towered up and over the of-
ficial party during the christening ceremony, and
there were two things that were very special about
that bow. The first was that it contains seven and a
half tons of steel reclaimed from the World Trade
Center after 9/11. The second was a small reproduc-
tion of New York’s coat of arms – generally referred to
as the ship’s crest – that had been fixed to the ship’s
bow for the ceremony.
It’s hard to image anyone focusing on the small
crest in the excitement of the moment. Few – perhaps
nobody – actually thought about its importance to
the men and women who would take New York to
sea. But the details of that crest are very significant.
Those who will bring New York to life at the moment
of commissioning in the United States Navy and
those who follow them in her crew will surely shape
a true character for their ship day by day. But the
crest is the beginning of that process. And it will
also be an ongoing reminder of how and why this
special ship came to be.
The tradition of the coat of arms goes back thou-
sands of years, appearing first in Egypt, before the
recorded dynasties of the pharaohs. In those dim
early times, the predecessor to the coat of arms was
called a “serekh,” and it was used to identify mili-
tary allegiances as well as the products of different
groups. The use of coats of arms for towns, families,
military units, and kings and queens burgeoned
during medieval times, and that usage continues to-
day as a distinctive mark for ships of the U.S. Navy.
42
Cour
tesy
of N
orth
rop
Grum
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Shi
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g
Today, and among other things, a
ship’s crest reminds us of the individual-
ity of each Navy vessel. Those ships may
be manufactured in colossal shipyard
“assembly lines,” they may be part of a
class of similar ships, and they may fre-
quently be ordered about in squadrons
or fleets, but any sailor will tell you that
each ship takes on a distinct personality
all its own.
Connections
Toward the top of USS New York’s
crest there is a cluster of elements that
connect the ship with New York State and
New York City. First, there are seven gold-
en rays of light, representing the seven
rays of light projecting from the crown of
the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
And there is a coincidence in the number
of light rays and the seven seas that will
be New York’s domain. Then there is a
depiction of the hills and lakes of New
York State, along with curved rows of ma-
ple leaves, all adapted from the official
seal of New York State.
Beneath the cluster of items repre-
sentative of New York State and New
York City, there is a shield. Within the
shield there is a gray chevron pointed
upward, representing New York ’s bow,
which contains the steel from the Twin
Towers. There also are two gray bars
representing the Twin Towers. A phoe-
nix is depicted rising from the flames
of the 9/11 attack. On the phoenix’s
breast there is a small shield with two
drops of blood that represent the sac-
rifice of life of the first responders, as
well as blue, red, and light blue stripes
representing the New York Police De-
partment, the Fire Department of New
York, and the Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey respectively.
Three stars symbolize the three battle
stars earned by the battleship New
York (BB 34) during the Atlantic and
Pacific actions of World War II.
Behind the shield there are crossed
swords; one is a ceremonial sword for a
U.S. Marine enlisted person and the oth-
er is a ceremonial sword for a U.S. Navy
enlisted person. The crossed swords
focus on the historic importance of the
enlisted men and women of the Navy
and the Marine Corps. They also re-
mind us of the important links between
the Navy and Marine Corps. Finally, the
traditional Navy colors of blue and gold
are prominent in the crest, with blue
representing the sea and gold symbol-
izing excellence.
Food for Thought
The words “Never Forget” are embla-
zoned at the bottom of the crest. Those
words are the second half of New York ’s
motto: “Strength Forged through Sac-
rifice. Never Forget.” Those six words
carry a double message.
There is appropriate emphasis on the
importance of remembering the attack
on innocent civilians on 9/11 as well as
those who responded with great cour-
age on that day, running toward danger
and their duty when everyone else was
running away from peril.
Of equal importance, the statement is
also forward looking. It reminds us of the
special strength of the men and women
who will take USS New York to sea – now
and in the future – in defense of their
country and their fellow citizens.
With thousands observing, Dotty H. England (right), ship’s sponsor, triumphantly raises the Champagne bottle she used to christen LPD 21, New York. The fifth Northrop Grumman-built amphibious transport dock ship of the San Antonio class contains 7.5 tons of World Trade Center steel in her bow. Joining England in celebration are (left to right) U.S. Navy Cmdr. F. Curtis Jones, LPD 21’s prospective commanding officer; her husband, then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England; and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding President Mike Petters.
On this special day, the families and friends of those we lost at the
Pentagon on September 11, 2001 rise together to salute the crew and mission of the U.S.S. New York.
We stand with you in our belief that patriotism is a moral duty; that freedom must be defended; and that a vigorous defense of freedom is the only guarantee of America’s enduring liberty.
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 200l took more than 3,000 lives in New York City, Shanksville, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. The Pentagon Memorial Fund, Inc. was organized by the families of victims to build and maintain a quiet, dignified shrine of reflection to remember and honor the 184 men, women and children who lost their lives in attack on the Pentagon.
Officially dedicated on September 11, 2008, the Pentagon Memorial reminds visitors that every one of these lost lives was special — their dreams cut short, their loved ones left behind. The Pentagon Memorial will remind all who visit that patriotism is a moral duty; that freedom comes at a price; and that the victims of the September attacks paid the ultimate price.
The Pentagon Memorial is now complete, but critical resources are still needed to preserve and maintain it for future generations of visitors from around the world. Your support today can ensure that new generations always have a special place to visit, to learn about and reflect on the events on September 11, 2001.
Returning the Salute.
Thee PPeenttagogon MMeemooriaal FFuundd, Incc. iss a 5501(cc)(3)3) non-p-profitt organnnizationn establishhed to raisee fuuundds nneeeddeed toto coonnsstruccctt anndd mmainntain n in ppeperpettuity tthe Peeentagonn Memoriaal.
pentagonmemorialfund remember. reflect. renew.®
Please contribute on-line by going to:
www.pentagonmemorial.orgOr mail your tax-deductible gift to:
Pentagon Memorial Fund, Inc.P.O. Box 3879
Gaithersburg, MD 20885
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
44
USS New York (LPD 21) is also about the size of a young bat-
tleship. The famous Royal Navy battleship Dreadnought and
Germany’s feared Graf Spee in World War II displaced less
tonnage. Her length of 684 feet is 110 feet longer than her be-
hemoth World War II namesake, the battleship New York (BB
34). Today she arms herself with 30 mm chain guns and Roll-
ing Airframe Missile launchers instead of 14-inch guns; and
she carries a multitude of technologies that would bewilder
the builders of the old battlewagon. Yet New York’s four super-
charged diesel engines give her a top speed nearly twice that
of comparable ships of the World War II engine era, with the
smooth handling of a speedboat.
USS New York is special in another way, as well. In her bow
she carries 7.5 tons of steel melted down from the ruins of the
World Trade Center. Everywhere she goes she will be a visible
and defiant reminder of the 3,000 lives lost in the attack eight
years ago on 9/11: the worst attack ever suffered on American
soil.
New York’s motto is “Strength Forged through Sacrifice.
Never Forget.” Her mission is force projection in the 21st cen-
tury. This is a ship built for action on a truly global scale.
She is designed to transport and land some 800 Marines,
plus their equipment and supplies, using LCAC air cushion
landing craft and EFVs, or Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles,
which travel as efficiently on land as they do at sea. These she
can carry in her 24,000 square feet of vehicle deck space,
along with an LCU (Landing Craft Utility), which can transport
three M1A1 Abrams battle tanks at a time. In addition, she’ll
offer a ride to more Marines using various combinations of MV-
22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters, or
CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, from her flight deck.
Historically, the U.S. Navy’s mission has dictated the shape
of every naval vessel bearing the name New York. There was
the gunboat of the American Revolution that served on strategi-
cally important Lake Champlain and the frigate that protected
U.S. commerce in the Mediterranean during the Quasi-War
with France. There was a 74-gun ship of the line built for a Navy
of wooden walls and iron men, when America sought to defend
herself from possible European adversaries. There was an ar-
mored cruiser commissioned in 1893, on the eve of the building
of the Panama Canal and creation of America’s first blue-water
fleet. Then came the battleship New York (BB 34), which was
USS NEW YORK:
A NEW SHIP,
A NEW MISSION,
A NEW RESOLVE
A San Antonio-class amphibious transport
dock (or LPD) is an impressive sight at sea or
in port. She may not have the majestic pres-
ence of a fleet aircraft carrier or the sleek
lines of an Aegis destroyer. But her broad,
confident bulk sits easy in the water; her mas-
sive twin masts stand proudly against the sky.
By Arthur Herman
Phot
o co
urte
sy o
f Nor
thro
p Gr
umm
an S
hipb
uild
ing
45
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
commissioned in 1917 and which served with distinction in two
world wars.
New York (LPD 21) is the sixth U.S. Navy ship to carry that
name and fifth in her class of amphibious transport dock ships,
which are an essential part of the new face of amphibious/ex-
peditionary warfare in the 21st century.
Once upon a time, amphibious/expeditionary warfare was
the neglected stepchild of naval strategy.
Americans have always been superb at putting fighting men
into action on land from the sea. The Navy’s first major amphibi-
ous operation came during the Mexican War in 1847, when its
ships landed more than 13,000 troops at Vera Cruz. It was the
single largest number of American soldiers to disembark on
hostile foreign soil until D-Day in World War II.
That latter war also saw the famous Marine amphibious as-
saults at Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Saipan, and a host of other lesser
islands. And of course, the Navy and Army joined forces in the
biggest and most famous amphibious attack of them all: D-Day,
on June 6, 1944.
A successful amphibious landing could change the course
of a war, as D-Day proved, and later Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s
daring landing at Inchon during the Korean War. However, un-
less they achieved complete surprise, these old-fashioned fron-
tal assault landings were also highly risky.
Putting large numbers of men ashore in the presence of
an enemy left both men and ships exposed and vulnerable.
Lengthy bombardments from naval guns or from airplanes
were necessary to reduce enemy positions along the beach,
The future USS New York (LPD 21) during builder’s trials, a major piece of a new amphibious paradigm.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
46
Phot
o co
pyrig
ht M
ark D
. Far
am
and to secure approaches to the beachhead. The air bombard-
ment before the Marines stormed Iwo Jima lasted nearly six
months. For three days before the final assault, five battleships
steadily pounded the island at a range of less than 3,000 yards
(by a strange twist of historical fate, one of those battleships
was BB 34 New York).
Even after that, Marines landed in a hailstorm of enemy fire
that killed or wounded nearly 2,312 men in the first 18 hours.
At Tarawa in 1943 less than 30 percent of the first wave of Ma-
rines even reached the beach. That entire three-day operation
cost the Marine Corps 1,000 killed and 2,000 wounded – all
for an island of less than 3 square miles. A year later, the first
hours on Omaha Beach cost more than 3,000 men and dozens of
amphibious vehicles. Things looked so bleak from Gen. Omar
Bradley’s flagship USS Augusta, that he contemplated calling a
halt to the entire Normandy invasion.
It was not just the men in the assault waves who suffered,
or the crews of the DUKWs and amphibious tractors (or am-
phtracs) who transported them. As they waited offshore, Navy
ships were just as vulnerable. At the Veracruz landings in 1847,
a sudden storm tore more than 20 ships loose from their anchor-
ages and ran them aground. During landings in World War II
at Salerno and Anzio, American and British ships came under
constant air attack by German planes. During operations off
Okinawa in 1945, no less than 26 ships were sunk by Japanese
kamikazes, and another 368 damaged.
Amphibious warfare was demanding in other ways. The term
implies a dual capability, meaning for use on land and at sea.
However, it was hard to judge which should take precedence,
and no armed service ever felt entirely at home with the notion.
Naval strategy, for example, focused on the clash of fighting
ships at sea; or later, on aircraft carriers, “the queen of battles,”
and submarines and nuclear deterrence from under the waves.
Army and Marine commanders kept their minds on what hap-
pened on the beach and farther inland; they largely took the
Navy’s role as a glorified shuttle service, for granted.
Organizing a major amphibious landing was an exercise in
improvisation, and frustration. It meant having to come up with
suitable vehicles (like the “swimming” Sherman tanks devised
for D-Day, many of which sank), equipment, and tactics. It also
required a sharing of resources and coordination of leadership
among services with very different cultures and command
structures. This ensured that things rarely, if ever, went strictly
according to plan.
And at every stage, one question dominated every task force
commander’s mind: will the beachhead we have just taken with
such a loss of lives and vehicles, hold? After all, the scene at
the beachhead could be fast and furious, confusing to men and
officers alike. Having to decide from scant or contradictory
information whether a seemingly disastrous assault like
Omaha Beach might actually be a success, could stretch a
commander’s judgment to the breaking point. The heavy stakes
Landing Craft Air Cushioned (LCACs) from the Norfolk, Va.-based Assault Craft Unit Four, move between the amphibious assault ship San Antonio and Onslow Beach at Camp Lejeune, N.C., as the ship offloaded Marines and their equipment after its seven-month inaugural deployment to the Persian Gulf and Horn of Africa. The amazing LCACs, which “fly” over water and land, are one leg of LPD 21’s “amphibious triad.”
L-3com.comC3ISR > GOVERNMENT SERVICES > AM&M > SPECIALIZED PRODUCTS
Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman Shipbui lding.
L-3 is honored to have contributed our systems and expertise to this outstanding new addition to the U.S. Navy’s fleet. We wish the USS New York and its crew great success in the years ahead. You will carry the spirit of New York wherever your mission may take you.
THE SEAS ARE SAFER THANKS TOTHE USS NEW YORK
CONGRATULATIONS AND BEST WISHES TO THE UNITED STATES NAVY ON THE COMMISSIONING OF THE USS NEW YORK (LPD 21)
Gordon M. Aamoth Jr.
Joseph P. Anchundia
Thomas M. Brennan
Mark J. Bruce
Timothy G. Byrne
Kathleen Hunt Casey
Judson J. Cavalier
Jeffrey M. Chairnoff
Thomas R. Clark
Christopher R. Clarke
Thomas J. Collins
James L. Connor
John Cooper
Frederick J. Cox
Kevin R. Crotty
Thomas G. Crotty
Welles R. Crowther
David A. DeFeo
Constantine Economos
Michael H. Edwards
John W. Farrell
Thomas J. Fitzpatrick
Christina Donovan Flannery
Howard G. Gelling Jr.
Evan H. Gillette
Thomas Glasser
Douglas J. Irgang
Allison Horstmann Jones
Robert A. Lawrence Jr.
John R. Lenoir
Alan P. Linton Jr.
Salvatore Lopes
Stuart S. Louis
Garry W. Lozier
Vita M. Marino
Kevin D. Marlo
Kenneth M. McBrayer
John F. McDowell Jr.
Stacey Sennas McGowan
Daniel W. McNeal
Sharon Moore-Mohammed
James D. Munhall
Christopher Newton-Carter
Diana J. O’Connor
J. Andrew O’Grady
Peter J. O’Neill Jr.
Christopher T. Orgielewicz
Debra Paris
Christopher Quackenbush
A. Todd Rancke
David H. Rice
John M. Rodak
Mark H. Rosen
Kristin Irvine Ryan
Frank G. Salvaterra
Michael V. San Phillip
Herman S. Sandler
Susan Kennedy Schuler
Davis G. Sezna Jr.
Linda J. Sheehan
Craig A. Silverstein
Bruce E. Simmons
Jeffrey R. Smith
Colleen M. Supinski
Richard J. Todisco
Kevin M. Williams
Alan L. Wisniewski
Martin P. Wohlforth
John W. Wright Jr.
Julie Zipper
We salute the men and women of USS New York (LPD21) as they sail in defense of freedom.
USS NEW YORKLong may she carry the memory of those we lost and love.
Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P.
We will never forget them.
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of success or failure prior to the British landings at Gallipoli in
1915 forced one admiral to resign in a state of nervous collapse.
No wonder Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote out a letter of
resignation as Allied Supreme Commander the day before the
Normandy invasion, just in case the landings failed. And no
wonder President Harry S Truman preferred to drop the atomic
bomb to force Japan to surrender at the end of World War II,
rather than risk the horrendous American casualties that an
amphibious invasion of Japan would have cost (Japanese navy
planners estimated that kamikazes alone could wipe out 30 to
50 percent of the Allied invasion fleet).
Today, the old paradigm is gone, along with Mae West life
vests and DUKWs. Contemporary amphibious warfare, known
more accurately as expeditionary warfare, is no longer impro-
vised or undersized – or precariously perched between victory
and disaster. In fact, the new joint-force, combined arms expe-
ditionary era, of which USS New York (LPD 21) is an essential
part, is going to set the new paradigm for all warfare in the 21st
century.
This marks a sea change in military thinking. For all its risks
and costs, the Navy, Army, Marines, and Air Force used to see
the amphibious battlefield as only a transitional phase between
their normal modes of engaging the enemy on the land, at sea,
or in the air. The beachhead itself was a temporary foothold be-
fore men and machines got down to the real business of fight-
ing farther inland, and before ships returned to their normal
duties at sea.
A globalizing age has forced military strategists to envision
a very different scenario. It can be summed up as “continuous
forward deployment.” In an era in which dire threats can mate-
rialize with dizzying speed at any point on the globe, from pi-
racy and terrorism to natural disasters like the 2003 tsunami in
the Indian Ocean, the U.S. Navy will need a steady and strong
forward-presence posture in order to be the first responder. Its
Expeditionary Strike Groups are the foundation of this capa-
bility. The new amphibious transport dock ships like USS New
York are the building blocks on which that foundation is built.
In the new paradigm of expeditionary warfare, Navy amphib-
ious assault ships enable the Marine Corps to set its “mobility
triad” in motion. These are the air-cushioned LCACs, which can
transport 24 Marines and 60 tons of their equipment into battle;
the EFVs, which can hit the beach with 17 troops on board and
An HH-60H Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the “Tridents” of Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron (HS) 3 takes off from the flight deck of USS San Antonio (LPD 17) during a vertical replenishment with the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO 199). San Antonio was the flagship of Combined Task Force 151, a multinational task force established to conduct counter-piracy operations in and around the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea. San Antonio’s use as flagship on the deployment confirms the advanced command and control and other capabilities of the San Antonio class, of which New York is a part. This photo also shows the very large flight deck and hangar area of the class.
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drive inland at speeds up to 45 mph; and the new vertical take-
off, tilt-rotor aircraft known as the Osprey, which has a combat
range of more than 400 miles and can put up to 32 Marines into
action at a time.
The new amphibious transport dock will allow an Amphibi-
ous Ready Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit or ARG/MEU to
project American power just about anywhere from the sea and
then withdraw; or if need be remain on station – over the hori-
zon and out of sight – to watch and wait for a crisis to dissipate;
or alternately, to move in to dominate and control events.
At the typical ARG/MEU’s core is a cruiser-destroyer squad-
ron consisting of an Aegis cruiser, Aegis destroyer, and a frig-
ate; a submarine; and the ships of the Amphibious Readiness
Group proper. These include an amphibious assault ship (LHA)
carrying a formidable combination of helicopters and vertical
take off aircraft; a landing ship dock (LSD); and one or more
LPDs like New York or one of her sister ships, plus the men,
tanks, and equipment of a Marine Expeditionary Unit or MEU:
some 2,200 Marines in all. These in turn can be augmented by
special operations forces, including Navy SEALs and Marine
Force Reconnaissance detachments.
Once set in motion, the ARG/MEU is a smooth, well-oiled
machine geared for forward deployment and force projection.
It involves a seamless coordination of ships, Marines, and air
support into a single integrated battle force, ready to move into
action from 200 miles at sea to 150 miles inland.
What will be the new face of amphibious operations? While
submarines clear the water ahead of the strike group, un-
manned aerial vehicles (UAVs) circle overhead providing infor-
mation on the enemy’s positions and capabilities. Aircraft like
the AV-8B Harrier II and AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters
provide 360 degree protection from the air as Marines load up
in their LCACs, EFVs, and Ospreys some 20 miles from their
target – even as special operations teams are flown in by Os-
preys or landed covertly in LCACs in order to reconnoiter the
situation on the ground, disable enemy defenses, or secure key
positions in advance.
Within an hour or two the first Marines are landing – not as
exposed targets on the beach but snug and secure in their
armored EFVs as they move quickly from the shore and drive
inland to dominate and control vital strategic points. At the
same time, satellite links enable the Navy’s Force Net system
to convey images of the assault to, and maintain real-time com-
munications with, the strike group’s commander and his staff in
his combat information center (CIC), as well as a multitude of
status screens at the Pentagon and the White House.
In the new expeditionary warfare, the old beachhead con-
cept is gone, along with many risks and uncertainties. Instead,
Representing two generations of Marine Corps rotary-wing aircraft, a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter completes a landing near a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft aboard the amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio (LPD 17). San Antonio was conducting several tests in the Atlantic Ocean using the Osprey and Sea Knight to determine what these aircraft are capable of doing with the Navy’s newest class of amphibious transport dock ships.
Edelman is proud to sponsor and support the USS New York. We congratulate the ship’s crew and their families.
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a coordinated “combined arms warfare” approach enables the
Navy and Marines to control the tempo of the operation from
start to finish. And since the amphibious fleet may be dozens
of miles from the objective, and since there is no prolonged
naval bombardment, the enemy have no idea when the Marines
are coming or where they will strike. Even when it is operat-
ing alone, USS New York will be able to deploy EFVs, LCACs,
and Ospreys from sea to shore to points inland with a seamless
speed that will surprise and frustrate our foes – just as it reas-
sure friends and neutrals on the ground.
In fact, the new expeditionary paradigm dissolves the differ-
ence between land and sea fighting, creating a true joint hybrid
form of warfare. The same “hybrid effect” can be seen in the
new technologies that are vital to it. The EFV is an amphibi-
ous assault vehicle like its World War II ancestors the DUKW
and amphtrac. But it is also an armed and dangerous light tank
free to maneuver many miles inland. The Osprey is a tilt-rotor
aircraft that is half a helicopter and half a twin-engine aircraft,
able to transport Marines into the combat zone and then carry
the wounded, or move civilians, out of harm’s way.
Likewise, the new New York will be connected to a joint
command and control system that dissolves the old conflict be-
tween the different service’s cultures and resources. In fact,
the ARG/MEU can be commanded by a Navy admiral or a Ma-
rine general, since both will know what the other service’s men
and resources can do, and what they can accomplish together.
Backed by a lean core staff of no more than 12 members, this
marks a major breakthrough in joint arms warfare and inter-
service cooperation.
All this is made possible by the Navy’s new communications
technology, or Force Net, which has in effect linked every ves-
sel into a single integrated network. It is apparent everywhere
you go on USS New York, where 500 miles of electrical cable
service the computer systems that make it one of the “smartest”
ships afloat.
Step into her combat information center, and you are as close
to the bridge of the starship Enterprise as you’ll ever be. Com-
puter screens and video displays surround you on all sides,
monitoring every aspect of the ship’s position, weaponry, and
performance. Force Net also enables commanders half a world
away to see what her captain sees in the CIC, and monitor the
ship’s progress as she sails into port – or sails into the battle
zone.
The same internal net system allows New York’s engineers
to drive her four supercharged diesels and check their status,
not just on the bridge or in the engine room, but from a variety
of points in the ship. Damage control officers use the same sys-
tem to check electrical relays and watch for warning signs of
a possible fire outbreak or other threats to the ship. Add in the
unceasing round of damage and fire control drills; special anti-
chemical and anti-bio warfare equipment; and anti-terrorist
force protection training exercises involving every member of
The Marine Corps’ EFV is several times faster in water than its predecessors, representing a game-changing capability in amphibious tracked vehicles. On land, its speed, agility, networking capabilities, and firepower make it a formidable fighting vehicle.
We Will Never Forget.Deloitte is proud to congratulate the United States Navy on the commissioning of the USS New York.
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pM i i Y
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the crew, and USS New York is not only a smart but a safe and
secure vessel for everyone on board.
The weapons, warfare, and technology at this level of sophis-
tication demand a skilled and motivated crew. When you meet
the men and women of USS New York, you realize that they are
“switched-on” in the best, military sense of the word: alert, fo-
cused, and confident even under adverse circumstances. New
York’s Executive Officer Cmdr. Erich Schmidt, has guided
them through every step of their pre-commissioning training.
“I’ve watched this crew come together for almost two years,”
he said, “they are truly the best America, and the Navy, have
to offer.”
The crew comes from a variety of backgrounds and from
a spread of states from Hawaii and Kansas to New York. But
all share a dedication to their work, to their service, and to
the New York Navy tradition. The building and christening
of this New York has enabled them to meet and stay in touch
with the World War II veterans who served in the old BB 34
battleship, and who wear the same USS New York ball cap
with pride.
However, there is also a special pride in serving in LPD 21:
its direct ties to 9/11 and its legacy for this country. For many, it
was 9/11 that got them into the Navy in the first place – or kept
them in it. Chief Petty Officer Keenan Gresham, for example,
was headed for retirement after 22 years in the Navy when the
planes hit the Twin Towers. “I knew then we were at war,” he
recalled. He put off retirement, and swung back into active ser-
vice with an extra sense of purpose and will. Now, to actually
serve on board the “Twin Towers ship” is, Gresham admitted,
the highlight of a two-decade-long career.
Other sailors and officers feel the same. One said he knows
he will have other tours of duty on other ships, after New York.
But he’ll always ask himself, “Will they be as good as my first
ship, LPD 21?”
Others have an even more personal connection. Her skipper,
Cmdr. F. Curtis Jones, is a native New Yorker; Yeoman 2nd Class
Aaron Palacio was sitting in his high school class in Manhattan
on Sept. 11, 2001, when his stunned teacher had to tell her stu-
dents that the World Trade Center had just been attacked.
Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Kevin Muse’s high school
teacher had a brother who was in the WTC when the planes
hit. Both of Muse’s grandfathers had been in the Navy, but the
incident galvanized his decision to join. “It gave me a chance
to fight back,” he said.
Muse originally chose to fight back as part of the Marines,
and served a full tour of duty in Iraq. That gave him a chance to
see the war on terror up close and personal, and see American
courage and resolve in action. “They tried to break our spirit”
on 9/11, Muse added, “but it didn’t work.” Now he has a chance
to vindicate the sacrifice of 9/11 in an even more direct way.
At least two members of New York’s fire and damage con-
trol team know that sacrifice, as well. At her firefighting train-
Sailors aboard the amphibious dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46) launch a Landing Craft Utility (LCU) during training exercises. LCUs are also employed by am-phibious transport dock ships like the New York, and can carry three M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks or more than 400 Marines at a time.
CORNELL
PO Box 807, Woodbury, NJ 08096www.cornellcraneandsteel.com
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ing school, Damage Controlman 3rd Class Christina Gallegos
worked with civilian firefighters who knew 9/11 firsthand. Fire-
fighters from as far away as Norfolk, Va., and Washington, D.C.,
had been summoned to help to fight the conflagration. Many
had colleagues who had died there.
These civilian firefighters were, she said, a constant source
of awe and inspiration to her. For Gallegos, serving in the ship
made from steel from those Twin Towers is a matter of supreme
pride.
Damage Controlman 1st Class (SW/AW) Bershers has
watched firefighters working with steel from the Twin Towers:
men from his grandfather’s fire station in Long Island making
crosses at the request of victims’ families, after they them-
selves fought the horrific blaze in vain. Bershers is a career
Navy man as well as a New York native; USS New York is going
to be his seventh ship. Bershers had planned to be in lower
Manhattan on that fateful September 11, on leave with friends:
“I would have been seven blocks away,” he remembers, when
the planes hit.
Instead, his leave was canceled and he remembers the wave
of emotion that swept over him when he heard the news back
in Norfolk. He tried desperately to go to New York City to help
in the volunteer effort, but he was ordered to stay: “The whole
base [Norfolk Naval Station] was in lockdown at the time.” How-
ever, like many on the crew he fought long and hard to get a
berth in LPD 21. At his own expense, he drove down to New
Orleans to attend the ship’s christening. Serving in USS New
York is more than the culmination of 18 years in the Navy; for
Bershers, it is a personal mission.
Finally, there is Personnelman Specialist Seaman Dupree.
She’s from Kansas, but comes from a Kenyan family.
She had heard the news of 9/11 on the radio, when it “really
hit home” what this country meant to her. “I had to give back to
the society that has changed so many people’s lives for the bet-
ter,” including her own family, she said with quiet pride. “I knew
I needed to join the military.”
Like the rest of the crew of USS New York, Dupree knows the
terrorists hate us for not for what America has done wrong, but
for what it has done right as a haven of prosperity, freedom, and
liberty for all peoples of all races and religions. Serving in this
ship is her way of thanking America for extending a helping
hand to her, “a legacy for my children and family,” and a way to
remember the thousands who unexpectedly paid the ultimate
sacrifice for freedom on 9/11.
The motto is: “Strength Forged through Sacrifice. Never for-
get.” As New York’s skipper Jones said: “The men and women
of USS New York will never forget.” Nor will we. And we will
always feel grateful for these men and women’s brave dedi-
cated service – and the ship that proudly carries them across
the seas.
The amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50), the amphibious transport dock ship USS San Antonio (LPD 17), and the guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) transit the Atlantic Ocean. Carter Hall, San Antonio, and Roosevelt were deployed as part of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, which was supporting maritime security operations in the U.S. Navy’s 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility. Expeditionary Strike Groups can project American combat power from the sea to almost any place on Earth.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
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He sought easy passage to the Orient. What he found was
something quite different: Passage to the interior of a vast wilder-
ness that time and toil would transform into an American state of
the first rank – by some standards, a great nation in its own right.
New York, in its 50-million-square-mile entirety, is a study in
physical contrast, cultural conflict and hopeful aspiration. Its
history parallels America’s – indeed, in some ways American
history begins in New York.
Hudson could push Halve Maen, scarcely 85 feet long, only
to present-day Albany, 150 miles upriver from the great bay to
the south. Beyond that, travel along the Hudson – all the way to
its wellspring, Lake Tear of the Clouds, deep in the Adirondack
high peaks – was by Iroquois canoe, or by foot.
That would change.
The first Europeans – most of them mapmakers – had quick-
ly grasped the strategic character of the Hudson River-Lake
George-Lake Champlain corridor. Armies – French, English,
American – moved up and down its length for decades. And
so it was not by happenstance that in the autumn of 1777, a Brit-
ish invasion force under Gen. John Burgoyne was southbound
along the Hudson, intent on bisecting the fledgling American
revolution.
Battle was joined at Freeman’s Farm, and concluded at Be-
mis Heights, both overlooking the widening river at present-day
Schuylerville. When the Battle of Saratoga was over, George
Washington’s ragtag army had gained international credibility
and an independent United States of America had become a
very real possibility.
And so it came to pass.
Soon Robert Fulton’s steam boats were plying the Hudson to
Albany, and railroads were running along its banks. A grand
canal was dug, linking the river to the Great Lakes, transport-
ing the Industrial Revolution first into the Mohawk Valley and
then to the vast interior of America – transforming the entire
continent in the process.
New York, especially.
Tangible wealth, personal freedom and seemingly limitless
opportunity worked as magnets among the restless poor of Eu-
rope and beyond.
Waves of immigration broke over the state: first came the
Irish, Germans and Italians; then Eastern Europeans, Jews and
African-Americans – and, most recently, newcomers from Cen-
tral and South America, Southwest Asia, the Caribbean Basin
and Africa.
This was – and remains – a fractious mix. But therein resides
the magic – the genius – of New York.
Its politics are contentious, and often corrosive – but four
of its governors have gone on to the White House, including
the transformative Roosevelt cousins, and that’s more than any
other state can claim.
Its economics can bewilder – vast wealth arrayed conspicu-
ously alongside crippling poverty. But appearances deceive:
New Yorkers care for their own, and penniless new arrivals –
through hard work, entrepreneurial spirit and an occasional
touch of good fortune – are soon on their way to the economic
and cultural mainstream.
And nowhere more quickly than in New York City, where The
Bronx is still up, the Battery’s still down, and the people still
ride in a hole in the ground. After all these years, still a helluva
town.
There is friction; how could there not be. And there’s been
wrack and riot across the decades because of it. But friction
generates energy, too, vast pools of it – an essential raw mate-
rial for material success and cultural cohesion.
In that respect, New York is peerless.
The city can seem forbidding to newcomers. And in fact it is
not for everybody.
Yet those who arrive and linger find it intoxicating, compel-
ling. Broadway. Museum Mile. Ruth and Mantle and Maris. The
Giants. The Jets. The ’69 Mets. It may not be true that if you hang
out in Times Square long enough, you’ll run into everybody you
know – but it seems as if it could be.
Then there are the landmarks: The statue in the harbor, the
iconic bridge, the ballpark in The Bronx – and the skyline rec-
ognized ‘round the world, now missing two tall buildings.
This also speaks to the singularity of New York.
Those who declared war on America in the fall of 2001
wanted the world to take note – so where better to begin than
at the intersection of Wall Street and the loudest media mega-
phones on the planet. The World Trade Center fell and the city
shuddered – but it survived and recovered. This is nothing
new.
Ground Zero is only a cannon-shot from where Henry Hud-
son made landfall those four centuries ago. Then came the
Dutch, and the English. There was revolution, civil war, do-
mestic insurrection, financial panic and social unrest well
into recent times.
Through it all, New York City coped.
It evolved.
It became the economic, cultural and social locus of Ameri-
ca – envied, a little, by civilized people around the world for its
brash good humor, its studied nonchalance and its unflappable
attitude.
It’s not always easy to love New York.
But who would want to live anywhere else?
Not I.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
It was fully 400 years ago when Henry Hudson – an Englishman under hire to the Dutch – turned
the bow of Halve Maen into the mouth of the river that today bears his name.
By Bob McManus
U.S.
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Of course the weapons, equipment, and tactics of Marines
have changed since that exceedingly tough amphibious fight
at Iwo Jima. But the determination, mission orientation, and agil-
ity of the individual Marine remains constant. Today’s Marines
have many specialties – just as those of World War II – yet the
idea that all Marines are primarily riflemen remains fundamen-
tal to Marine Corps training and thinking.ii Each Marine learns
basic infantry skills upon entering the Corps, and receives re-
fresher training throughout his career, be that one enlistment
or many. The phrase “every Marine a rifleman” essentially
means, “Every Marine – regardless of military occupation spe-
cialty – is first and foremost a disciplined warrior.”iii
The essential rite of passage for a U.S. Marine is the Corps’
legendary boot camp, which introduces young American
civilians into the demanding world of the United States Marine
Corps. Marine Corps boot camp has traditionally been tough
and, if anything, has become more so over the years. During
the late 1990s, Marine leaders introduced a capstone event
called “The Crucible,” which tests the physical and mental
stamina of recruits before they graduate and earn the title of
THE MAIN BATTERYBy Col. Gary J. Ohls, USMCR (Ret.)and Lt. Col. David F. Overton, USMC (Ret.)
The main battery of the new and highly capable USS New York remains the same as for all am-
phibious ships in the American fleet – the embarked U.S. Marine. The standing of that Marine
in the American military ethos was perhaps most eloquently expressed by Fleet Adm. Chester
W. Nimitz. Reflecting on the Marines who fought the battle of Iwo Jima during World War II,
Nimitz avowed that “Uncommon valor was a common virtue.” The granite base of the U.S. Ma-
rine Memorial at Arlington, Va., now bears these words.i In the tradition of the Corps, today’s
Marines constantly strive to be worthy successors to those who have gone before.
U.S.
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Marine. The Crucible lasts 54 hours and includes food and
sleep deprivation, more than 45 miles of marching, combat
courses, problem solving reaction courses, and team-building
Warrior Stations, to name only some of the events.iv
Although an important culminating experience, the Crucible
is only part of the boot camp experience. Numerous other time-
tested activities fill the crowded days of this demanding cur-
riculum, including confidence courses, rappelling, combat wa-
ter survival, marksmanship training, tactical movement, pugil
stick fighting, close order drill, physical training, and academic
study on essential subjects from administration to warfighting
tactics. The ultimate goal of all this effort is to create a basic
Marine of high character and moral strength who embodies the
core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment.v
After graduation from boot camp, the new Marine receives
orders to the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton, Calif., or
Camp Lejeune, N.C., for further training in basic infantry skills.
Those who specialize in the infantry occupational field report
to the Infantry Training Battalion for advanced training in that
military occupational specialty. Those designated to serve
in non-infantry specialties report to Marine Combat Training
Battalion (MCTB) to enhance the fighting skills they learned
in boot camp.vi Upon completion of the MCTB program, these
Marines attend a follow-on school for their military specialty.
Throughout their time in the Corps, all Marines, regardless
of their area of specialty, continue to maintain basic fighting
skills, including physical fitness, weapons training and
requalification, and essential subjects training and testing.
The oft repeated phrase “Every Marine a rifleman” is clearly
not an empty slogan, but a cultural imperative of the Corps.vii
And although New York will hold Marines possessing many
different specialties, they will all be Marine riflemen first and
foremost.
Another unique program that contributes to the individual
Marine’s fighting skill is the Marine Corps Martial Arts Pro-
gram (MCMAP). Initiated in the year 2000, the MCMAP aug-
ments Marine Corps capability by “providing a systematic
training regimen for the mental, character, and physical de-
velopment of Marines.”viii The MCMAP applies to all Marines
regardless of rank or specialty as they progress through their
careers. The program involves a ranking system consisting of
five levels of belts, with the highest – Black Belt – having six
degrees. Advancing through these ratings not only includes
the three basic elements of the program (mental, character,
and physical development), but also involves completing cer-
tain rank-appropriate professional military education require-
ments.ix The MCMAP is an innovative program that has made
an already good Marine even better.
The typical Marine warrior today carries a combat load that
is simultaneously similar and dissimilar from that of his World
War II equivalent. Both had the best protective system avail-
able for their time and carried a state-of-the-art combat rifle.
But the protection available to today’s Marine is far greater
than during the 1940s. In addition to an improved and lighter
U.S.
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Opposite page: U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James F. Amos, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, poses with Marines with Personal Security Detail, Regimental Com-bat Team 6 at Camp Ramadi, Iraq, Feb. 7, 2009. Marines comprise the “main battery” of the Gator Navy. Above: New U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) recruits from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) Parris Island, S.C., finish the final phase of basic training. “The Crucible” is a final three-day field exercise where recruits participate in day and night operations along with food and sleep deprivation to test their endurance.
WE HONOR ALL THOSE WHO PERISHED IN THE
DEADLY ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001. WE
ALSO SALUTE THE COURAGE AND COMPASSION
OF COUNTLESS AMERICANS IN THE WAKE OF
THESE ATTACKS. THE USS NEW YORK IS A PROUD SHIP WHOSE BOW IS
FORGED FROM THE STEEL OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER. SHE TAKES
AMERICA’S FIGHTING SPIRIT WITH HER WHEREVER SHE SAILS IN THE WORLD.
Thomas Group, Inc. has been privileged to provide cultural
change management, process improvement and enterprise
governance professional services to the US Navy for 12
years on the following programs: NAPPI, NAVRIIP, Naval
Aviation Enterprise (NAE), SHIPMAIN, Surface Warfare
Enterprise (SWE), Naval NETWAR FORCEnet Enterprise
(NNFE), Naval Expeditionary Combat Enterprise (NECE)
and the Fleet Readiness Enterprise (FRE).
International Headquarters | 5221 N. O’Connor Blvd, Suite 500 | Irving, TX 75039 USA | www.thomasgroup.com
A m e r i c a n Fi g h t i ng S p i r i t S a i l s o n
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helmet, the Marines who serve on board New York will possess
personal protective equipment (body armor and other protec-
tive devices), which they can tailor to the tactical needs of their
mission.x As opposed to the sturdy M-1 Garand rifle of World
War II, today’s Marine carries the lighter yet more rapid firing
M16A4 assault rifle with an optical scope and illuminator.xi Ar-
guably, both the M-1 Garand and the M16A4 represent the pre-
mier combat rifle of their time. Another item newly available to
commanders is the individual communications system based
on the PRC-153 radio. When utilized, this system will, for the
first time, permit squad leaders to talk by radio to every Marine
within the unit.xii Other items of individual equipment such as
cartridge belts, canteens, load bearing devices (packs), and
field uniforms have substantially improved over the years, yet
provide a similar function to all generations of Marines. The
same is true for their various supporting units, including artil-
lery, close air support, logistical systems, and naval support.
But regardless of differences or similarities, the Marines de-
ployed on board New York – like those who fought at Iwo Jima
– can have full confidence that their country will provide the
best equipment, support, and preparation available at the time.
Today’s Marine is more likely to operate in a joint environ-
ment than in times past, even though the Navy and Marine
Corps team remains the key context for deployment and op-
Above: Sgt. Maj. Larock W. Benford, I Marine Expeditionary Force’s Ground Com-bat Element’s 47-year-old sergeant major, demonstrates wrestling techniques to the service members of I MEF Headquarter Group (Forward)’s most recent martial arts instructor course. Benford was one of many guest instructors who took his time to teach the 95 service members who attended the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program MAI class on Camp Fallujah. Left: Marine Corps Sgt. Ed-ward Mertz of Combat Service Support Group Three (CSS-3), Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, conducts Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) Tan Belt training to fellow Marine Corps cadre on board Naval Station Pearl Harbor. The training is conducted in order to prepare the Marines for various security taskings.
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erations.xiii Although the Navy and Marine Corps team is tech-
nically a joint force, it is actually something much more. For
more than 200 years, the Navy and Marine Corps have worked
together, building a common institutional culture in the field
of amphibious and expeditionary warfare.xiv The Marines em-
barked on New York, along with their sailor counterparts, are
the clear beneficiaries of this rich tradition and symbiotic re-
lationship.
In a broader sense, the concept of team effort suffuses all
aspects of the professional environment in which Marines
operate – past or present. Regardless of how much individual
training is included in the various Marine Corps programs, it is
always within a framework of team effort and the dependence
of one Marine upon another. Whereas it is crucial that Marines
have faith in their country’s support, it is even more critical that
they trust in the fidelity of fellow Marines once committed to
action. This concept permeates Marine Corps training and pro-
vides the key ingredient for success across the entire range of
military operations. Individual Marines fight and operate as a
tightly knit team within well exercised units, always ready to
live up to their tradition of being the “first to fight.”xv
A notable aspect of the Marines who will serve on board
New York is their youth. Today’s Marines are not only younger
than those who served at Iwo Jima, but are considerably
Lance Cpl. Ryan R. Irving (left), infantryman, from Elburn, Ill. and Lance Cpl. Curtis D. Land, infantryman, from Cedar Falls, Iowa, take security posts during a meeting be-tween Marines and villagers. In preparation for elections, Marines conducted a preemptive attack on known areas of anti-coalition militia activity. The hybrid battlefields of today demand more leadership and decision-making capability from within the ranks.
�
We Will Never Forget
June Jurgens, Levittown, NYHeroes Tribute Scholarship
To join our eff orts visit www.mcsf.org or call 1-866-IWO-JIMA (496-5462).
We join the USS New York inhonoring those who have servedour country. Th e Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation honors Marines, and Navy Corpsmen serving with Marines, by providing life-changing scholarships to their
sons and daughters, with special emphasis on children whose parent was killed or wounded in action on or since September 11, 2001.
Honoring Marines by Educating Their ChildrenMarine Corps Scholarship Foundation
We’re proud to be part of the USS New York Commissioning Team.Feel free to contact us for your next mission.
We’re proud to be part of the USS New York Commissioning Team.Feel free to contact us for your next mission.
67
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
younger than the average age within other U.S. services. The
Marine Corps also has the fewest number of officers in relation
to its enlisted members.xvi This means that younger and more
junior enlisted Marines must assume greater responsibility
in combat situations than is the case with other services. As
a result, Marine Corps leaders have undertaken to enhance
leadership and decision-making capability within the junior
ranks – particularly for noncommissioned officers in the ranks
of corporal and sergeant. The irregular and hybrid battlefield
upon which Marines of the 21st century must operate further
compounds the need for such an endeavor. Marine Gen.
Charles C. Krulak best gave voice to the problems of this new
reality while serving as Commandant of the Marine Corps
during the late 1990s. Among other things, Krulak became the
proponent of two transformational concepts – the “three block
war,” and the “Strategic Corporal.”xvii Only slightly understood
at that time, Krulak’s concepts have become hallmarks for how
U.S. forces must adjust for the ambiguous battlefield of the
twenty-first century.xviii
As Krulak pondered the chaotic environment in which his
Marines would likely operate in the future, he observed that
individual Marines on the ground could potentially confront
the entire spectrum of tactical challenges. Conceived of for
an urban environment, Krulak contended that Marines could
conduct humanitarian activity, separate warring factions, and
engage in pitched battle all within three contiguous blocks.xix
In Krulak’s words, “Without direct supervision, young Marines
will be required to make rapid, well-reasoned, independent
decisions while facing a bewildering array of challenges and
threats.” In the hybrid and amorphous conflicts Krulak envi-
sioned in the world’s littorals of the future, battles could be won
or lost not in the minds of great commanders, but in the minds
of “our strategic corporals.”xx
The Marines of New York will benefit from Krulak’s pre-
science as the Marine Corps has adjusted its training pro-
gram to better prepare not only “Strategic Corporals (and Ser-
geants),” but also Marines of all ranks for the new operational
environment they must face.xxi Yet with the focus on junior
leaders that Krulak brought to the surface, ongoing efforts
are under way to continue enhancement in this area. Among
the more recent innovations is the squad leaders’ initiative,
resulting in a professional military education (PME) oppor-
tunity at the junior NCO level.xxii As stated in the recent Ma-
rine Corps publication, Marine Corps Vision & Strategy 2025,
“The ability to conduct both types (civil-military and combat)
of operations, simultaneously, is the essence of the force as
a “two-fisted fighter” – capable of offering an open hand to
people in need or a precise jab to an adversary in an irregular
warfare environment; while at the same time, ready to wield a
closed fist in the event of major combat operations.”xxiii When
Marines on board New York go ashore, they enter not only a
nebulous situation, but also one which is likely to be highly
dynamic, requiring all their training, intelligence, and expe-
rience to be the warriors expected by the nation in an age
of hybrid warfare. The program that resulted from the squad
leaders’ initiative will greatly contribute to that end.
The Marines of New York are likely to be up to the task,
not only due to their education and training, but because of
the extent of their experience. Although youthful in years,
today’s Marines are highly experienced, spending as much
time deployed abroad as at home. Of course, this is due
in large part to the demands of operations in Iraq and Af-
ghanistan. Yet Marine Corps leaders intend to reduce this
deployment-to-dwell rotation cycle from a ratio of 1:1 as it
now exists to a ratio of 1:2 as a result of the increase in force
structure currently under way. As a point of reference, the
rotation cycle before the advent of Operation Enduring Free-
dom and Operation Iraqi Freedom amounted to a 1:3 ratio.xxiv
It is clear that the demands of this high operational tempo,
coupled with the greater level of responsibility required of
the junior ranks, has placed an unprecedented burden on
today’s Marines. Fortunately, the young Marines of our era
have risen to the challenge.
It is clear that today’s Marines – many of whom will serve
on board New York – are both similar to and different from
their predecessors. The greatest difference is in their equip-
ment and the operational environment in which they serve.
But in the most important things, such as dedication to duty,
integrity, and courage, they are truly worthy successors to the
Marines who landed on Iwo Jima in 1945, and to those who
have served America in myriad places and times for well over
two centuries.
i www.nps.gov/archive/gwmp/usmc.htm.ii Marine Corps concept paper, Marine Corps Strategy 21, 3 March 2000, 6. iii Marine Corps concept paper, Marine Corps Vision & Strategy 2025,
(undated), 8.iv www.marines.com/main/index/making_marines/recurit_training/
training_matrix; USMC pamphlet, Description of Recruit Training. Copy in
possession of the authors. v http://marines.com/main/index/making_marines/recurit_training/train-
ing_matrix; U.S. Marine Corps pamphlet, Description of Recruit Training,
undated. Copy in possession of the authors. vi www.cpp.usmc.mil/schools/soi/new/index.htm.vii U.S. Marine Corps concept paper, Marine Corps Vision & Strategy 2025,
(undated), 8. viii Marine Corps Order 1500.54A, 16 December 2002, 2.ix Marine Corps Order 1500.54A, 16 December 2002, 4-8. x Lieutenant Colonel Sean Riordan, USMC, Interview by the authors, 13 May
2009; Marine Corps Message R 162016z, MARADMIN number 0254/09, 16
April 2009. xi Marine Corps brochure, Typical Personal Infantry Marine Combat Load,”
28 January 2009. Copy in possession of authors. xii Major David Wallace, USMC, interview by the authors, 13 May 2009. xiii Marine Corps concept paper, The Long War: Send in the Marines,
(undated), 31. xiv Marine Corps concept paper, Marine Corps Strategy 21, 3 November
2000, 2, 21. xv Marine Corps concept paper, Marine Corps Vision & Strategy, 2025,
(undated), 6. xvi Marine Corps Community Services, Headquarters, Marine Corps,
Personal and Family Readiness Division, The Marine Corps “A Young and
Vigorous Force” Demographics Update, June 2008, 2; “United States Marine
Corps Organization and Missions,” Seapower Magazine Almanac, January
2004. xvii Charles C. Krulak, “Cultivating Intuitive Decisionmaking,” Marine Corps
Gazette, May 1999. xviii United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps Combat Development Com-
mand, Evolving the MAGTF for the 21st Century, 20 March 2009, 3. xix Brill P. Arthur, Jr., “The Three-block War,” Sea Power, November 1999. xx Charles C. Krulak, “Cultivating Intuitive Decisionmaking,” Marine Corps
Gazette, May 1999. xxi Marine Corps concept paper, Marine Corps Vision & Strategy 2025,
(undated), 14, 20, 24; Marine Corps concept paper, The Long War: Send in
the Marines, (undated), 29; Marine Corps concept paper, Marine Corps
Strategy 21, 3 November 2000, 6-7. xxii Lieutenant Colonel Sean Riordan, USMC, interview by the authors, 13
May 2009. xxiii Marine Corps concept paper, Marine Corps Vision & Strategy 2025, (un-
dated), 6; Marine Corps concept paper, The Long War: Send in the Marines,
(undated), 34-35. xxiv Marine Corps concept paper, The Long War: Send in the Marines,
(undated), 14.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
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That crisis could be a war, humanitarian relief, or even a
hostage rescue. For those reasons, every detail of the ship was
designed and built to ensure that the deployment and eventual
recovery of the Marines, or other embarked forces, goes off
quickly and efficiently. The operation eventually comes down
to the ship’s flight deck and well deck operations.
“That’s what we’re here for and the reason this ship was built
– for Marines and their needs from the ground up – and with
their input along the way,” said Navy Lt. Terry Menteer, who for
the past 18 months has been responsible for safe operation of
the flight deck as air boss for New York’s sister ship, USS San
Antonio (LPD 17). The two ships are part of a new class of LPDs,
the Navy designation as “amphibious transport dock.”
As a result of those joint Navy-Marine development efforts,
the new San Antonio-class ships are light-years ahead of their
predecessors in the ability to complete their basic missions,
and as each successive ship in this new class hits the fleet, new
missions previously not thought of or even possible for a gator
in the past are becoming routine.
“We not only have the ability to operate as part of a larger
expeditionary strike group, but we can also operate indepen-
dently or as a command ship of our own group of ships,” Men-
teer said. “New possibilities for this class of ships are being
realized every day we’re out here.”
The most basic theories of amphibious warfare operations
are the same as when Marines stormed ashore in the island
hopping campaigns of World War II, though the gear used to
get them there has improved exponentially.
USS NEW YORK
WELL DECK AND
FLIGHT DECK OPS
By Mark D. Faram
When USS New York (LPD 21) deploys for the
first time, the measure of her success will be
her ability to get Marines and their gear ashore.
She is, after all, a “gator” – a reference to one
of nature’s aggressive amphibians and sailor
talk for an amphibious ship. And as a gator her
whole reason for being is to transport Marines
wherever they are needed and deploy them
quickly to deal with the crisis at hand.
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LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
A Landing Craft, Air Cushioned, from the Norfolk, Va -based Assault Craft Unit Four
exits the stern gate of the USS San Antonio’s well deck in Chesapeake Bay, just off Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Va. The craft were leaving the ship for the final time after
the ship’s seven-month inaugural deployment to the Persian Gulf and Horn of Africa.
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Conventional landing craft have given
way to LCACs, (Landing Craft, Air Cush-
ion), Marine Expeditionary Fighting Ve-
hicles, and other specialized amphibi-
ous craft to speed men and equipment
ashore. Helicopters, too, are now gradu-
ally giving way to new technology as
well, with a new generation of “tilt-rotor”
MV-22 Osprey warbirds that can hover
like a helicopter, but fly fast and far like
a fixed-wing aircraft.
With the first four San Antonio class
of ships – and now with New York – that
evolution has taken the next step, com-
bining tried-and-true practices with new
ship designs and technology in a way
that will make the nearly 800 Marines on
board even more of an effective fighting
team. Here’s a peek at how it’s done.
Flight Deck Ops
Air boss Menteer has flown from
some of the Navy’s smallest flight decks
on destroyers and frigates as a fleet SH-
60 Seahawk pilot, and he said San Anto-
nio’s 98-foot wide and 15,200 square feet
of black non-skid is a relatively spacious
platform for any pilot, Navy or Marine, in
the middle of a pitching sea.
As the man in charge of all flight deck
operations on a new LPD, he said he’s
got a slightly different view today than
he did in the pilot seat. “Doing this job
gives me a completely different per-
spective on what a ship has to do to
make what I do possible – there are a lot
of moving parts and pilots get a little im-
patient with that,” he said. “I’ll take that
perspective back to the fleet with me
when I leave this assignment.”
But for those in the cockpit, he said
New York’s flight deck will be a wel-
come sight in the middle of an open
ocean, when compared to many other
flight decks in the fleet.
“It’s far less scary, because it’s a very
large deck. It’s significantly larger than
the LPD-4 class of ship – the predeces-
sor of the San Antonio class – so that
makes it a lot nicer to work off of,” he
said. “As far as versatility,” he added,
“there’s four or five flight deck configu-
rations you can use, depending on what
the winds are, what the mission is, and
the mix of aircraft on board.
“Obviously,” he said, “the San Antonio-
class ships can’t launch and recover the
same mix of aircraft that the larger deck
Wasp-class amphibious ships or even
the still bigger, full decked, nuclear
powered, attack aircraft carriers [can],
but for its size, it packs a punch rarely
seen in a ship with ‘limited real estate.’”
Though the ship primarily embarks
Marine aircraft, Menteer’s flight deck
crew is all Navy, with 19 flight deck
specialists in his air department. There
are aviation boatswain’s mates (aircraft
handling), who direct the movement of
the aircraft around the flight deck and
individually control the launching and
recovery operations using hand signals.
Also on board are their companion rat-
ings of aviation boatswain’s mate (fuels)
who are responsible for fueling aircraft
on deck and maintaining the supply of
aviation fuel on board.
Like any flight deck in the fleet, these
sailors wear special uniforms for their
environment. The aircraft handlers wear
fire-resistant clothes, including heavy
duty pants and bright yellow turtleneck
shirts for the senior handlers, while the
junior sailors in the group wear blue
shirts.
Their fuels counterparts wear the
same uniform, but their jerseys are pur-
ple in color, giving them the nickname
of “grapes.”
Left: Members of the flight deck crew of USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19), an amphibious transport dock and sister ship of New York, prepare for the arrival of an MV-22 Osprey aircraft. Mesa Verde sailors and approximately 375 Marines participated in an Amphibious Squadron/Marine Expeditionary Unit exercise used to test the capabilities of both entities during joint forces missions. LPD 17-class ships can operate up to five Ospreys. Above: Air department sailors wash salt water off the flight deck of the amphibious platform dock San Antonio in preparation for flight operations in the Atlantic Ocean. The massive hangar bay is open behind the sailors, while the “tower,” where the air boss controls operations, is on the upper left of the structure.
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Also on board are a couple of aviation
support equipment technicians, sailors
who operate and maintain the ground
support equipment needed to move air-
craft around the deck and in and out of
the ship’s hangar.
Aircraft land on and launch from
“spots” on the flight deck. For normal,
non-combat operations, Menteer said,
they use two spots, one on the forward
part of the flight deck and one on the aft
area of the flight deck.
When aircraft land on the ship in this
configuration, they approach the ship
from either the starboard or port side at
a 45-degree angle to the ship’s centerline
and land facing that direction as well.
“If we get into a more combat orient-
ed environment where we need to put
more aircraft in the air such as the [UH-
1] ‘Hueys’ and [AH-1] ‘Cobra’ gunships
ships, each of those two main spots can
be split in half, increasing my landing
capacity from two to four,” Menteer said.
“But in this configuration the pilots must
land from aft to forward along the ship’s
centerline.”
Menteer said the original concept
for the ship was to launch two aircraft
simultaneously, and for the larger
aircraft that’s how it works. But pushing
the envelope, he’s found with smaller
aircraft, such as the Hueys or Cobras
armed with missiles, they can rework
the deck to handle four at a time,
allowing for a quicker launch of more
combat power. “That gives us the ability
for a near simultaneous launch of two
sections of two aircraft each,” he said.
For the most part, the pilots and air-
craft that operate from an amphibious
ship are from the U.S. Marine Corps,
though from time to time Navy aircraft
operate from the LPDs.
The ship was designed and built to
handle the new tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey.
These aircraft take off and land like a
helicopter, but once airborne, they fly
like a fixed-wing aircraft, with a greater
range and speed. They are ideal for not
only Marines, but special operations
forces as well.
By the time New York makes her first
deployment, officials said, the Osprey
will be a common sight in the Marine
“air combat element” on the flight decks
of LPDs.
“We have the ability to operate with
two Ospreys on the flight deck and one
in the hangar,” Menteer said. “But in spe-
cial circumstances, we can handle five,
two operating on the flight deck, two
folded on the flight deck, and one in the
hangar.”
When the ship is flying aircraft, Men-
teer is orchestrating the ballet from
a perch overlooking the flight deck,
known as “the tower.” There, he and
his assistant, known as the “mini-boss,”
watch the whole deck from just inside a
large window high up on the port side of
the ship, looking aft.
Between the seats in the tower are the
air boss’s controls for the landing deck
lights, firefighting equipment, and the
equipment for communications with the
deck, other stations in the ship, and the
aircraft. On the older amphibious ships,
the tower operator had access to only
one communications frequency. But on
the new LPD class, the air boss can dial
into any communications net on the ship
from a handset right next to his seat and
talk to the bridge as easily as to the pi-
lots hovering over his deck.
The air boss is also has responsibili-
ties in flight deck emergencies, includ-
ing fires, and from his seat, the air boss
can start the major firefighting equip-
ment running, saving precious time in
the crucial first moments of a fire.
To fight fuel fires on the flight deck,
the Navy uses “AFFF” – aqueous film
forming foam. Sailors call it “A triple
F.” This mixture is sprayed on the fire,
smothering it. On older ships, sailors
had to first go below decks and start
the system that mixes the formula and
pumps it up to the deck hoses.
“Now we hit that button and that acti-
vates the pump down in the AFFF station
and that sets the proper AFFF mixture,”
Menteer said. “That way it’s already go-
ing before our people get out on deck
and are exposed to the fire.”
Teams of sailors can attack a flight
deck fire from one of four locations split
between the two main deck spots. The
forward spots are contained inside the
ship, one in the starboard passageway
and one in the port passageway leading
to the flight deck. For the aft spot, they
are accessed through the ship’s catwalks
– one on the starboard side and the other
on the port side.
Here, too, the Navy is using
advanced ship design to improve
existing firefighting technology.
“Instead of having the gear exposed
on the catwalks and out in the weather,
it’s been moved into a compartment
inside the skin of the ship,” Menteer
said. “We take the panel off prior to
flight quarters, a little more work for us
on the front end in setting up for flight
From top to bottom, a UH-1N Huey, an AH-1W Super Cobra, a CH-46 Sea Knight, and a CH-53E Super Stallion fly in formation. New York and other ships of the class can sustain any of these aircraft on a deployment.
DCM Erectors, Inc.
We salute the Builders and
Crew of the USS New York!
Our dedicated Ironworker
Locals 40/361/580 and
Operating Engineer Locals
14/15 clean-up crew removed
some of the steel that became
We are proud to be part of
the rebuilding effort of
One of the four Fairbanks Morse Colt-Pielstick PC 2.5 STC main propulsion diesel engines during installation at the shipyard.
Proud to Power the USS New York
75
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operations, but it keeps the gear protected from the salt water
and the elements. That also prevents wear and tear on the
gear, making it more dependable.”
One of the new LPD’s most obvious features is the 1,500-square-
foot hangar space. How many aircraft the ship can keep in the
hangar at one time varies by aircraft. For example, at one time
the hangar can accommodate: four AH-1 Cobras, or three UH-1
Hueys, or two CH-46 Sea Knights, or two SH-60 Seahawks, or one
CH-53 Sea Stallion, or a single MV-22 Osprey.
Though the ship doesn’t have aircraft mechanics aboard
full-time, she does have the capability to support basic main-
tenance. “We can provide level-one maintenance for the Os-
preys. We have everything we need here to sustain an Osprey
for a deployment,” he said.
The same holds true for just about any helicopter in the Navy
and Marine Corps inventory, up to and including the large
CH-53 Sea Stallion aircraft operated by the Navy and Marine
Corps.
“When the aircraft come on board, they come with all the
support personnel required for them during the deployment,”
he said. “What we provide are dedicated maintenance shops
for them and storerooms for their gear and spare parts.”
Well Deck Ops
The well deck is where the Marines and their equipment
are loaded into the “LCACs,” Marine Expeditionary Fighting
Vehicles, and other specialized amphibious assault craft. It’s
part of a cavernous space, but once loaded with Marines and
deployed, it’s cram-packed with vehicles and the rest of the
Marine’s combat cargo.
Keeping track of all this material in San Antonio and mak-
ing sure it gets to shore quickly is the duty of Marine Chief
Warrant Officer 2 Anthonie Scott, the ship’s combat cargo
officer.
One of the few Marines attached to the ship’s company, Scott
has served for 17 years in the Corps, most as combat cargo
Above: Sailors work in the massive well deck aboard San Antonio washing down Landing Craft, Air Cushioned (LCACs) from the Norfolk, Va.-based Assault Craft Unit Four. The craft had just returned to the ship after completing their offload of Marines and their equipment at Onslow Beach, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Right: LCACs from the Norfolk, Va.-based Assault Craft Unit Four preparing to depart the ship.
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officer on three other ships. He says it’s the size and versatility
of the LPD’s cargo areas that make well deck operations run
efficiently and quickly.
There’s a capability to deploy with 797 Marines and their
gear on board these ships. For the Marines, this means armor-
ies in each berthing area for weapons such as M16 rifles and
sidearms. Also aboard are five other Marine armories to store
machine guns and larger weapons.
Stowing their other gear, such as tanks, artillery pieces, and
assorted trucks, is another story. Those items end up in the
23,261 square feet of total stowage area on the ship, split among
the 9,348 square feet of main vehicle area, 6,538 square feet
of upper vehicle area, and 7,375 square feet of lower vehicle
area – 4,500 more square feet of space than the previous class
of amphibious transport docks had.
“This space and configuration gives us an incredible amount
of versatility in how we initially load the equipment aboard the
ship, but more importantly in how we plan mission packages
later for off-load,” Scott said. “It allows us to spread the equip-
ment out and then pull it out in custom mission packages.”
That just wasn’t the case in the cramped cargo area on
the older class of amphibs, where the gear for the most part
had to leave the ship in the reverse order from how it was
on-loaded.
“Getting grunts and gear to the beach,” he said, “is also
substantially faster on the new LPDs, not just because of in-
creased space but because of how the interior of the ship was
designed.”
For example, Scott said, “Our ladder openings are large
enough to accommodate fully loaded Marines wearing their
packs and carrying their rifles. Before, on the older ships, when
you had 10 Marines trying to get from one deck level to another
for debarkation it was labor intensive.
“Marines would have to stop at the bottom or top of each lad-
der and pass their gear through one item at a time. Now they
keep moving, and that cuts the time it takes to load them out
in half.”
The final loading out takes place in the well deck, an area
the size of a gymnasium in the aft area below the main deck.
The well deck provides an interior dock and allows the landing
craft to be loaded inside the ship, sheltered from the rolling
waves outside – where most of their World War II counterparts
were forced to load.
Craft go in and out of the ship through the stern gate, huge
doors that make up the stern of the ship. But that gate can be
dropped, opening the well deck to the sea. The hollow sides
of the well deck – they’re called “wing walls” – can be flood-
ed, allowing the ship’s stern to be lowered in a controlled
A look from the wing walls of the well deck forward into the cargo storage areas of the amphibious transport dock ship San Antonio.
Deutsche Bank proudly salutes the brave men andwomen of the USS New York (LPD 21).
Our commitment to a better tomorrow starts today.
www.db.com
Honor. Courage. Commitment.
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sinking to the desired depth, which depends on the type of
craft being used.
Well decks in older class ships had a bottom made of wood.
Maintaining the wood by cleaning and sanding and especially
replacing it was one of the dirtiest jobs in the Navy.
But all that has changed with this class of ship, Scott said.
“Our well deck has composite flooring that is bolted into place
in four-foot squares,” he said. “So if there’s damage or corro-
sion, we can go in and unbolt that section and replace it eas-
ily. The material helps the LCACs operate more efficiently
as the composite material offers significantly less friction as
the craft moves over it, resulting in smoother operation and
less chance of damage to their huge inflatable rubberized air
bags the craft ride on.”
The wing walls of the well deck are coated with a special
rubberized composite material that protects both the ship and
the landing craft from the inevitable crunches that occur – es-
pecially in rough seas.
When it’s time to hit the beach, the men and material to be
loaded out make their way from the cargo areas, down steep
ramps and onto the landing craft. As with the flight deck, the
craft are guided into “spots” for loading. Spot one is in the for-
ward part of the well deck and spot two is in the aft area, and
the LCACs line up front-to-back down the center of the well.
“We have the ability to do what we call ‘speed bumping,’”
Scott said. “That’s when you drive a vehicle over the LCAC
in spot one to load the LCAC in spot two, allowing us to load
two vehicles simultaneously.” This wasn’t possible in the older
classes of amphibious ships, Scott said, where the LCACs had
to be loaded out one at a time.
“The flexibility of this ship gives us so many options in the
well deck,” he said. “We are able to move equipment without
forklifts and to stage equipment when and where we need to,
making load planning very easy.”
The Long View
The christening brochure for New York pulls the long range
potential for her and her sister ships together: “The ships will
support amphibious assault, special operations, or expedi-
tionary warfare missions throughout the first half of the 21st
century … The multi-mission, versatile LPD ships will … take
the power, will and courage of the United States to the four
corners of the world.”
LCACs from the Norfolk, Va. – based Assault Craft Unit Four head for home after exiting the stern gate of the USS San Antonio’s well deck in the Chesapeake Bay, just off Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Va.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
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Each ship built by Northrop Grumman has a special place in the hearts and minds of all the
workers who built it. USS New York (LPD 21), however, is truly special, because it contains 7.5
tons of World Trade Center steel in its bow stem. In tangible terms, New York holds sacred the
memory of the heroes and victims who died on Sept. 11, 2001. It’s also special because the ship-
builders who built it share a kindred spirit with the people of New York, a unique bond born
from two separate tragedies.
By Edward L. Winter
Pride Overcomes Construction ChallengesBUILDING USS NEW YORK
The shipbuilders who built New York endured their own
tragedy with Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster in
our nation’s history. They felt an affinity with all New Yorkers
because – even though the dimensions of the event were dif-
ferent – they also knew what it was like to experience loss and
devastation as a result of a catastrophic disaster. Since then,
restoring their personal lives has been paramount. With an eye
toward the future, recovery, restoration, and rebirth have been
dominant motivations.
If certain indomitable qualities such as determination, resil-
iency, and perseverance were the driving forces in the person-
al recoveries of the builders of New York, these same qualities
were also manifested when it came time to resume building
the ship. Many of the workers were back in the shipyard with-
in a couple of weeks after Katrina. They needed their jobs, of
course, but they also felt compelled to continue building New
York. They’re proud of the ship and they needed the ship, as did
New Yorkers and the nation.
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding President Mike Petters
commended the workers at the New York christening ceremo-
ny in 2008: “I’m very proud of our shipbuilders who are build-
ing New York. They overcame many personal challenges and
construction obstacles and they persevered. This ship liter-
ally symbolizes so much of what is great about our nation and
Americans; our strength in overcoming tragedy, our tradition of
honoring heroes, and our universal belief in a brighter future.”
Such a special U.S. Navy vessel had its origins more than
two decades ago when the Navy implemented new ways of pro-
curing ships. This LPD 17 class acquisition reform movement
led to new and innovative design processes as well as to major
changes for future ships.
In the beginning, increased emphasis was placed on incor-
porating shipbuilding considerations during the earliest stag-
es of design. But despite these new design concepts and so-
phisticated computerized engineering tools that produced as
near-complete design drawings as possible, building ships as
complex and innovative as New York was nonetheless a daunt-
ing challenge.
It still required all the sweat equity, hands-on strength, and
creative problem-solving that are part of all naval construc-
tion. New York was no different, and Northrop Grumman’s
shipbuilders worked with their hands, heads, and hearts to
make it happen.
New York is big: 684 feet long, 105 feet wide, about 18 stories
tall (more than twice the height of the Statue of Liberty if you
stood it on end). It contains more than 500 miles of electrical
cable, enough to reach from New York City to Cleveland, and
then some. There are nearly 60 miles of pipe, and over 40 miles
of fiber-optic cable, enough to install high-speed digital Inter-
net service to 1,000 homes. It also contains more than 315 tons
of paint, enough to paint nearly 2,000 average-sized homes, in-
side and out. So the task at hand was huge.
New York features many first-of-a-kind capabilities, and it
represented an ongoing learning experience for the builders.
But it was an experience they welcomed and ultimately mas-
tered. The builders compare it to a floating city, with the same
infrastructure requirements, including generators and electri-
cal systems, piping and plumbing systems, air-conditioning,
heating, ventilation, living accommodations, food services, fire
control, and medical facilities, to name just some of a city’s in-
frastructure requirements.
But because this was also a warship, many additional ca-
pabilities were essential, including propulsion systems, com-
mand and control, combat, communications, tactical lift, and
ship’s self-defense systems, among several others.
According to Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s LPD Pro-
gram Manager Doug Lounsberry, overseeing this massive LPD
21 construction process were highly skilled and exceptionally
motivated program managers, construction managers, and di-
rectors, all ably assisted by superintendents, line foremen, and
thousands of workers. “Managing this complex job required
detailed preparation, planning, and constant attention to budget
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Construction aboard the amphibious transport dock ship New York (LPD 21) at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s Gulf Coast shipyard. More than 11,000 tons of steel were used in building the ship’s hull.
Darya Linand
Suzanne Kondratenko
In memoriam
May your memory be honoredin the commissioning of this vessel.
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and schedule,” noted Lounsberry. “We worked closely with the
Navy from the outset as an Industry-Navy team, and we also had
a strong working relationship with all the subcontractors and
vendors who supported ship construction.”
While a major management responsibility of a ship program
manager is to pay close attention to schedule and budget, it
also includes monitoring the daily work of the project’s direc-
tors and managers, along with hundreds of workers in many
different crafts – welders, ship fitters, electricians, pipefitters,
machinists, sheet metal mechanics, painters, and many others.
“One of our biggest challenges is in sequencing all the craft
work to achieve the highest possible first-time quality and avoid
re-work, which is very costly and affects schedule,” explained
LPD 21 Program Manager John Wilson. “At peak production,
Above: Three veteran employees of Amite Foundry open the ladle containing more than 20 tons of molten steel from the World Trade Center. The steel became the bow stem of USS New York (LPD 21), named in honor of the victims and heroes of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy. Left: Throughout her service to the nation, USS New York will carry a piece of New York City, the embodiment of the sacrifice of more than 3,000 New Yorkers.
Honors the Commissioning of the
And Wishes Its Crew and Troops
Safe Passage and a Speedy Return Home
USS NEW YORK
The Scrap Recycling Industry Is Proud
of the Role It Played in
Recycling and Forging the Steel
from the World Trade Center
into the Bow Stem of the USS New York
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI) is the “Voice of the RecyclingIndustry.” ISRI represents more than 1,600 companies in 21 chapters nationwide thatprocess, broker, and consume scrap commodities, including metals, paper, plastics, glass,rubber, electronics, and textiles.With headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Instituteprovides education, advocacy, and compliance training, and promotes public awarenessof the vital role recycling plays in the U.S. economy, global trade, the environment andsustainable development. For more information about ISRI, please visit www.isri.org.
85
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more than 1,300 workers are onboard
during a single shift, and for them to be
effective requires a manager’s under-
standing the entire scope of work and
communicating effectively. We needed
to be constantly focused on safety while
also achieving the next construction
milestone, and do so within budget. It
demands constant attention and is a
delicate balancing act.”
Managers must be proactive and me-
ticulous in planning all work to ensure
that necessary tools are on hand and
proper equipment is in the right place,
at the right time, and in good working
order. “We had to make sure all needed
materials were flowing on board in a
timely fashion,” noted John Lotshaw, who
served as an LPD 21 ship director. “We
needed to be creative and innovative in
executing the work, and expect the un-
expected. You have to be flexible, and
keep the work moving, even if material
is not there when you need it, or a crane
malfunctions, or something else doesn’t
go as planned.”
The construction process begins with
steel fabrication and assembly. New
York is built with 11,250 tons of steel. It is
made up of 210 ship modules, with each
unit ranging in weight from about 30
tons to 140 tons. Steel plates and struc-
tural beams are welded together to form
these ship units in the steel fabrication
and assembly areas.
Shipbuilders pre-outfitted units for
New York with as much material as
possible prior to their addition to the
ship. “This is a critical step to improving
Left: Part of New York’s armament is a 30 mm cannon. The Mk. 46 Mod 1 is a remotely operated naval gun system using a 30 mm high-velocity cannon and second-generation thermal day-night sight for close-in ship’s protection. Built by General Dynamics, Mk. 46 Mod 1 is the naval derivative of the turret originally developed for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Below, left: Pictured top to bottom, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding composites fitters Delwin Bass and Kimmy Lizana and fiberglass mechanic leaderman David Seals sand the joints of the New York‘s (LPD 21) aft lower mast in preparation for lamination. Production work at Northrop Grumman’s Gulfport Center of Excellence had restarted following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with all work being done on diesel-generator power and the company working with Mississippi Power to restore permanent electric hookup.
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ALLPRO ImagingProudly Supports the Commissioning
of the USS New York.
w w w. a l l p r o i m a g i n g . c o m
To the Men and Women who protect and defend the American way of life, we
thank you.
To the USS New York: Proud journey and much
appreciation to every Man and Woman aboard.
87
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
efficiency and reducing the construction cycle time,” noted
Dave Bergeron, who was director of unit construction in the
build area. “Piping, ventilation, electrical wire-way hangers,
ladders, gratings, and other components are all installed on the
units prior to erection.”
Package units are also built at this stage. “They consist of
a skid or steel base, on which pumps, motors, piping, valves,
gauges, and other instrumentation are installed,” continued
Bergeron. “These packages are then installed either on units
or directly on the ship. It’s much easier and safer on the worker
and more cost-efficient to pre-outfit than it is to install every-
thing inside the ship once it is erected.”
Towering gantry cranes with lift capacities up to 300 tons
raise units onto the ship in the building ways. Often, several
units are blocked together into a grand block assembly and
erected onto the ship by multiple cranes. “A 578-ton grand
block assembly for New York consisting of six units was lifted
by four cranes and set the sector record for ships,” noted Crane
Department Superintendent Mike Norman. “Blocking multiple
units for erection increases efficiency and reduces construc-
tion time. But all lifts require the utmost attention to safety, ac-
curacy, and precision by all involved, including engineering,
rigging, and safety.”
The shipyard’s accuracy control experts, responsible for
verifying accurate dimensions and measurements on ship
units, played pivotal roles in New York’s construction from the
beginning, utilizing advanced optical measuring tools and in-
struments to ensure the units matched up, fit properly, and were
of high quality.
According to LPD 21 Construction Manager Doug Blethen,
the well-planned unit erection process and craftwork sequenc-
ing began from mid-ship over the keel, stretching out port and
starboard, extending fore and aft, and ultimately, straight up.
“Once the ship had taken shape, riggers and ship fitters land-
ed and installed large pieces of equipment for the power and
propulsion systems, including five generators, four main die-
sel propulsion engines, the 350-foot-long starboard propeller
shaft and nearly 200-foot-long port propeller shaft, as well as
the heavy struts and rudders.”
Completing the more than 1,100 compartments and tanks on
New York was critical to delivering the ship to the Navy. “The
craftsmen assigned this task worked hard and often in cramped,
tight spaces, but again, sequencing the right craft in the right
order was very important to achieve compartment completion,”
added Blethen, “and for the workers’ comfort and safety. We
needed them to perform first-time, high-quality work.”
Another challenge was pulling thousands of feet of ca-
ble throughout the ship, over and around sharp angles and
through tight spaces. “The ship’s sheer size and configuration
complicated this task, but good coordination and execution
paid off,” explained LPD 21 Ship Superintendent Tommy Bar-
rett. “It was a big, difficult job that required shipbuilder brawn
and muscle to pull and connect all this cable to so many dif-
ferent systems.”
Because New York carries upward of 800 Marines, extra
wide passageways were built into the ship to better accommo-
date them and their full battle gear and weapons. “This is a
marked improvement, allowing Marines to more easily embark
on their missions from either the well deck or the flight deck,”
said Gawain “Hank” Corcoran, who was a ship director for New
York. “Even the location of the armory on this ship is different,
much closer to where the Marines need it to be for when they
exit the ship.”
Since New York accommodates a mixed gender crew, its
builders not only had to include such obvious needs as sepa-
rate living quarters, they also had to be aware of ergonomic
design factors that differed from ships with an all-male crew.
“Having female crew members also led to other ergonomic
changes,” added Corcoran, “such as installing equipment, me-
ters, and instruments at lower heights to accommodate shorter
females who would operate them.”
Installation of components for command and control, com-
munications, combat, and weaponry and radar systems can be
extremely intricate. On New York, these jobs were assigned to
experienced technicians and electronics specialists who had
experience in this type of work on previous LPD ships.
Another LPD technological advancement on New York is
the incorporation of stealth design features, which present-
ed building challenges over earlier LPDs. According to Jay
Jenkins, who was involved early on as an LPD program man-
ager, the unique profile of these ships, with their two com-
posite enclosed masts and the clean lines, are not just for
aesthetics. “These elements are part of the stealth design to
reduce the ship’s overall radar cross section,” said Jenkins,
“making them more difficult for enemy radar to pick up and
identify.”
The angled projections on LPD ships’ hulls are a dramatic
departure from the standard 45 or 90 degrees built into more
conventional hulls. “A challenge to building stealthy ships is
meeting the surface flatness tolerances on the shell plating and
eliminating distortion of thin steel plates during welding,” ex-
plained Jenkins. “To solve this problem, our R&D experts devel-
oped a process called flame straightening. Very skilled crafts-
men heated small areas of the plate and then rapidly cooled
the spots with a spray of water, causing the steel to contract,
and eliminating most of the surface deflection. Our craftsmen
mastered this technique so it was not a major construction chal-
lenge on New York.”
A different approach to topside design is also incorporated
into New York’s stealth features. The absence of typical top-
side clutter, such as fire equipment racks, antennas, speakers,
vents, and other hardware, further reduces the radar cross sec-
tion. Workers were creative in finding ways to make the topside
equipment retractable, portable, or stowable below deck – all
with the stealth design idea of making the ship appear smaller
on radar.
Because metal reflects radar, special composites and other
materials that absorb radar were used on New York, including
reflective film for glass. The Advanced Enclosed Mast/Sensor
System consists of two large, eight-sided composite structures
that enclose radar and communications antennas within an ad-
vanced hybrid frequency surface. These masts are the largest
composite structures ever installed on U.S. Navy steel ships
and they represent revolutionary advancement in topside de-
sign. They are designed to significantly reduce the ship’s radar
cross section signature and are a dramatic departure from the
traditional stick masts installed on previous Navy ships.
The composite masts are built at Northrop Grumman Ship-
building’s Composite Center in Gulfport, Miss., where engineers
and highly trained craftsmen work with special resin composite
materials. They are regarded as some of the most knowledge-
able and skillful professionals in the composites field.
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Another specialized material used on New York is titanium, a
non-corrosive material that has an expensive up-front cost, but
because of its durable qualities will require no maintenance
and actually outlast the life of the ship. Primarily used for fire
main and saltwater piping systems, approximately 12,000 feet
of titanium pipe is on New York.
Titanium is a very delicate and tricky material to work with,
so welders underwent rigorous training to learn how to weld it
to meet stringent Navy certification requirements. The welders
have progressed to the point that Northrop Grumman’s titani-
um shop is widely recognized as a leader in the use of titanium
in construction.
Also new to the LPDs and New York is the Shipboard Wide
Area Network (SWAN) that links all the ship’s systems by a
computer and fiber optics network, supporting everything from
combat systems to directions to the rudder. The development
of the automated SWAN helped make it possible to dramati-
cally reduce crew size.
“Because all of the ship’s systems are linked by the SWAN,
its proper installation was crucial for all of New York’s systems
and operations to function properly,” explained Tommy Du-
frene, who served as LPD 21 ship director. “So we made sure
that all the shipbuilders put early emphasis on accurately in-
stalling this vital shipboard network.”
Dufrene added that not only was the SWAN complicated to in-
stall, but it was even more challenging to test. “Shipbuilders who
tested this network on New York were aware that for the SWAN to
pass testing, all of its components and electronic connections had
to work flawlessly, so proper installation was critical and challeng-
ing.” Sadly, Dufrene passed away in December 2008 and did not
get to see New York completed. But he was extremely important in
this ship’s construction and is remembered by his fellow Northrop
Grumman shipbuilders. His skill and dedication is a special ex-
ample of the spirit instilled in New York during her construction.
Despite the many challenges, shipbuilders are a hearty and
robust group, especially those who built New York. Because of
Katrina they faced serious personal problems and construction
obstacles, but persevered. USS New York’s future in the Navy
fleet and in service to America officially begins with the com-
missioning ceremony. But Northrop Grumman’s shipbuilders
know that it really began years ago in their shipyard. “All of us
at Northrop Grumman are proud and privileged to have played
a part in bringing about this great new ship,” added Petters,
“and we all wish her and her crew nothing but the best.”
Cmdr. Curt Jones, prospective commanding officer of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship Pre-Commissioning Unit New York (LPD 21) signs the delivery document aboard the ship at 9:11 a.m. on Aug. 21, 2009. Also participating in the ceremony is Irwin F. Edenzon, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, and Supervisor of Shipbuilding Gulf Region Capt. Mary Beth Dexter.
90
History shows that famous ships often carry pieces of the
communities that made them.
Copper spikes from Paul Revere’s Boston foundry secured
the stout planking for the first six frigates of the U.S. Navy au-
thorized by Congress in 1794. USS Philadelphia – lost in the war
against the Barbary pirates in 1803 – was among them.
Rarely has the bond between a ship and a community been
more powerful than in the case of the USS New York (LPD 21).
The nearly 700-foot-long amphibious warship carries seven
and a half tons of recycled steel in its bow from the World Trade
Center in memory of the 9/11 terror attacks.
LPD 21’s commanding officer, Cmdr. F. Curtis Jones, of Bing-
hamton, N.Y., is himself a native New Yorker. “Heroism literally
is the backbone of this ship,” Jones said at New York’s christen-
ing in Avondale, La., in March 2008.
The ship’s motto, “Strength Forged Through Sacrifice. Never
Forget,” is a vivid reminder of the events of that day. It is this
symbolism that will bind LPD 21 to generations of New Yorkers
in years to come.
But the ship’s ties to New York are as much about people as
they are about symbols and mottos. Here, in their own words, is
what the ship means to New Yorkers, and a few of their stories.
The Siller family of Staten Island knows a lot about strength,
sacrifice and not forgetting 9/11. On that day more than eight
years, ago, Stephen Siller, a member of Squad 1, an elite res-
cue unit of the Fire Department of New York, had just finished
the overnight shift at his firehouse in the Park Slope section of
Brooklyn. The father of five was off duty and driving home to
spend the day with his family.
Siller heard on his scanner about the attack on the Twin
Towers. He immediately turned around and sped toward
the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel – hoping to join his unit at the
Trade Center. When police told him that cars weren’t allowed
through the tunnel, he strapped on his fire-fighting gear and
dashed along the tunnel catwalk toward Lower Manhattan.
A passing fire truck picked up Siller and drove him to West
Street, near Ground Zero. That was the last time anyone saw
him alive. Family members believe that he met up with his
Squad 1 teammates and went to save lives in the towers,
where they died together.
One thing the Siller family did over the last seven years to
keep Stephen’s memory alive was to organize a “Tunnel to
Towers” run every year on Sept. 29. The 1.7-mile race traces
the firefighter’s course on that fateful morning. Twenty-five
thousand people signed up for the last run, and their numbers
surge each year. The Sillers have used the tunnel run and other
events to raise more than $4 million to aid military families and
other causes.
The commissioning of USS New York has a special meaning
for Frank Siller, Stephen’s brother. “To me, my brother was a
firefighter who had an option [on 9/11],” Frank said. “Stephen
was on his way home from work. He turned around, went back
and ran through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel to get to the Tow-
ers, where he perished with 343 other firefighters. To me, that’s
a direct correlation with our military and our first responders
and the strength and courage they always show in protecting
this great country. This steel that came from Ground Zero to me
shows the strength and resolve that America always has and
which is not going to go away. This war on terror is going to be
an everlasting battle. And we have to have the backbone of the
steel [in this ship] that was taken from Ground Zero to stand up
and continue to protect America.”
A SHIP, A STATE, A CITY, AND ITS PEOPLEBy Doug Tsuruoka
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LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
The name “USS New York” reportedly had its genesis in a let-
ter that former New York Gov. George E. Pataki wrote to then-Na-
vy Secretary Gordon England shortly after 9/11. Mayor Michael
Bloomberg of New York City also wrote to the secretary. They
asked the Navy to revive the name “USS New York” in honor of
9/11’s victims and to confer it to a surface warship involved in the
war on terror. Although until then it was Navy policy to reserve
state names for nuclear submarines, they asked that an excep-
tion be made so the name New York could be given to a surface
ship. The request was granted in August 2002.
When news of the ship-naming was announced, it was done
from the deck of the former carrier USS Intrepid, the floating
air and space museum docked at Pier 86 on Manhattan’s West
Side on Sept. 7, 2002. Officials involved in the project informed
the public at this time that the new Navy ship would carry steel
from the World Trade Center in its bow.
Publishing consultant Russell MacAusland is descended
from a long line of New England sea captains and soldiers. The
U.S.
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Opposite page: Sailors assigned to Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) New York (LPD 21) have a moment of silence for fallen New York City first responders and civilian victims
as they touch a steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center. The ship has 7.5 tons of World Trade Center steel in her bow. Above: A firefighter emerges from the
smoke and debris of the World Trade Center. Right: While working around-the-clock to find survivors, a rescue worker takes a moment to reflect on the impact of the devastating
terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. It was an emotional time for the rescue workers because many of them had lost co-workers and friends in the day’s devastation. Bottom, right: A lone fire engine at the crime scene in Manhattan where the World Trade
Center collapsed following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. Surrounding buildings were heavily damaged by the debris and massive force of the falling Twin Towers.
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19th-century clipper ship William H. Prescott, which sailed out
of Salem, Mass., was named after his great-great-grandfather,
a famous U.S. historian. His great-great-great-great-great-
grandfather, Minuteman Col. William Prescott, led Continental
troops at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. It was his ancestor
who shouted, “Don’t fire until you can see the whites of their
eyes!” as the Redcoats attacked.
MacAusland was at home on the morning of 9/11 when he
learned of the attack on the Twin Towers. He raced to the roof
of his Midtown Manhattan apartment building with a pair of
binoculars. He saw the billowing black smoke and the men and
women trapped on the upper floors. He will never forget what
he saw that day.
Said MacAusland: “In colonial times, the Minutemen provided
a select, highly mobile, and rapidly deployable force, qualities
that the USS New York will provide our country going forward.”
Dennis McKeon is executive director of Where To Turn, a
support group for 9/11 survivors and their families. “I’ve had
discussions with many 9/11 families and most are very support-
ive of the fact that steel from the World Trade Center is being
used in the ship. It’s because it keeps alive the memories of
those who died,” McKeon said.
McKeon says the emotional symbolism of the steel in the
New York’s bow can’t be overstated. “At least a portion of the
steel from the Trade Center is being used to support our mili-
tary personnel in the war on terror,” McKeon said.
Where To Turn is busy with its own project to honor the vic-
tims of 9/11. They’re searching for an exhibition site to house
a 16,000-square-foot quilt that lists the names of everyone who
died. The huge patchwork was made by artist Corey Gammel.
“It has photos and other personal items sewn into it. It’s a pretty
phenomenal thing, and we plan to house it in a renovated build-
ing on Staten Island,” McKeon said.
Younger New Yorkers also feel the ship’s connection to 9/11.
The New York Military Youth Cadets provides a military-based
program for boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18. The
goal of the Queens-based nonprofit group is to instill self-confi-
dence, discipline, and respect for society in kids from some of
the toughest neighborhoods in the city.
“At the time of 9/11, I was only 6 years old and in school,” said
Cadet Corp. Perez Jesus. “I remember being told by my teach-
er that the city had been attacked. Everyone was real scared
and confused. It was not until three years later that I joined the
cadets, and it was there that I began to learn and understand
what had happened. I’m 13 years old now and because of being
a cadet, I have met older cadets who are now serving in the
armed forces, and I have come to understand what took place
that day and the fact that if it were not for those who serve we
would not be able to live in the freedom that we have. Some
[former cadets] enlisted because of what took place that day
and have served in Iraq and returned safely, and others are
serving at the present time. This is why I feel that the USS New
York represents that commitment to defend this country and
our way of life.”
“The USS New York means peace of mind and a feeling of
safety,” said 14-year-old Cadet Corp. Gabriela Mejia. “We can
go to sleep knowing that our sailors are protecting us and the
rest of the world.”
Jonathan Salazar, an adult staff member of the cadets said:
“I’m 19 now, but when I was 12, I lived through the events of 9/11.
With the building of the USS New York, I know the rest of the
world will get to see the resolve of the people of New York and
be reminded that we will never forget.”
Left: Rescue workers conduct search and rescue attempts, descending deep into the rubble of the World Trade Center. Above: Workers pour steel, recycled from the World Trade Center, into a mold, which would form the bow stem of the amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21), at the Amite Foundry. About 24 tons of steel was salvaged from the World Trade Center. Approximately 10 percent of the steel was lost when the foundry superheated the 48,780 pounds of steel to 2,850 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Brooklyn baseball writer and historian Tom Knight says that
metal building material from the city’s past sometimes occupies
an ironic place in history. In the 1930s, Knight, 82, recalls that
the rusting iron girders from the Fifth Avenue elevated subway
tracks in Brooklyn were dismantled and sold as scrap metal to
Japan several years before Pearl Harbor. The same thing hap-
pened to the Second Avenue elevated subway in Manhattan.
“All that iron went to Japan. People used to say that pieces
of the El [came back as shells and bombs] that killed a lot of
Americans during World War II,” said Knight, who holds the
title, “Official Baseball Historian of Brooklyn,” and whose an-
cestors fought with the Union Army in the Civil War.
But of the steel from the Trade Center in the New York’s bow,
Knight said: “It’s a great memorial for those who died. I lost a lot
of friends on 9/11. I don’t think anything like this has ever been
done before.”
It’s fitting to end this story about USS New York by talking
about another uncanny coincidence that binds LPD 21 even
more tightly to the city and state for which it’s named. It’s a di-
rect connection to what historians say was one of the first ships
to drop anchor in New York Harbor nearly 400 years ago.
In the late summer of 1613, Dutch captain Adriaen Block and
his ship Tyger visited the tip of Lower Manhattan to trade mus-
kets for animal skins with the local Lenape Indians.
Disaster struck in November when a fire broke out in
Tyger’s hold and burned the ship to the waterline. Block and
his crew were forced to winter over, building crude cabins
that represented the first European community on Manhattan
Island – not far from where St. Paul’s Church and Ground Zero
stand today.
The Dutchmen salvaged sails and other fittings from Tyger
before she burned. By the following spring, they had cobbled
together another ship, Onrust or “Restless,” with help from the
Native Americans. They used their new ship to explore the East
River and Long Island Sound, venturing as far north as Cape
Cod, before returning to Europe in 1614.
Born of fire, Onrust, with timbers hewn from the then primeval
forests of Manhattan, was literally the first ship to be built and
launched in the great bay that later became New York Harbor.
The story is amazing in its own right. Yet something else hap-
pened a few centuries later that connects Tyger directly to USS
New York and 9/11.
In 1916, work crews digging a tunnel for New York City’s
first subway line uncovered some ancient timbers near the
intersection of what’s now Greenwich and Dey Streets. It
turned out to be the prow and keel of Tyger, just as Block’s
crew had abandoned it four centuries earlier. The wreck was
found buried with an old Dutch ax, beads, and other objects
that historians said made it certain that it was Block’s ship.
The charred prow was hastily excavated, preserved, and
eventually displayed in the Marine Gallery of the Museum of
the City of New York. What remained of the ship was reburied
Wounded warriors await the start of the 8th Annual Tunnel-To-Towers Run in New York City on Sept. 27, 2009. The run commemorates Firefighter Stephen Siller, New York City Fire Department, who ran 3.1 miles through the tunnel connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001, carrying 70 pounds of gear to assist at the World Trade Center before dying in the towers’ collapse.
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and lay undisturbed until 1968, when work began on the first
World Trade Center site.
According to Unearthing Gotham by Anne-Marie E. Cantwell
and Diana diZerega Wall, officials of the South Street Seaport
Museum realized that work on the 110-story Twin Towers was
taking place almost on the exact spot where the Tyger’s keel
had been covered over a half century earlier.
The museum recruited two urban archaeologists – Bert Sal-
wen and Ralph Solecki – to recover the rest of the Tyger before
the bulldozers got to it.
The two men dug at a spot about 20 feet below ground,
some yards east of where the North Tower of the Trade Cen-
ter was being built. After weeks of painstaking work, they
found nothing.
One explanation is that the coordinates were off and that Sal-
wen and Solecki dug in the wrong spot. This is likely, since the
archaeologists, at the time, had information that hardhats had
found an old flintlock pistol and other Dutch artifacts nearby.
In all probability, what was left of the Tyger became part of the
permanent foundation of 1 World Trade Center.
So the story turns full circle – the timbers of one of the
first ships to moor in New York City likely became part of the
soaring glass and steel of what was for a few years the tallest
building on Earth. And it is a few of the steel girders hurled
down in that inferno on 9/11 that today form the bow of USS
New York.
“Blessing a vessel has been a part of maritime culture for
thousands of years,” said Reverend David M. Rider, president
and executive director of the Seamen’s Church Institute of
New York and New Jersey, a 175-year-old nonprofit that aids
merchant sailors. “We bless a ship when we dedicate it with
symbols of our hope for strength and safety. This new ship by
its very nature is imbued with the hopes and blessings of a re-
silient people with a rich history.”
USS New York will embody the memory of those who died on 9/11, as well as the strength and resolve of those who remember them.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
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The aircraft carier USS Kitty Hawk (CVN 63) sails in formation with Australian, Canadian, South Korean, and U.S. Navy ships during a Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2008 exercise group photo off the coast of Hawaii. Kitty Hawk was taking part in RIMPAC with units from the United States, Australia, Chile, Japan, the Netherlands, Peru, South Korea, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Exercises such as RIMPAC are examples of the everyday execution of “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower,” as was the homeporting in Japan of the Kitty Hawk and her battle group. Kitty Hawk has now been replaced by USS George Washington (CVN 73).
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The first of those strategies was the white paper initiated in
the late 1970s by then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Thomas
Hayward. The challenge at the time, as Hayward put it, was that
the United States had “a one-and-a-half ocean navy for a three-
ocean commitment.”
The white paper, called “The Future of the United States
Navy,” became the cornerstone of the dramatic rebuilding of
the Navy during the administration of President Ronald Rea-
gan, and it was the strategic rationale for the “six hundred-ship”
force shaped by then-Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman. In
the opinion of many, that Reagan-era Navy played an indispens-
able role in the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Then, toward the end of 1992, the Navy and Marine Corps
published a new strategy called “…From the Sea.” It began:
“The world has changed dramatically in the last two years, and
America’s national security policy has also changed … our strat-
egy has shifted from a focus on a global threat to a focus on
regional challenges and opportunities.”
One of the different elements of “…From the Sea” was its
recognition of the need for “capabilities required in the com-
plex operating environment of the ‘littoral’ or coastlines of the
earth.” During the initial years of the 21st century, “…From the
Sea” was adjusted to match the continuingly shifting geopoliti-
cal landscape.
In October 2007, again based on a changed geopolitical
landscape, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast
Guard jointly published “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Cen-
tury Seapower.” The preface spells out a new approach to creat-
ing a coherent strategy:
THE WAY AHEAD
FOR AMERICA’S
SEA SERVICES
During the past three decades, the U.S. Navy
has published a number of strategies. Those
documents not only determined how U.S.
naval power would be employed, they also
helped determine the kind of weapons and
the number of people the Navy needed to
support U.S. national policy.
By Rear Adm. Joseph F. Callo, USNR (Ret.)
A Strategy for the 21st Century
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“Never before have the maritime forces of the United States
– the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard – come together
to create a unified maritime strategy. This strategy stresses
an approach that integrates seapower with other elements of
national power, as well as those of our friends and allies. It de-
scribes how seapower will be applied around the world to pro-
tect our way of life, as we join with other like-minded nations to
protect and sustain the global, inter-connected system through
which we prosper. Our commitment to protecting the homeland
and winning our Nation’s wars is matched by a corresponding
commitment to preventing war.”
An Unusual Process
The strategy that follows that statement is the result of a pro-
cess that had begun a year earlier, and it recognizes that the
strategic landscape has once again changed radically; how
radically was violently underscored by 9/11.
In the new “Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapow-
er,” the emphasis shifts from the possibility of a symmetrical,
large-scale war, accompanied by the probability of regional
conflicts, to the actuality of an asymmetrical war – including
direct attacks on the United States – plus the possibility of sym-
metrical war with one or more national powers.
To complicate today’s strategic challenges, a broad
spectrum of dangerous geopolitical problems are playing
out beyond – sometimes far beyond – the initial arenas of
ongoing, asymmetrical combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.
There are, for example, Iran and North Korea embarked on
nuclear weapons programs, an increasingly aggressive and
rearming Russia, constant armed violence in various formats
in the Middle East, unfriendly and bellicose behavior by
anti-United States dictators in the Caribbean, destabilizing
terrorist attacks in Pakistan and India (both nuclear powers)
and other areas of Asia and Africa, pirates practicing their
trade in a strategic portion of the oil tanker route off the coast
of Somalia, and a global economic collapse with significant
strategic implications, to name a few. It was indeed a time for
a revised seapower strategy to meet the more diffused and
more immediate threats.
Faced with the radically different geostrategic paradigm,
the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard did more than set
out to develop parallel strategies, they got together to develop
a common strategy. It was, as the strategy itself states: “a his-
torical first.” The nation’s three sea services began the process
by introducing a surprising element to the methodology to be
used for framing a new maritime strategy.
In addition to reaching out to expected sources, such as the
Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
combat and component commanders, and relevant Navy, Ma-
rine Corps, and Coast Guard components, the three maritime
services introduced a distinctly non-military aspect to the pro-
cess: They sought input from local community leaders, civilian
opinion makers, and civic groups. This “thinking outside the
box” was called “A Conversation with the Country.” That notably
different initial part of the process was led by Navy Vice Adm.
John G. Morgan, Jr., then-Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for
Information, Plans, and Strategy.
An F/A-18 Hornet from the “Tomcatters” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 31 flies over Afghanistan during routine operations. VFA-31 was assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, deployed aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was on a scheduled deployment in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility, focused on reassuring regional partners of the United States’ commitment to security, which promotes stability and global prosperity.
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In a letter of invitation to one local session that was part
of the “conversation,” Morgan pointed out, “Exactly how these
forces (Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard) should be em-
ployed to support national policy objectives in this new and
complex security environment is the subject of an ongoing
discussion.” He went on to describe the civilian outreach he
was leading: “We are seeking the ideas and opinions of dis-
tinguished men and women from all walks of life, which will
help to inform the analyses we are conducting through more
traditional means.”
The Product
One of the most noteworthy features of the strategy that re-
sulted was the greater degree to which it commits the three
maritime services to cooperation among themselves. Interser-
vice cooperation has been a rallying cry among the military
services since World War II, but the new strategy moves signifi-
cantly beyond commitment; it’s a call to assertive action.
In addition, the new strategy requires seriously increased
cooperation with U.S. economic, political, and military partners
around the world. In this respect, it reflects a global view of
maritime defense based on the strong links between maritime
power and the ongoing trends toward a steadily increasing
global interdependence among the world’s nations.
Those interservice and international aspects of the strategy
recognize a need to preserve peace and prosperity as well as
win wars.
Finally, the new strategy puts increased emphasis on the
inherent flexibility of naval power to meet the expanding and
shifting challenges of an asymmetrical war in which indiscrim-
inate terror is the main weapon. It also recognizes the need to
meet a conceptually and geographically wide variety of future
contingencies.
At its heart, the new “Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century
Seapower” identifies six core capabilities that must be main-
tained for it to work successfully: forward presence, deter-
rence, sea control, power projection, maritime security, and
finally, humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
Forward Presence
Forward presence of naval forces increases the
efficiency of the strategy. In particular, reacting to an
emergency immediately and on scene often resolves or
mitigates a problem at a reduced cost of money, materiel,
U.S. Marines assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit assist U.S. citizens departing from the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. At the request of the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon and at the direction of the secretary of defense, the United States Central Command and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24 MEU) assisted with the departure of U.S. citizens from Lebanon. Forward presence of naval assets greatly speeds the reaction time required for such operations.
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and lives than would be expended after the emergency had
expanded with time.
Evacuating U.S. citizens trapped in a combat zone, as has
happened in the Middle East, or delivering humanitarian aid
in a natural disaster, as is done regularly after hurricanes,
tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural catastrophes, are
examples. In a military context, reacting to Saddam Hussein’s
invasion of Kuwait before he had time to consolidate his con-
quest contributed to the ability to oust him without a prolonged
military campaign and greater loss of life.
Forward deployment of naval forces also provides visible ev-
idence of the U.S. commitment to its partners around the world,
as well as the ability to join with them quickly to meet mutual
threats. The U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean and the U.S. 7th
Fleet in the Western Pacific have been highly visible examples
of this capability, as is the homeporting of an aircraft carrier in
Yokosuka, Japan.
Deterrence
The Cooperative Strategy states: “Preventing war is prefer-
able to fighting wars,” and this involves the proactive use of
maritime forces to raise the negative potential of war for po-
tential enemies. This capability encourages the resolution of
disputes through diplomacy. This capability is, however, ines-
capably linked to a credible national will that naval force will
be used – as a last resort – when the safety of the United States
and its people is threatened. This is an important point that is
often missed: there must be the will for the presence of the way
to be a credible deterrent.
Sea Control
Free access to the seas is a prerequisite to the use of naval
power. If those who would do us harm control ocean choke
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points, if local law contravenes long-standing international
custom by denying access to ocean areas traditionally open
to all nations, if an enemy is capable of denying U.S. use of an
ocean area through the use of submarines, or if modern-day
pirates are able to threaten commercial sea lanes, execution
of a credible maritime strategy becomes increasingly
difficult.
Power Projection
This element of the strategy emphasizes the ability of such
elements of U.S. naval power as carrier battle groups, em-
barked Navy-Marine Corps expeditionary forces, submarines,
or special warfare units to apply national power where and
when needed and at times and places that are inconvenient
for our enemies. Advanced technology aircraft, large-deck air-
craft carriers, flexible and hard-hitting expeditionary warfare
forces, technologically advanced submarines, and adaptable
littoral combat ships are among the elements of this maritime
capability.
As was the case with deterrence, this is a strategic element
that is closely linked to the national will to employ naval forces
in something more than a purely defensive posture. It requires
a national consensus that offensive capability is an ongoing
part of a sound seapower strategy.
Maritime Security
The ability of all nations to use the oceans for non-aggressive
purposes is a strategic companion to the U.S. ability to use the
oceans for its defense. This element of the strategy is closely
connected with the need for increased interoperability with
other navies and coast guards around the world. Realistic and
ongoing training with allies and potential allies is basic to this
element of the strategy.
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response
This component of the strategy is an extension of all of the
other elements of the strategy and it involves the move of hu-
manitarian assistance from a corollary of naval activity to a
central element in a seapower strategy. The rapidly transport-
able technical capabilities of Navy ships and squadrons, the
skills of Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel, and
the underlying goodwill of Americans are all part of this core
capability.
Ethos
In November 2008, the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary
Roughhead published a description of the Navy Ethos. In many
ways it is the necessary companion of “A Cooperative Strate-
gy for 21st Century Seapower.” It defines the most basic Navy
values that sustain the strategy’s core capabilities. It adds the
people factor to the equation by identifying, in the Chief of Na-
val Operation’s words: “our service’s overarching set of beliefs,
embracing Navy core values.”
To characterize the Navy Ethos in 21st century terms, the
Chief of Naval Operations reached out for input from active
duty and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees of
the Navy throughout the world. The articulation that emerged
reflects how the members of today’s Navy define themselves,
and it reads:
“We are the United States Navy, our nation’s seapower
– ready guardians at peace, victorious at war. We are
professional sailors and civilians – a diverse and agile force
exemplifying the highest standards of service to our nation,
at home and abroad, at sea and ashore. Integrity is the
Opposite page: The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) is anchored off the island coast of Weno, part of Chuuk State in the
Federated States of Micronesia, during Pacific Partnership 2008. Mercy is the primary platform for Pacific Partnership, a four-month humanitarian mission
providing engineering, civic, medical, and dental assistance to Southeast Asia and Oceania. Humanitarian assistance is a central element of the seapower
strategy. Right: A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point C-130 crew flies over USS Crommelin (FFG 37), homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the FSS Independence, a patrol boat from the Federated States of Micronesia, patrolling
in the Western Pacific Ocean. Both the Coast Guard and Navy have shared goals of protecting the fragile ecosystems of Oceania as well as enforcing maritime
laws throughout mutual areas of responsibility.
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foundation of our conduct; respect for others is fundamental to
our character; decisive leadership is crucial to our success.
We are a team, disciplined and well-prepared, committed to
mission accomplishment. We do not waver in our dedication
and accountability to our shipmates and families. We are
patriots, forged by the Navy’s core values of honor, courage
and commitment; in times of war and peace, our actions reflect
our proud heritage and tradition. We defend our nation and
prevail in the face of adversity with strength, determination
and dignity. We are the United States Navy.”
At a U.S. Naval Institute conference in February 2009, a ju-
nior Marine Corps officer commented on his career motiva-
tion in a panel discussion. He talked of seeing the events of
9/11 unfold on television and why he and others have enlisted
in the Marine Corps. In summing up, he said: “Simply put, it’s
because we want to win.” In blunt Marine Corps style, he man-
aged to express the basic rationale for a maritime strategy
within an ethos supporting its execution, and he did it in eight
words.
On Any Given Day
“A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower” is a re-
al-time guide for Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard support of
national policy, but in the end, it must be defined by actions,
the specifics that add up to the future safety and prosperity of
ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren. Following are a
few typical examples of the everyday execution of the Coopera-
tive Strategy at a variety of locations. The items provide repre-
sentative “snapshots” of what the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and
Coast Guard were doing on any given day during 2008:
Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group
departed Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, for ongoing
combat support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the
maintenance of maritime theater security in its area of
operations.
San Jacinto conducted operations in the
Black Sea with NATO and Partnership-for-Peace units from
Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine.
Members of a visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) team from the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64) and U.S. Coast Tactical Law Enforcement Team South Detachment 409 capture suspected pirates after responding to a merchant vessel distress signal while operating in the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) area of responsibility as part of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151. CTF 151 is a multinational task force established to conduct counter-piracy operations under a mission-based mandate throughout the CMF area of responsibility to actively deter, disrupt, and suppress piracy in order to protect global maritime security and secure freedom of navigation for the benefit of all nations.
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Jacksonville
Elrod
Freedom
Theodore Roosevelt
A Focus on the Future
The guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane (DDG 77), the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force destroyer Setogiri (DD 156), and the guided-missile frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60) steam in formation during a photo exercise for the Rim of the Pacific 2008 exercise.
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Once in the war, the United States became the leader of
a tripartite alliance with the British and Russian empires
− a strange coalition that Hitler, until the very end, thought
would fall apart. The first job of the Allies was to stop Ger-
man and Japanese advances. This happened quicker than
anyone expected. The Nazi invasion of Russia in 1941 failed
to reach Leningrad, Moscow, or the Caucasus before the on-
set of winter, and once the fighting resumed in May 1942,
Hitler was defeated at Stalingrad in a few months. Japanese
expansion was halted even sooner − at the Battle of the Coral
Sea the first week of May 1942, and a month later at the Battle
of Midway.
Having stopped the Axis advances, the Allies then had to roll
them back − a daunting task. The United States was required to
mount expeditionary assaults in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean,
and the Pacific on a scale never before imagined. Misguided
disarmament policies after World War I had left us militarily un-
prepared, forcing our armed forces to pay dearly while we got
fully geared up to fight. By the middle of 1943, however, Amer-
ica’s industrial strength was totally engaged, and our superb
political and military leadership, supported by the indomitable
patriotism of our fighting men and women, doomed our enemies.
Even though ultimate victory was never in doubt, the Axis
fought with a tenacity that tried our soul. Germany’s relative
EXPEDITIONARY WARFARE COMES
OF AGE IN WORLD WAR II
The United States entered World War II 27 months after it began officially with Adolf Hitler’s in-
vasion of Poland in September 1939. It took a direct Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, and a Ger-
man declaration of war four days later to get us fully engaged. While we slept, Hitler extended
his dominion over most of Europe and invaded Russia, with excellent prospects for success.
In the east, Japan extended her empire to Manchuria, eastern China, Indo-China, Burma, the
Malay Peninsula and Singapore, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, and Thailand. Italy, the
third Axis power, proved more of a burden than a help to her allies. Germany and Japan alone,
however, were powerful enough to create a new totalitarian order in the world. But they had to
move quickly, before the United States became aroused, since neither had the industrial ca-
pacity to defeat us. Fortunately, their hubris blinded them to this fundamental reality, and they
awakened the sleeping giant in the nick of time.
By George Daughan
111
strength led Roosevelt and Churchill in 1941 to give the Euro-
pean Theater priority, but because of Pearl Harbor, America
was not about to ignore the Pacific. Thus, we fought a gigantic,
two-ocean war simultaneously, carrying nearly the entire bur-
den against Japan.
America’s Army chief, Gen. George Marshall, recommended
a cross-channel invasion in 1942 aimed directly at the heart of
Germany, taking advantage of Hitler’s preoccupation with Rus-
sia. Churchill and Roosevelt, however, decided they were not
yet ready and opted instead for a landing in North Africa in
November 1942.
With Hitler still distracted in Russia, a combined American-
British expeditionary force under Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
made a remarkable crossing of the Atlantic, avoiding German
U-boats, and began landing in Morocco and Algeria on Nov.
8, 1942. Because Vichy Adm. Jean-Francois Darlan decided to
change sides, the Allied landings at Oran, Algiers, and Casa-
blanca met minimal resistance. Eisenhower pressed on toward
Tunis to meet British Gen. Bernard Montgomery’s Eighth Army
− fresh from its triumph at Alamein in early September. They
planned to trap German Gen. Erwin Rommel in Tunis, thus
reclaiming all of North Africa. Hitler, however, despite being
bogged down in Russia, reinforced Rommel, igniting a long
battle that did not end until May 13, 1943.
Even before Eisenhower’s landing, an American expedi-
tionary force on Aug. 7, 1942, landed on Guadalcanal, one of
the Solomon Islands in the southwestern Pacific, to start rolling
back Japanese conquests. Only 2,200 Japanese guarded the
island and its unfinished airbase, making the initial amphibi-
ous landing relatively easy for the U.S. Marines. But the Japa-
nese high command, realizing this was just the beginning,
made a mighty effort to defeat us. As Tokyo committed more U.S.
Mar
ine C
orps
Hist
orica
l Cen
ter
U.S. Marines in Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel (LCVPs) head for the beach at Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945, during the initial landings. Mount Suribachi looms in the background, and to its left is USS New York (BB 34), bombarding Japanese positions.
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Congratulations to the officers and crew of USS New York. Rolls-Royce is behind you all the way.
Florence & Robert A. Rosen
Family Foundation
THE FLORENCE AND ROBERT A. ROSEN
FAMILY FOUNDATION
WELCOMES THE USS NEW YORK (LPD 21)
TO NEW YORK CITY AND TO OUR GREAT
U.S. NAVY FLEET
YOUR CRITICAL MISSION IS ESSENTIAL
TO MAINTAINING PEACE THROUGHOUT
THE WORLD
“STRENGTH FORGED THROUGH SACRIFICE. NEVER FORGET.”
REAR ADMIRAL & MRS. ROBERT A. ROSEN,
NYNM (RET.) AND FAMILY
33 So. Service Road, Jericho, New York 11753-1006
113
LPD 21 USS NEW YORKNa
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resources, the fighting turned grim,
lasting until Feb. 7, 1943. Sixteen hun-
dred American Marines and soldiers
died and 4,200 were wounded, while
23,000 Japanese soldiers were killed.
Five major naval battles were fought, in
which a combined total of 24 warships
were sunk. The number of sailors and
airmen lost was heavy.
In every theater, amphibious landings
were the hallmarks of American expe-
ditionary forces, as we became highly
proficient at combining, in the words
of Samuel Eliot Morison, “air, surface,
submarine, and ground forces to project
fighting power irresistibly across the
ocean.” Learning and improving as we
went along, we nonetheless paid a heavy
price in blood for not being prepared
earlier.
By the summer of 1943, American in-
dustry was producing weapons in stu-
pendous quantities. “The United States
Navy … enjoyed almost an embarrass-
ment of riches,” wrote British historian
John Keegan. Large, Essex-class carri-
ers; light, Independence-class carriers;
escort carriers; new battleships; refur-
bished old battleships; heavy and light
cruisers; dozens of new destroyers; new,
fast transports; cargo vessels; and large
numbers of specialized support ships
were all being built.
To make our fleets even more devas-
tating, we developed the capacity to op-
erate them at long distances from their
bases for extended periods. Utilizing
specially designed ships for fuel, repair,
ammunition, spare parts, and other sup-
plies, medical services, and even float-
ing dry docks, American expeditionary
forces, particularly our fast carriers,
could operate at heretofore unheard of
distances from their home bases for a
long time. In addition, the supply forces
allowed us to set up advanced bases
rapidly and to re-supply them quickly.
We developed nine different landing
and beach craft – LSTs (Landing Ship,
Left: U.S. Marines of the 1st Marine Division storm ashore from their landing craft at Guadalcanal on Aug. 7, 1942. The initial landing was essentially uncontested, but thereafter the Japanese fought a grim battle against the Marines. Below: Landing Ships, Tank (LSTs) at the French naval base of La Pecherie in Tunisia take M-4 Sherman tanks aboard two days before the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel (LCVPs) wait in the harbor just beyond the tanks, which are equipped with wading gear.
114
Natio
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Tank), LVTs (Landing Vehicle, Tracked−amphtracs) LCMs
(Landing Ship, Mechanized−tank loaded), LSDs (Landing Ship,
Dock), LCPs (Landing Ship, Personnel), LCIs (Landing Ship,
Infantry), LCTs (Landing Craft, Tank), LCVPs (Landing Craft,
Vehicles and Personnel), and LSMs (Landing Ship, Medium),
as well as the amphibious truck, DUKW. American factories
produced in excess of 80,000 of these indispensable vehicles.
They played essential roles in the amphibious landings at Sic-
ily, Salerno, Anzio, Southern France, Normandy, and against
the Japanese on New Guinea, the Solomons, the Philippines,
the Gilbert, Marshall, Caroline, and Mariana Islands, and on
Okinawa.
Supported by America’s stupendous productivity, the war
to reclaim Europe and the Pacific proceeded, after the mid-
dle of 1943, at an accelerated pace. On the night of July 9-10,
1943, Eisenhower landed troops on Sicily’s southern beaches.
“There can be no drawn battle, no half-success, in an amphibi-
ous landing,” Morison wrote, “it is win all splendidly or lose
all miserably.” The combined American-British force, unlike
the confused earlier landings in North Africa, got ashore with
The first wave of Marines hits the beach at Saipan from their Landing Vehicles, Tracked (LVTs), and take cover behind a sand dune while waiting for the following three waves to come in.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
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117
U.S. Army 1st Division troops wade into the fight at Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944, from a Coast Guard-manned LCVP.
LPD 21 USS NEW YORKNa
tiona
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We will Never Forget.Gryphon wishes the crew of the USS NEW YORK fair winds and following seas.
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119
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
Two Coast Guard-manned LSTs open their great jaws in the surf that washes on Leyte Island beach, as soldiers strip down and build sandbag piers out to the ramps to speed up unloading operations.
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Pride. Honor. Patriotism. Raytheon salutes the men and women of the USS New York for your service and commitment to the safety and security of our country and our freedoms.
USS New York (LPD 21)
www.raytheon.com
© 2009 Raytheon Company. All rights reserved.“Customer Success Is Our Mission” is a registered trademark of Raytheon Company.LPD 21: U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Corey Lewis
121
LPD 21 USS NEW YORKM
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little difficulty, utilizing the new seago-
ing landing craft: LSTs – LCTs, LCIs,
and DUKWs – to good effect. In the first
48 hours, 80,000 men were ashore and
more than 8,000 assorted tanks and ve-
hicles. By Aug. 16, Sicily was liberated.
Subsequent landings on the Ital-
ian mainland at Salerno in September
1943, and at Anzio in January 1944, were
more difficult. Under Gen. Albert Kes-
selring, the Germans fought hard to pre-
vent American Gen. Mark Clark’s four
divisions from acquiring a foothold at
Salerno, but the dogged G.I.s, supported
by naval gunfire, naval air, and ground-
based air, succeeded within a week in
establishing a beachhead. Kesselring re-
treated, and Clark took Naples on Oct. 1.
Making a large commitment of men
to force the Nazis out of Italy, however,
was questionable, since tying down a
substantial number of German units
could have been accomplished just
as well by a low-casualty holding
operation south of Rome.
In the Pacific, a dual road to Tokyo
was planned, whereby Gen. Douglas
MacArthur and Adm. William F. Halsey
would move simultaneously up the coast
of New Guinea and the Solomons, with
a view to crushing the main Japanese
base at Rabaul on New Britain and then
re-taking the Philippines as a prelude to
striking Japan itself. The second track,
supported by Adm. Ernest King, chief
of Naval Operations, and led by Adm.
Chester W. Nimitz, would conduct am-
phibious attacks on Japanese bases
in the Gilbert, Marshall, Caroline, and
Mariana Islands, preparatory to joining
in the attack on the Philippines and then
Japan. Bases at Guam, Tinian, Saipan,
and Okinawa were to be used for the
strategic bombing of the Japanese
homeland.
Although there were enormous diffi-
culties along the way, this two-pronged
strategy worked well, and in a remark-
ably short time. Things were speeded
up when Nimitz began the practice of
leapfrogging, starting with Tarawa and
Makin in the Gilbert Islands. The battle
for Tarawa was four days of bloody hell,
Nov. 19-23, 1943. One thousand Marines
and sailors lost their lives and double
that number were wounded. All the Japa-
nese defenders were killed. Weakly de-
fended Makin was taken easily on Nov.
24, but the Japanese deployed nine sub-
marines against the attack force, and
they exacted a heavy toll.
Next on Nimitz’s agenda were the
Marshall Islands. On Jan. 31, 1944, U.S.
forces landed on the northern islands
of Kwajalein Atoll, and the next day on
the much larger Kwajalein Island itself.
All told, Americans landed on 30 of the
atoll’s various islets, and by Feb. 7, 1944,
were in full control. The hard lessons
learned at Tarawa were put to good use.
Three hundred seventy-two American
Marines and soldiers died, and nearly
8,000 Japanese.
Nimitz kept up the momentum. On
Feb. 14, American forces attacked Eni-
wetok Atoll, and simultaneously hit Truk
Island, a major Japanese base. Eniwetok
was taken by Feb. 22 at a cost of 339
Americans and almost 2,700 Japanese −
nearly their entire force. No amphibious
landing was needed to neutralize Truk.
Guam, Tinian, and Saipan in the Mari-
ana Islands were next. Japan considered
Saipan part of her home islands. Three
thousand five hundred miles from Pearl
Harbor and 1,000 from Eniwetok, the
Marianas required an unprecedented
sea effort against fanatical Japanese
resistance. From June 15 to Aug. 12, the
battle raged.
In the midst of the fight for the Mari-
anas, the Battle of the Philippine Sea
took place from June 19 to 21. It was the
greatest of the carrier battles of the war
and destroyed Japanese naval air pow-
er. After this great victory, the Marianas
were secured, but at a mind-numbing
price. Three thousand four hundred
and twenty-six American soldiers and
Marines died on Saipan alone, while
the Japanese − fighting till the last man
again − lost 24,000.
While we were fighting for the Mari-
anas, the supreme battle for Europe
commenced with the greatest amphibi-
ous landing of them all at Normandy on
June 6, 1944. The Allies − particularly
the British − had hoped that an invasion
would be unnecessary, that the Allied
air campaign against Germany would
bring her to her knees, or that Hitler
would be assassinated and a new, more
flexible government formed. But nothing
of the kind occurred, and the Normandy
invasion went forward.
A group of Marines in the Iwo Jima beachhead get organized as preparations are made for move-ment inland. Behind them is one of the specialized LVT (A)-4s, with its turreted 75 mm howitzer for destroying pillboxes and strongpoints.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
122
Although the American and British air forces had not forced
the surrender of Germany, they did provide critical support by
destroying a good deal of Germany’s widely dispersed indus-
try, particularly many of her aircraft factories. They also crip-
pled the German communications network in northern France,
hit guided missile stockpiles, and contributed to blocking the
English Channel to U-boats (58 of them).
More than 6,400 vessels were committed to the Normandy
battle, including more than 4,000 landing craft and hundreds
of transports. One hundred and four destroyers, seven battle-
ships, and 23 cruisers provided critical naval fire support, and
12,000 aircraft, including 5,000 fighters, were employed. Brit-
ish and American strategic bombing was momentarily turned
away from Germany to support the landing. In addition, hun-
dreds of planes and gliders dropped or carried thousands of
paratroopers behind the beaches.
In all, 130,000 troops were landed on five Normandy
beaches on D-Day. The defenses were far more severe than Natio
nal A
rchi
ves
A massive task force carves out a beachhead at Okinawa, April 13, 1945. Landing craft and ships of all classes and sizes blacken the sea out to the horizon.
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
any encountered in the Pacific. Nonetheless, within five
days more than 325,000 Allied men were ashore, with more
than 54,000 vehicles and 105,000 tons of supplies. Within a
month, 1 million troops and their equipment had been land-
ed. But the costs were severe. The Allies suffered 209,000
casualties during the battle for Normandy. Thirty-seven
thousand Allied troops died, along with 16,714 airmen. The
dearly bought victory at Normandy was the beginning of
the end for Hitler.
In support of the thrust at Normandy, an amphibious landing
− code-named Dragoon − was made in southern France on Aug.
15, 1944. By Aug. 28, Marseilles and Toulon, the two immediate
objectives, had surrendered.
Having obtained a firm foothold in France, the Allied drive
from both the west and the east inexorably crushed the Nazis.
After Hitler’s suicide, Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945.
In the Pacific, the two-pronged assault on the Japanese
empire continued to drive relentlessly toward Tokyo.
MacArthur landed his troops on Leyte on Oct. 20, 1944,
beginning the liberation of the Philippines. The amphibious
landing triggered the great naval Battle for Leyte Gulf – four
separate engagements that established, along with the Battle
of the Philippine Sea, American dominance on the water.
By the middle of December, Leyte was in American hands.
On Jan. 9, 1945, MacArthur began the fight for Luzon, and Manila
was finally cleared of Japanese defenders on March 4, 1945. In
the meantime, beginning on Nov. 24, 1944, B-29 Superfortress-
es began the bombing of Japan from the Marianas. This led to
the amphibious attack on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945. A grueling,
bloody fight ensued. By the time the island was captured on
March 16, more than 22,000 Japanese had been killed − nearly
their entire force − while the Americans suffered a heartrending
6,812 killed and 21,837 wounded.
Nimitz next attacked Okinawa in the Ryukus. Amphibious
landings began on April 1, 1945. Kamikazes, which had been in
use by the increasingly desperate Japanese since Leyte, were
now fully employed. Almost 300 suicide attacks occurred, with
devastating results for U.S. ships. The battle on the island was
expected to be bloody, and it was. In the end, nearly 5,000 sail-
ors were killed, and 4,800 wounded, while 7,613 American sol-
diers and Marines died and 31,800 were wounded.
The United States was, at that point, poised to invade Ja-
pan’s home islands. The largest expeditionary force ever
contemplated was in the offing, and based on past experi-
ence, millions on both sides were sure to die. To avoid this
slaughter, President Harry S Truman decided to drop two
atom bombs – one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki – forc-
ing Japan to surrender on Aug. 15, 1945.
The greatest catastrophe in human history thus ended. Fifty
million had died, and tens of millions more endured unimagina-
ble suffering. The disaster was made more awful by the knowl-
edge that it was preventable. The resentments and ambitions of
the Axis powers could have been contained had not the folly of
disarmament obtained such a hold on the American mind after
World War I. Since 1945, the United States, having learned the
lessons of the war, remained, at great cost, prepared militarily,
and although, tragically, there have been small conflicts, there
has not been another all-embracing war. Instead, the world
has enjoyed what might be called Pax Americana, under which
there has been a general peace, making possible an era of un-
precedented growth and prosperity for all people.
123
124
THE LEGACY OF THE SHIPS NEW YORK
By James Nelson
U.S.
Nav
al H
istor
ical C
ente
r pho
togr
aph
It was sometime in September of 1776 when the first armed vessel of the United States to carry
the name New York slid into the lower reaches of Lake Champlain. She was an odd looking
thing, about 50 feet long and 15 feet on the beam, drawing around 5 feet from the waterline to
her flat bottom. Though she had a mast that carried a square mainsail and a square topsail, she
was essentially an oversized rowboat. She was known in the local vernacular as a gundalow, or
gondola.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
This New York was not, strictly speaking, a part of the Conti-
nental Navy. That branch of the service had been established
by the Continental Congress in October 1775. Five months be-
fore the gondola New York slid into fresh water, the Continental
Navy and Marine Corps had staged their first amphibious land-
ing on the island of New Providence (now known as Nassau in
the Bahamas).
But there was no official naval presence on Champlain. The
defense of the lake was an Army affair.
The enemy, 10,000 British and German troops, were coming
south, but their only way through that wilderness was over the
water. Both sides understood that the issue would be decided
not between armies but between fighting ships. But first, those
ships would have to be built.
The British could call on the expertise of their naval person-
nel stationed in the St. Lawrence to build a fleet to contest the
lake. The Americans, building their own fleet, had no such re-
source. That, to some extent, explains the New York’s appear-
ance. The one boat that the people on the frontiers knew how to
build was the bateaux, the flat-sided, flat-bottomed, ubiquitous
transport used on northern waters. New York was, in essence,
an oversized bateaux, with a 12-pounder cannon over her bow,
and two 9-pounders on each side.
Around the time that New York’s keel was laid, Gen. Horatio
Gates, the commanding officer at Fort Ticonderoga, put in com-
mand of the little fleet his most experienced sea-going officer,
Gen. Benedict Arnold. Arnold, a former merchant captain, lit a
fire under the boatbuilders, greatly speeding production, ea-
ger to beat the British in their wilderness arms race.
On Oct. 11, 1776, New York took her place in the line of
battle, ready to stop the British movement down Lake Cham-
plain. Arnold, in a brilliant tactical move, formed his fleet up
in a half-moon line tucked in behind Valcour Island. The en-
emy, he knew, would have to sail past the island, and then try to
claw their way upwind to attack, which the larger, better armed
ships would not be able to do.
It worked just as Arnold had hoped. By noon the enemy’s
smaller, oar-driven gunboats had come up and engaged the
Americans, while the larger vessels were unable to sail against
the adverse wind. For 5 hours, the New York and her consorts
delivered a brutal pounding to the British fleet, and received as
much or worse in return.
The modernized USS New York (BB 34), leads USS Nevada (BB 36) and USS Okla-homa (BB 37) during maneuvers in 1932.
125
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
New York took more than her share of punishment. By late
afternoon all of her officers save her captain were dead. Her
aging bow gun exploded, sending shards of iron through her
crew, wounding one man and killing another. By the time dark-
ness put an end to the battle, New York and her companions
were battered, their crews decimated, their guns all but out of
ammunition.
Rather than wait for destruction to come with the morning
sun, Arnold led his fleet under the cover of darkness and fog
right through the British lines, a move that impressed even the
enemy, and away south toward Ticonderoga. A two-day running
battle followed, in which nearly all of Arnold’s fleet were taken
or destroyed by their own crews. New York, alone among the
gondolas, managed to reach Fort Ticonderoga. There was noth-
ing left to oppose the British advance, but the campaigning sea-
son was too far advanced for them to continue, so they withdrew
to Canada for the winter.
The following year, Gen. John Burgoyne led the British troops
in another push for Albany. This time, the British naval force
was so overwhelming that the Americans could offer no resis-
tance, and they did not even try. New York and the other ships
left from Arnold’s brave little fleet were burned at Skenesbor-
ough (now Whitehall, N.Y.) where they had been built.
The only battle that the first New York fought was, in the
short term, a defeat for the Americans. But in the long term it
was anything but. The year’s delay that Arnold had won for the
Americans, at the cost of his fleet’s destruction, allowed the
American army to rebuild to the point where it could actually
defeat Burgoyne at Saratoga the following year. The little New
York and her consorts were the first link in a chain of events
that would ultimately lead to American victory in the War for
Independence.
It would be another 27 years before a vessel named USS New
York fired a gun in anger.
The second New York was a considerably more impressive
vessel than the first, a 36-gun frigate built in her namesake city
and launched on April 24, 1800. Lofty, fast, and well-armed with
9- and 18-pounder guns, USS New York was part of the second
wave of naval shipbuilding that had begun in 1794 with the
construction of USS Constitution and the other five frigates that
comprised the early Navy. Those first ships had been built to
counter the menace that Algerian pirates presented to Ameri-
can shipping in the Mediterranean, but by the time New York
was commissioned, the Navy had bigger fish to fry.
By the mid-1790s, France was in the early days of its bloody
revolution, and the new French government viewed the United
States’ new treaty with England, the Jay Treaty, to be in viola-
tion of Revolutionary War agreements signed between the two
127
LPD 21 USS NEW YORKLi
brar
y of
Con
gres
s
A period illustration of the armored cruiser USS New York (ACR 2).
governments. French privateers began to scoop up
American merchantmen that were trading with the
British, and the Quasi-War with France was under way.
New York sailed for the Caribbean in October of
1800, where she convoyed American merchantmen
and patrolled the waters for French warships and pri-
vateers. But by the time New York was on station, the
Quasi-War was winding down. By May of the following
year, the United States had managed an uneasy peace
with both Britain and France, and the frigate was laid
up in ordinary at the Washington Navy Yard.
Even though England and France were no longer
causing problems for the United States, the nations
of North Africa, the Barbary States, could always be
counted on to stir up trouble. Around the time that
the frigate New York was laid up, the rulers of Tu-
nis, Tripoli, and Algiers were upping their demands
for tribute, which the United States had been pay-
ing for nearly a decade. With the U.S. Navy now free
from having to protect American shipping from the
French, it was decided that the Barbary States had
received enough payment in specie, and payment of
another kind would be in order. New York was recom-
missioned in 1802, and under the command of James
Barron sailed for the Mediterranean, where she be-
came the flagship of Commodore Richard Morris.
Morris made the best of his little squadron, escort-
ing American shipping and showing the flag off the
Barbary coast. New York twice engaged Tripolitan
gunboats that swarmed out of harbors of North Africa,
hoping to overwhelm the superior American ships
with sheer numbers of boats and men. The pirates
were, however, driven off by the devastating fire from
the frigate’s broadsides.
New York was sent to Malta to replenish her stores.
There she received a 17-gun salute from the British
fleet under the command of Vice Adm. Horatio Nel-
son. Soon after, Morris was relieved of command of
the squadron by Edward Preble, whom the Jefferson
administration hoped would be more aggressive in
his dealings with the Barbary pirates. New York re-
turned to the Washington Navy Yard, where she was
again laid up in ordinary. The lovely, graceful frigate
had the bad luck to still be there 11 years later when
the British captured the Navy yard during the War of
1812 and burned her to the waterline.
The next USS New York met a similar fate, though
before she was able to accomplish much, in fact,
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
128
before she was even launched or commissioned. Originally
intended as a 74-gun ship-of-the-line, she was laid down in
1820 at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia. By 1825 she
was ready to launch, but nonetheless remained on the stocks
for an incredible 36 years as the world of men-of-war shifted
from sail to steam. Finally, on the night of April 21, 1861, she
was burned where she sat by the panicked Union defend-
ers of the shipyard, who were certain that they were about
to be overrun by secessionist forces. Also going up in that
conflagration was the Union sail and steam ship USS Mer-
rimack, which would be reborn as the Confederate ironclad
CSS Virginia.
Seventy years separated the laying of the 74 gun New York’s
keel and the building of the next ship to bear that name, but
in that time the science of naval warfare had undergone a
transformation unmatched in the entire history of seafaring.
The fourth New York (including a screw sloop that had been
renamed New York in 1869), was designated ACR 2. It was a
384-foot armored cruiser, a thoroughly modern ship of war that
incorporated the latest thinking in armor plating, heavy guns,
and long cruising range.
During the years of peace from her launching in 1891 to the
outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898, USS New York
sailed with the South Atlantic, the North Atlantic, and the Euro-
pean Squadrons. At the outbreak of the war she steamed out of
Hampton Roads, Va., bound for Cuba, where she participated
in the bombardment of Matanzas and San Juan while the fleet
searched for the Spanish naval forces under the command of
Adm. Pascual Cervera y Topete. New York was made the flag-
ship of Adm. William Sampson’s fleet, which soon had the Span-
ish fleet bottled up in Santiago.
New York had actually left the blockading fleet, carrying
Sampson to a meeting with army commander Maj. Gen. Wil-
liam Shafter, when the Spanish fleet finally emerged. Sampson
raced back to the fight, arriving in time to command the last
stages of the battle, which resulted in the destruction of the
Spanish squadron. “The fleet under my command,” Sampson
wrote to the Navy department, “offers the nation as a Fourth of
July present the whole of Cervera’s fleet.”
Over the decade following the Spanish-American War, the
armored cruiser New York served as flagship to the Asiatic
Fleet, calling at Japan, China, Russia, and the Philippines. She
transferred to the Pacific Squadron where she again served
as flagship before she was decommissioned in 1905 for mod-
ernization.
In 1909, New York was recommissioned and rejoined the
Asiatic Fleet. Two years later, still in the Far East, her name
was changed to Saratoga. At the beginning of World War I, her
name was again changed, this time to Rochester. She spent the
war primarily escorting convoys across the Atlantic, and after
the armistice served as a transport bringing troops home. In
the years between the wars, the former New York was stationed
in Central and South America, before once again, and for the
last time, steaming to the Far East. In 1933 she was decommis-
sioned in Shanghai and then moved to the Philippines, where
she remained at her mooring until she was scuttled in Decem-
ber 1941, to prevent her being captured by the Japanese. Like
her predecessor at Norfolk, the armored cruiser New York was
destroyed to keep her out of enemy hands. Unlike the wooden
ship-of-the-line, she saw much honorable service before she
was lost.
The 19th century armored cruiser New York was sailing un-
der the name Saratoga when the fifth New York (whose keel
was laid on 9/11/1911) was launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard
in Brooklyn, N.Y. Designated BB 34, the latest USS New York
was 200 feet longer than ACR 2 and displaced four times the
tonnage. New York slid into the East River on Oct. 30, 1912,
and soon after was flagship of Rear Adm. Frank F. Fletcher’s
squadron, blockading Vera Cruz during the crisis with Mexico
in 1914.
In 1917, New York steamed for Europe to take part in the
naval action of World War I. At Scapa Flow she joined the
American Squadron in the Grand Fleet, a naval presence so
powerful that the Germans did not even attempt a major na-
val engagement. New York ended the war as part of the fleet
that escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the Versailles
Conference.
From the end of World War I to the beginning of World War
II, New York was primarily part of the Pacific Fleet, serving
also as a training vessel for midshipmen at the Naval Acad-
emy. With America’s entry into World War II, the battleship
became part of the North Atlantic convoys, fending off Ger-
man U-boats and bringing merchant vessels safely into port.
In 1942, New York was stationed off the coast of Africa, pro-
viding gunfire support for the Allied invading forces. She then
escorted convoys from the United States to Africa in support
of the invasion. She continued in that mission until 1944, and
after another brief turn as a training ship, she steamed for the
West Coast to prepare for amphibious operations in the Pacific
Theater.
New York was getting on in years by the time she was
called upon to help drive the Japanese out of the Pacific Is-
lands, but she was nonetheless at the vanguard of that offen-
sive, joining the pre-invasion bombardment of Iwo Jima. The
aging battleship took her place in the most prolonged bom-
bardment of the war, firing more rounds than any other ves-
sel, and scoring a direct hit on an enemy ammunition dump
with her 14-inch shells.
After repairs to her propellers she joined in the attack
on Okinawa, arriving in time to participate in the five days
of shelling that preceded the landing on the island. For 76
consecutive days, New York was in the thick of the action,
covering landings, shelling enemy positions and providing
close support for troops on shore. A kamikaze swept down
on her, but she proved to be a lucky ship. The enemy plane
only grazed her, taking out her spotter plane as it sat on the
catapult. Shortly before the hard-won capitulation of Okinawa
was secured, New York was under way for Pearl Harbor. There
she began preparations for the coming invasion of Japan, a
final battle that was made unnecessary by the bombing of Hi-
roshima and Nagasaki.
New York ’s fighting career was ended by the atomic bomb,
and the ship herself nearly was as well. After serving as a
transport, she was selected to take the part of a target ship
for the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll, a project known as
Operation Crossroads. On July 1, 1946, New York endured
and survived a surface blast of an atomic bomb, and later
that month lived through an underwater explosion as well.
She was later towed to Pearl Harbor, where she was studied
for the next two years. Finally, in the summer of 1948, the
35- year-old ship, veteran of both world wars, winner of three
battle stars during World War II, was towed out to sea 40
Never
Joao A. Aguiar, Jr.
Swarna Chalasani, CFA
Kevin R. Crott y, CFA
Dean P. Eberling, CFA
David M. Graifman
Allison Horstmann Jones, CFA
Nauka Kushitani
Elizabeth C. Logler
Sara E. Manley, CFA
Vita M. Marino, CFA
Marni Pont O’Doherty, CFA
Tu-Anh Pham
Ronald Tartaro, CFA
Jennifer Tzemis, CFA
Edward R. Vanacore, CFA
Todd C. Weaver, CFA
David H. Winton, CFA
Forget
The September 11th Families’ Association SalutesUSS NEW YORK (LPD 21)
www.tributewtc.org
“Strength forged through
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131
LPD 21 USS NEW YORKDo
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An aerial port bow view of the Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine USS New York City (SSN 696) under way. While not named for the state, the New York City preserved the tradition of service to the nation.
miles from shore to again serve as a target. For eight hours
she was pounded by sea and air attacks before finally slip-
ping beneath the waves.
Then in 1979, the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS
New York City was commissioned. Although not carrying
exactly the same name as the U.S. ships named New York
that preceded her, New York City faithfully preserved the
tradition of service to the nation during a major portion of
the Cold War.
From the American Revolution through World War II, wher-
ever American naval power was most needed, a ship with
the name New York was under way, sailing or steaming to the
sound of the guns. It is a proud tradition. It is a tradition that
will carry on.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
132
During the 18th and 19th centuries, no such equipment
or weapons existed for assaulting defended beaches. Com-
manders attempted to land their forces in areas where re-
sistance would be light or nonexistent. Even the two most
sophisticated landings of the 19th century – the assault on
Veracruz during the Mexican-American War and the attack
at Fort Fisher, N.C., during the Civil War – did not require
assault forces to fight their way ashore. The advantage of the
initiative coupled with the inherent mobility of sea forces
usually permitted the naval echelon to deliver forces at the
point of attack faster than land-based defenders could react.
On occasions where landing forces experienced opposition
on the beach, it usually consisted of light resistance used
only to delay and harass.
During the second half of the 20th century, amphibious
thinking from World War II began to change. Although re-
taining the ability to conduct forced entry against defended
beaches, American commanders no longer expected to con-
duct such operations. With the advent of larger and more ag-
ile amphibious ships, advanced assault landing craft, and in-
novative helicopter technology, options for amphibious attack
developed well beyond the frontal assault mode. Harkening
back to amphibious warfare of earlier America, new doctrine
THE HISTORY OF
THE U.S. NAVY AND
MARINE CORPS
RELATIONSHIP
AND ITS IMPACT
ON AMPHIBIOUS
WARFARE
By Col. Gary J. Ohls, USMC (Ret.)
For many Americans, the concept of amphibi-
ous warfare derives from the World War II
model where landing forces assaulted foreign
shores against determined resistance. These
actions resulted in very high casualties, yet
proved uniformly successful in achieving
American military objectives. They involved
isolating and preparing the amphibious ob-
jective area with naval and air power, then
aggressively introducing landing forces to
assault defended positions. Naval task forces
not only inserted amphibious troops, but also
sustained them with naval gunfire, tactical air-
craft, and logistical support once ashore. The
circumstance of geography coupled with the
weapons and equipment available at that time
dictated this type of warfare. To ensure incre-
mental progress in the war effort, military and
naval forces of the United States needed to at-
tack Pacific islands held by Japanese forces
and conduct forced entry on the European
continent against beaches defended by the
German army. Weapons such as attack air-
craft and precision naval gunfire coupled
with newly designed amphibious ships, land-
ing craft, and tracked vehicles made these
attacks possible.
133
called for unopposed insertions at landing sites where enemy
forces could not concentrate. In a manner of speaking, mod-
ern technology and innovation permitted amphibious warfare
to progress forward into the past.
Whereas the amphibious navy of the 21st century has mod-
ernized its weapons, equipment, and doctrine, its fundamental
role in landing operations has not changed appreciably from
the days of early America. It still must deliver ground forces
ashore, provide supporting fires, sustain the operation, and
withdraw for future actions. In accomplishing this mission, the
benchmark for success has been the strength and quality of
the relationship between naval and landing force command-
ers. In the modern era, this equates to Navy and Marine Corps
leaders because that unique team has become America’s pre-
eminent amphibious and expeditionary force.
The sui generis relationship between the U.S. Navy and Ma-
rine Corps began during the Revolutionary War when Con-
gress established the Continental Navy on Oct. 13, 1775, and
the Continental Marine Corps on Nov. 10, 1775. The following
year, as America’s commander in chief, Gen. George Wash-
ington, remained preoccupied with British strategy and op-
erations in the American Northeast, the new Navy and Marine
Corps team – under Commodore Esek Hopkins and Marine
Capt. Samuel Nicholas – conducted a successful amphibious
raid on the Bahamian island of New Providence. The amphibi-
ous force captured two forts, the town of Nassau, and carried
off large quantities of ordnance and military stores – all vital
to the American war effort.
The New Providence operation constituted the most suc-
cessful American amphibious action of the Revolution and U.S.
Nav
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istor
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“New Providence Raid,” by V. Zveg, depicts Continental sailors and Marines landing on New Providence Island, Bahamas, on March 3, 1776. Their initial objective, Fort Montagu, is in the left distance. Close off shore are the small vessels used to transport the landing force to the vicinity of the beach. They are (from left to right): two captured sloops, the schooner Wasp and the sloop Providence. The other ships of the American squadron are visible in the distance. The operation was commanded by Commodore Esek Hopkins, and the Marines by Capt. Samuel Nicholas. The New Providence raid was the most successful American amphibious operation of the Revolutionary War, and proved the logic of using Marines in landing operations. As such, it was the beginning of the Navy and Marine Corps’ amphibious warfare team.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
134
Colle
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the N
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useu
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f the
Mar
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orps
one of its most important naval victories. In addition to the
stores of ordnance, Hopkins brought back three captured
ships, along with Gov. Montford Browne and two other British
officials as prisoners of war. This later proved helpful to Wash-
ington, who exchanged Browne for generals John Sullivan and
William Alexander (Lord Stirling), captured during the battle
for New York. Not all Navy and Marine Corps operations of the
Revolution proved so successful, nor were all landings limited
to the sea services. Many large-scale attacks involved Army
forces with Marines participating only as their shipboard du-
ties allowed. But the logic of using Marines in landing opera-
tions proved irresistible, and the professional relationship
forged by Hopkins and Nicholas initiated a tradition that grew
– through a process of both cooperation and conflict – into an
important American institution.
At the end of the American Revolution, the United States
found itself in a state of near exhaustion. Needing to economize
on expenses and having a weak central government under the
Articles of Confederation, American leaders effectively dis-
banded the active services, auctioning off the last vessel of the
Continental Navy in August 1785. Although the new republic
possessed no naval service between 1785 and 1794, pressure
mounted throughout that period to create a credible capability.
The capture of American seamen by Algerian and Moroccan pi-
rates as early as 1784 drove pro-defense advocates to demand
creation of a maritime service able to protect the American
merchant fleet. During March 1794, Congress passed an act
that authorized President Washington to either buy or construct
six frigates and provide for their crews. Ostensibly intended
to protect American commerce from state-sponsored piracy
along the North African coast, the Navy Act of 1794 marked the
first important step toward creating a professional navy. Subse-
quent treaties with Algiers and Tripoli stemmed the immediate
crisis, but advocates of naval power proved strong enough to
retain at least some semblance of a navy thereafter.
Within the next 25 years, the United States found itself in-
volved in no fewer than four wars. These included the Quasi
War with France, fought mostly at sea in the West Indies be-
tween 1798 and 1801; the Barbary War against Tripoli in the
Mediterranean during 1801-1805; the War of 1812 (often called
the second war for independence) conducted from 1812 to
1815; and a brief naval conflict with Algiers in 1815. All except
the War of 1812 were primarily naval conflicts, and that war
contained essential naval and amphibious elements.
The most interesting amphibious incident of the Quasi War
occurred in May 1800 at the Spanish port of Puerto Plata,
From the very beginning, the Navy and Marine Corps were a team. One of the primary missions of early Marines aboard U.S. Navy ships was delivering accurate fire against personnel of an enemy ship, as these Marines in the rigging of USS Wasp are doing in the painting “USS Wasp vs. HMS Reindeer,” by Staff Sgt. John F. Clymer, 1945.
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137
LPD 21 USS NEW YORKIm
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Santo Domingo, where French authorities held a captured
British ship named Sandwich. Capt. Silas Talbot of the frigate
USS Constitution learned of its presence in the Spanish port
and sought an opportunity to capture the prize. Talbot placed
about 90 Marines and sailors under command of Navy Lt.
Isaac Hull and Marine Capt. David Carmick into an innocuous
looking sloop named Sally. Once alongside Sandwich, the
sailors quickly captured the vessel while Marines assaulted
the protective forts and spiked their guns. The amphibious
raid on Puerto Plata proved a model of cooperation, speed,
efficiency, and effectiveness – even though of dubious legality.
A second amphibious raid of the Quasi War occurred in
September 1800 on the Dutch island of Curaçao. When local
authorities refused to assist the French frigate Vengeance –
severely damaged in battle with the American frigate USS
Constellation – they evoked the ire of French officials who in-
vaded the island, driving its inhabitants into a single fort and
intimating hostile intentions toward expatriate Americans.
The United States Navy responded by sending the sloops of
war USS Merrimack and USS Patapsco into the area and land-
ing a force of Marines led by Lt. James Middleton. The Ameri-
can naval and amphibious action forced the French to with-
draw, leaving the island in allied hands. These amphibious
actions, like the naval service in general, proved an effective
(if limited) tool of U.S. policy during the Quasi War.
The Barbary War of 1801-1805 began primarily because
the Bashaw of Tripoli, Yusuf Karamanli, resented the larger
American tribute paid to Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco for
safe passage within the Mediterranean Sea. Despite treaties
negotiated during the 1790s, unstable relations between the
United States and Barbary rulers remained the norm. During
the initial phases of the war with Tripoli, American leaders
attempted to bring Yusuf to heel through a naval blockade
and offshore bombardment. When this approach proved
ineffective, the idea of regime change gained credibility
among American leaders. This concept sprang from an
ongoing effort by Hamet Karamanli – Yusuf’s older brother,
who believed himself the rightful ruler – to regain control of
Tripoli. Hoping to exploit the conflict between America and
Tripoli, Hamet guaranteed lasting peace if the United States
helped restore him to power. Commodore Edward Preble,
the American commander in the Mediterranean, believed
supporting Hamet offered a prospect for success and that
restoring him to power would bring substantial benefits to the
United States throughout the Barbary Coast.
Commodore Samuel Barron arrived in the Mediterranean dur-
ing September 1804, commanding the largest naval force the
United States had ever assembled up to that time. In addition to
a powerful naval squadron, Barron carried instructions from the
president of the United States directing, in the strongest terms
yet, aggressive and determined action against Tripoli and other
Barbary powers if necessary. In addition, he brought William Ea-
ton, who held a commission from the Secretary of the Navy as
the U.S. naval agent to the Barbary Regencies, subject only to the
Left: Maj. Samuel Nicholas. As a captain, Nicholas led the Continental Marines in the young nation’s first amphibious raid. Right: Lt. Presley O’Bannon, with seven other Marines, a U.S. Navy midshipman, and a mercenary army, took the fortress at Derna and raised the American flag for the first time over foreign soil.
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139
LPD 21 USS NEW YORKLib
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orders of Barron. Eaton was determined
to install Hamet as Bashaw of Tripoli, and
believed the first step involved capturing
the city of Derna in the eastern part of the
principality. Attacking Derna would open
a second military front, thereby increas-
ing political, economic, and diplomatic
pressure on the Bashaw in the view of
American commanders on the scene. To
undertake the Derna operation, Eaton
first needed to find Hamet, last known to
be in Alexandria, Egypt.
Barron assigned Master Comman-
dant Isaac Hull – who had previously
worked with Marines in the capture of
Sandwich at Puerto Plata – and the brig
Argus (later Hull added Hornet and Nau-
tilus), to support Eaton’s effort to locate
Hamet and conduct operations against
Derna. Marine Lt. Presley O’Bannon
became the third key officer of this dy-
namic team that exemplified, in every
way, the concepts of cooperation and
mutual support. Arriving in Alexandria
in November 1804, Eaton located Hamet
– who had allied himself with a Mam-
eluke faction – and made final plans
for joint and combined action with Hull,
O’Bannon, and Hamet’s supporters. The
American commanders envisaged an at-
tack on Derna from both land and sea,
and then driving westward along the
coastline to capture Benghazi and the
capital city of Tripoli. The expedition’s
strength would reach about 500 to 600
men including O’Bannon’s detachment
of seven U.S. Marines.
While Hull prepared his ships for
the assault, Eaton and O’Bannon under-
took one of the most heroic and ardu-
ous marches in military history across
a hostile desert with limited provisions
and mutinous comrades. After arriving
outside Derna, Hull began a powerful
bombardment of the city and its forts,
destroying several batteries and eventu-
ally driving some of the Tripolitans from
their guns and defenses. The Marines
then attacked along the beach at water’s
edge with Hull’s naval guns clearing
the way. Concurrently, Hamet and his
mounted Arabs circled south and west
of the city, attacking from the opposite
direction. Eaton and O’Bannon led a
direct assault that carried the hostile
ramparts and part of the city. O’Bannon
then turned the defender’s guns on the
fleeing enemy just as Hamet’s Arabs at-
tacked from landside, resulting in com-
plete victory and possession of both fort
and city. Just before turning the fort’s
guns on the fleeing enemy, O’Bannon
had removed the enemy standard from
its staff and planted the American flag
for the first time on a hostile foreign
shore. The United States Marines had
gone “to the shores of Tripoli.”
The loss of Derna, coupled with the
bombardment and blockade of Tripo-
li, caused the Bashaw to seek peace
through the offices of the Spanish consul
in Tripoli. Tobias Lear – the U.S. consul
general to Algiers – negotiated a favor-
able treaty in 1805, which did not include
the traditional tribute or customary pres-
ents to the Bashaw. American success
in the Tripolitan War had many compo-
nents, of which the capture of Derna was
only one. Yet that action constituted the
key ingredient, and succeeded despite
its complexity and many potential fail-
ure points. In the final analysis, Derna
was captured because of the active, as-
sertive, and cooperative leadership of
the three principal commanders: Eaton,
Hull, and O’Bannon.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centu-
ries, there followed numerous expedi-
tionary operations in the Caribbean,
Central America, and the Pacific Basin.
A depiction of the landing of the American forces under Gen. Winfield Scott at Veracruz, March 9, 1847. The cooperation between U.S. Navy Commodore David Conner and Scott represented a future model for the Navy and Marine Corps team.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
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The subjugation of California during the 1846-1847 Mexican-
American War resulted primarily from a series of amphibi-
ous landings along the Pacific coastline spearheaded by the
Navy and Marine Corps team, often in conjunction with Army
units ashore or afloat. Of course, the landing at Veracruz dur-
ing 1847 ultimately resulted in the capture of Mexico City
and the subsequent treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The Vera-
cruz operation primarily involved Army and Navy elements
with Marines serving in a more subsidiary role, though many
served all the way to the Halls of Montezuma. The cooperation
between Commodore David Conner and Gen. Winfield Scott
in capturing the key costal city of Veracruz proved exemplary
and provided an excellent future model for the Navy and Ma-
rine Corps team.
Over time, the role of the Marine Corps evolved from a small
ancillary organization into the major military force that exists
today. An important reason for that expansion involved the lead-
ership of key officers in the 1920s and 1930s. During that era,
senior military officers throughout the world believed amphibi-
ous warfare had no place in serious military planning, due to
the disastrous 1915 Gallipoli campaign of World War I. But a
small group of Marine and Navy officers thought otherwise,
and worked to develop the theory, concepts, doctrine, and
equipment that proved so critical to the amphibious successes
of World War II. This intellectual undertaking, coupled with
operational achievement in actual warfighting, established the
Marine Corps as the lead service for amphibious warfare with-
in the American military establishment, and created the basis
for its elevation among the military services.
Although disagreement and discord often exists between
Navy and Marine Corps leaders on important issues including
equipment design, tactical and operational employment
of forces, and command relationships, it is typically the
productive type that results in better policy, doctrine,
plans, and operations through the interchange and vetting
of ideas and concepts. Ultimately, this process contributes
to improved war preparation and success in combat. The
most notable example of this at work is the World War II
relationship between two giants of that era, Richmond Kelly
Turner and Holland M. Smith. As a rear admiral during the
Central Pacific Campaign of 1943-1945, Turner commanded
the navy’s amphibious force while Smith, holding the rank
of major general and later lieutenant general, commanded
the Marines. Both men were highly intelligent, strong willed,
and totally dedicated to the honor and success of their
service. They often clashed and some of their confrontations
became legendary throughout the Pacific. Yet both valued
the role of the other’s branch and their disagreements always
focused on how to best accomplish the mission. They often
compromised, but only after all possible options received
Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal (second from left), confers with Vice Adm. Richmond Kelly Turner (left), Lt. Gen. Holland M. Smith, and Rear Adm. H. W. Hill (right). The relationship between Turner and Smith was sometimes stormy, but they worked together to develop outstanding operational plans, and fought and won their way across the Pacific together during World War II.
143
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due consideration under the strongest
possible sponsorship. As Smith
characterized their relationship after
the war, “Kelly Turner and I were to
be teammates in all my operations. He
commanded Fifth Amphibious Force
while I commanded the expeditionary
troops that went along with the Navy
and our partnership, though stormy,
spelled hell in big red letters to the
Japanese.”
Technically, the Navy and Marine
Corps team constitutes a joint force, and
its expeditionary incursions qualify as
joint operations. Yet in reality, the Navy
and Marine Corps team constitutes
something much better than a joint
organization. The two services have roots
in a close and integrated tradition built
over two centuries of operating together,
making them two integral elements of a
single naval force. This goes far beyond
simply working together in planning and
operations. It includes such key elements
as combined staffs, common doctrine,
frequent exercises and operations, and a
sense of shared experiences, all of which
contribute to a common institutional
culture in the field of amphibious and
expeditionary warfare. The fact that both
services reside within the Department
of the Navy is also important, but does
not adequately explain the symbiotic
nature of their relationship. That is
more correctly found in the history and
traditions of the two branches.
During the 1990s, as America’s sea
services sought new roles and missions
for the post-Cold War era, they issued a
series of strategic and operational con-
cept papers most typified by the docu-
ment entitled “…From the Sea.” This
missive attempted to redirect the Navy
away from the blue water strategy of the
1980s toward a more littoral approach
focused on peace operations, humani-
tarian actions, and power projection
in support of U.S. overseas objectives.
The concepts embodied in “…From the
Sea” emphasize the importance of un-
obtrusive forward presence and the
flexibility of sea-based expeditionary
forces. It brought the Navy closer to the
Marine Corps in terms of roles and mis-
sions and seemed to offer a new and
different approach in the use of naval
forces within the “New World Order.”
The resulting expeditionary mindset
created an environment exemplified by
high operational tempos for America’s
Amphibious Ready Groups.
Although raised to a new level of prom-
inence in “…From the Sea,” Amphibious
Ready Groups have been around for a
very long time and are the true inheritor
of traditions crafted at New Providence
in 1776, Derna, Tripoli, in 1805, the Cen-
tral Pacific in the 1940s, and numerous
climes and places in the over 200 years
of American history. As Lt. Cmdr. Terry
O’Brien stated in his 1993 Marine Corps
Command and Staff College thesis
paper, “‘…From the Sea’ has not discov-
ered a new form of warfare – it has re-
discovered the capabilities of the Navy/
Marine Corps team.” In an era heavily
influenced by the “jointness” mentality
spawned by the 1986 Goldwater-Nicho-
las Act, it would be hard to find a better
model than the Navy and Marine Corps
amphibious team.
U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 263, Marine Aircraft Group 29, prepare for flight on the deck of the multipur-pose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1). Wasp was on surge deployment to the Middle East. Today’s Amphibious Ready Groups are the inheritors of traditions crafted over more than 200 years of Navy and Marine Corps history.
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The amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) passes by the Statue of Liberty as it steams up the Hudson River during the Parade of Ships for Fleet Week New York 2008. More than 4,000 sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen would participate in various community relations projects and make a port call to New York City.
THE NAVY AND NEW YORK CITY
To those who don’t know its history well, New York City may not appear to
be a Navy town. However, the connection between the U.S. Navy and New
York goes back to the dawn of the country. In fact, New York Harbor was
a site of major military action during the American Revolution, and the
relationship has continued to the present.
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LPD 21 USS NEW YORKLib
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U.S.
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istor
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The first naval engagement in New York was not a battle
between warships but rather a joint operation where sailors
transported soldiers. George Washington knew that, after
being forced to evacuate Boston in March 1776, the British
would probably attack New York next, because New York
City was America’s most important port, and if the British
could capture the Hudson River, it would split the colonies
in two.
As Washington anticipated, on June 28, 1776, Gen. William
Howe landed an army on Staten Island, and during July, the
Royal Navy under Howe’s brother, Adm. Lord Richard Howe,
brought more troops and more ships. An eyewitness wrote:
“The whole bay was full of shipping as it could be. I thought all
London afloat.”
Because then-New York City and the immediately surround-
ing area was ringed by water, the British could strike where
they wished. Washington’s 20,000 men were positioned along a
line running from Flatbush in Brooklyn, across the East River,
to the southern tip of Manhattan and then up to Washington
Heights in northern Manhattan. Washington’s artillery at the tip
of Manhattan made an attack on the American center a poor
option, and also precluded the British sailing up the Hudson
and attacking Washington’s right flank. However, if the British
could take Brooklyn Heights – the highest point in the area –
Washington’s position would be untenable.
Realizing the importance of the Heights, Washington de-
ployed the majority of his army to Brooklyn. But on Aug. 22, us-
ing nearly 90 frigates, the British moved 20,000 men from Staten
Island to Brooklyn. Over the next few days, the British inflicted
heavy casualties, and the Americans retreated to their fortifica-
tions on Brooklyn Heights.
Because of the casualties they had sustained attacking
fortified positions during the Battle of Bunker Hill, the British
decided not to assault Brooklyn Heights immediately. After all,
Washington had his back to the East River and the Royal Navy
controlled the waters. To the British, Washington’s position was
unsustainable.
While Washington did not have any ships to challenge the
Royal Navy, he did have sailors. A regiment of seamen from
Marblehead, Mass., had come down to fight in New York. Wash-
ington directed the Marbleheaders to secure some small boats
Above: David Bushnell’s Turtle. Sgt. Ezra Lee attacked the Royal Navy’s HMS Eagle unsuccessfully in New York Harbor with the submarine. Right: Commo-dore Stephen Decatur’s unsuccessful sortie in command of USS President also originated in New York Harbor.
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149
LPD 21 USS NEW YORKNa
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and ferry the Continental Army across
the East River during the night of Aug.
29-30. Everything had to be done in com-
plete silence to avoid alerting the en-
circling British Army or the Royal Navy.
Accordingly, the sailors tied their shirts
around the oars to muffle the sound. In
the morning, a thick fog covered the fi-
nal stages of the evacuation. Washing-
ton was in the last boat across.
The significance of what these sailors
did cannot be overstated. If the Con-
tinental Army had been forced to sur-
render in Brooklyn, the rebellion would
have been only a footnote in British his-
tory textbooks.
Within a few days of the evacuation
the Americans struck back against the
British fleet in New York Harbor with the
first attack by an American submarine
on an enemy warship.
During the Boston campaign, Wash-
ington was approached by a young Yale
graduate named David Bushnell, who
had the preposterous idea of attacking
the British fleet from underwater. “Al-
though I wanted faith myself,” Washing-
ton wrote, “I furnished him with money
and other aids to carry it into execution.”
Bushnell called his craft “The Turtle”
because it looked like two turtle shells
glued together. Since she was only 7 feet
high and 4 feet in diameter, there was
only room for one man inside. By moving
handles inside the craft, the driver op-
erated two screw-like oars. One moved
Turtle forward and backward, while the
other helped the craft to ascend and de-
scend. Diving and surfacing were also
facilitated by foot-operated valves that
allowed water to be pumped in and out
of tanks in the hull. Normally, Turtle trav-
eled along with a snorkel extending 6
inches above the surface, but she also
had the ability to dive deeper for short
periods.
Turtle’s armament consisted of a
50-pound keg of gunpowder with a time-
delayed flintlock detonator. After diving
under an enemy ship, the sub’s driver
would drill a hole in the enemy hull
and attach the bomb with a chain. Then
Turtle would pull away before the bomb
exploded.
On Sept. 6, 1776, Turtle was ready to
challenge the British fleet in New York
Harbor. With Sgt. Ezra Lee at the con-
trols, Turtle attacked HMS Eagle, Lord
Howe’s 64-gun flagship, not far from Lib-
erty Island.
Lee dove under Eagle, but his drill
could not penetrate the British ship’s
hull, either because of the copper
sheathing used to protect the wood
against marine growth or because of
the hull’s curvature. With his air supply
running out, Lee gave up and surfaced.
When a patrol boat spotted her, the sen-
tries fired muskets as their boat rowed
after the strange craft. Lee released
Turtle’s bomb, which exploded near the
mouth of the East River. The ensuing
geyser so startled the British that they
did not pursue Turtle any farther.
Bushnell “labored for some time inef-
fectively and though advocates for his
scheme continued sanguine, he never
did succeed,” Washington recalled.
However, he continued, “I then thought
and still think that it was an effort of ge-
nius.”
The War of 1812 also created connec-
tions between the U.S. Navy and New
York. By December 1814, the war was a
stalemate. The Royal Navy, the largest
navy in the world, blockaded America’s
ports, crippling the American economy.
What remained of the small United
States Navy was bottled up in ports
along the East Coast. In New York Har-
bor, Commodore Stephen Decatur wait-
ed for a chance to break out. Decatur’s
bold exploits during the Barbary Coast
war had won him international fame, and
his victory over HMS Macedonian while
commanding USS United States had
been one of the bright spots for America
in the war.
Decatur’s current ship, USS President,
had been built in New York Harbor in
1800, and was a technological marvel.
She was bigger and more powerful than
any British frigate and faster than the
British ships of the line. On the open
ocean, she could outrun anything that
could sink her and sink anything that
could catch her.
The Monitor after her fight with the Merrimack. Near the gunport can be seen the dents made by the heavy steel-pointed shot from the guns of the Merrimack. Monitor’s hull was forged at nine loca-tions in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
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151
LPD 21 USS NEW YORKNa
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Decatur’s orders were to take President to the Indian Ocean
to attack the commerce between Britain and her Asian colo-
nies, in order to force the Royal Navy to deploy ships away
from America. The only obstacle was a powerful British flotilla,
which included a modified ship of the line, blockading just out-
side New York Harbor.
When an early winter storm blew the British flotilla out to sea,
Decatur seized the opportunity and brought President out into
the outer bay, but the ship ran aground off Sandy Hook. The
crew lightened President, but the waves merely lifted her and
then smashed her keel down against the hard sand. Finally, af-
ter hours of toil, the badly damaged President was free, but the
gale was blowing her away from New York Harbor.
Given the damage and the proximity of the enemy, Decatur
could have scuttled the ship and taken the crew back to the
safety of the shore. However, America did not have ships to
spare, and he took President along Long Island’s coast toward
New England in hope of finding a safe place for repairs.
Suspecting that the Americans might use the gale to break
out, Commodore John Hayes, in command of the British flotilla,
scouted the surrounding waters before returning to station. As
luck would have it, Hayes’ frigates spotted the crippled Presi-
dent and he gave chase with his squadron.
It was clear that President could not outrun the pursuers, so
Decatur launched a desperate plan to turn, board, and capture
the lead British frigate, Endymion. However, although Deca-
New Yorker John P. Holland’s USS Holland. Holland was the world’s first fully operational submarine and was built in Elizabeth, N.J.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
152
tur succeeded in putting Endymion out of action, she kept far
enough away to prevent Decatur from boarding.
With two more British frigates about to come within range,
Decatur had no choice but to break off. However, President was
suffering not only damage caused by the grounding but also
from the fight with Endymion. Decatur had taken several calcu-
lated risks: leaving New York under the cover of the storm, con-
tinuing on after the grounding, and giving battle to Endymion.
He could turn again, hope to defeat the two frigates before
Hayes in his modified ship of the line arrived, and then outrun
the capital ship. However, that would further risk the lives of
his crew with little chance of success. Rather than go down in a
blaze of glory for pride’s sake, Decatur took what was, for him,
undoubtedly the more difficult path, and he struck his colors.
One of the more unusual connections between New York
City and the Navy involves the only American capital ship lost
during World War I, a ship that now lies just outside of New
York Harbor, 13.5 miles south of Fire Island Inlet. USS San Diego
(ACR 6) was an “armored cruiser” – a class of warship just short
of being a battleship. During World War I, her primary role was
Atlantic convoy duty.
On July 19, 1918, she was returning to New York to pick up
another convoy when a lookout spotted what appeared to be a
periscope in the water. San Diego’s captain, Harley H. Christy,
sent the crew to battle stations and after several shots were
fired, the submarine disappeared. Nonetheless, Christy con-
tinued to zig-zag at approximately 15 knots and kept his crew
at alert.
Less than an hour later, an explosion sent smoke a hundred
feet high, and water began pouring into San Diego’s port en-
gine room. In an attempt to save his ship, Christy decided to
try to beach San Diego on Long Island. However, the engine
spaces flooded and the ship sank within 30 minutes of the ex-
plosion. After abandoning ship, her crew reportedly sang “The
Star Spangled Banner” as their ship went down.
Being a battleground is not New York City’s only connection
to the Navy. For example, New Yorkers have built a long line
of Navy ships; many were innovative and many helped shape
America’s sea services.
USS Monitor, the most famous Civil War warship, was a con-
sequence of the Union’s Anaconda Plan, which sought to end
the rebellion by encircling the Southern states. Vital to this
strategy was a naval blockade that would prevent the Confed-
eracy from trading with countries such as Britain and France.
The Confederate States had no pre-existing navy and no re-
alistic hope of building one. Instead, it looked to technology. Lt.
J.M. Brooke, CSN, proposed to take the remains of a steam frig-
ate that had been burnt to the waterline when the Navy aban-
doned its base at Norfolk, Va., and turn her into an ironclad ram.
Such a ship would be impervious to round shot fired from the
wooden-hulled Navy blockaders, and she would be able to sink
such ships by gunfire or by ramming. Commissioned as CSS
Virginia, she is more often remembered by her original name:
Merrimack.
When news of the Southern plan leaked out, leaders in Wash-
ington called for proposals for a ship to counter Merrimack. New
Yorker John Ericsson submitted a plan for a radically different
ship with no sails or elaborate rigging – just steam power. She
would be made almost entirely of iron and would be only 173 feet
long, with a beam of 41 feet. Rather than rows of guns along the
sides, she would have a revolving turret with two 11-inch guns,
and her freeboard would be so low that the sea would wash
across her decks, making her a very difficult target.
To save time, Monitor’s hull was forged at nine locations in
Brooklyn and Manhattan, and she was built in only 120 days.
On March 6, 1862, she left New York and proceeded to Hamp-
ton Roads, Va., where Merrimack had just begun attacking the
blockading Union ships. Two days later, the two ships met and
battled for four hours until Merrimack withdrew. Although Mer-
rimack was only damaged, she was never again able to attack
the blockade fleet, and the crucial Union blockade continued.
John Holland was an Irish immigrant who taught school on
the New Jersey side of New York Harbor, and he was at the
center of another naval technological advance associated with
New York City. He had always been interested in the sea, and
in his spare time Holland studied the work of ship designers,
eventually developing his own design for a workable subma-
rine. However, when he sent the design to the Navy in 1875, it
was rejected.
Undaunted, Holland found funding from an unusual source.
The Fenian Brotherhood wanted to oust Britain from Ireland,
and Holland persuaded them that with his submarine, they
would be able to challenge the Royal Navy. Impressed by a
30-inch model that Holland demonstrated at Coney Island, the
Fenians funded the construction of two full-size submarines.
“There is scarcely anything required of a good submarine
boat that this one did not do well enough, or fairly well,” Holland
said of the second of these boats. She was built in Manhattan
and launched in the Hudson in 1881. Holland’s design is widely-
recognized as the first modern submarine.
Over time, the Fenians withdrew their support, but various
other backers came and went while the Navy vacillated about
whether or not it needed submarines. Meanwhile, Holland
tested and improved his design in New York harbor. Finally,
after Adm. George Dewey, the hero of the Battle of Manila Bay,
testified before Congress in 1900 in support of Holland’s sub-
marines, the United States made a firm commitment. Its first
true submarine, USS Holland (SS 1), was built in Elizabeth, N.J.,
part of New York Harbor.
New York Naval Shipyard, generally called the Brooklyn
Navy Yard, is another important chapter in New York City’s
connection with the Navy. In 1801, the federal government
purchased 40 acres along the East River in Brooklyn for a
shipyard, and by the time the yard was decommissioned in
1966, New Yorkers had built many famous Navy ships there,
including USS Fulton (the Navy’s first steam-powered ship),
USS Maine (BB 2, one of the first battleships and whose sinking
led to the Spanish-American War), USS New York (BB 34,
which fought in World War I and World War II), USS Arizona
(BB 39, which still lies at Pearl Harbor), and USS Missouri (BB
63, where the Japanese surrender was signed), as well as the
aircraft carriers Bennington (CV 20), Bon Homme Richard (CV
31), Kearsarge (CV 33), Oriskany (CV 34), Franklin D. Roosevelt
(CV 42), Saratoga (CV 60) and Independence (CV 62). The last
capital ship built in Brooklyn, USS Constellation (CV 64), left the
U.S. fleet in 2003.
In addition to building them, ships were repaired and up-
graded at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. For example, Dr. Lee For-
rest’s radiotelephone was tested there in 1907 and then in-
stalled throughout the Great White Fleet. The yard installed the
radar that enabled the battleship Washington (BB 56) to turn
back a more powerful force in a night battle in November 1942,
Blue of the Mighty Deep Gold of God’s Sun.
Celebrating the Commissioning of the USS New York
ARIZONA CALIFORNIA COLORADO MARYLAND NEW JERSEY NEW YORK TEXAS VIRGINIA
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
154
helping thwart the Japanese in their efforts to retake Guadalca-
nal. In 1952, USS Antietam (CVA 36) was modified in Brooklyn to
become the Navy’s first angled deck aircraft carrier.
The fact that the Navy has been shaped by people from
New York is yet one more connection between New York City
and the Navy. For example, Theodore Roosevelt, one of the
most influential advocates for a strong U.S. Navy, was born in
Manhattan in 1858. Teddy Roosevelt influenced naval strate-
gy, and as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he fought to rebuild
the Navy, which had been allowed to deteriorate following the
Civil War. He also advocated new technologies, and as presi-
dent he continued to strengthen the Navy and deployed the
Great White Fleet to sail around the world to demonstrate that
America had become a world power.
Beyond famous individuals, many thousands of New Yorkers
have helped shape the sea services by serving in the Navy, Ma-
rine Corps, and Coast Guard, and 76 sailors and Marines from
New York State have received the Medal of Honor. Thousands
of New York civilians worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and in
satellite industries that supplied the Navy yard. And to these
numbers must be added the thousands of families that have
sacrificed to support loved ones who served directly in the na-
tion’s sea services.
Twenty-five years ago, New York City began an annual tra-
dition called Fleet Week, a few days that focus on those who
are currently serving the United States in its sea services. Dur-
ing that week each year, the Navy arranges for several ships
to spend some of their liberty time in “the Big Apple,” and the
city turns out to express its appreciation for the visiting sailors
and Marines.
When all is said and done, it seems that New York City really
is a Navy town.
Libr
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LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
A 1915 photo of USS New York (BB 34) in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where she was built. Her keel was laid on Sept. 11, 1911.
156
Master Ebbitt was writing to the Herald to donate $2 of his
hard-gotten money – saved up for Christmas – to a state-wide
subscription effort that was raising money for a formal presen-
tation silver service to be given to what was at the time the U.S.
Navy’s newest all-steel warship, the armored cruiser USS New
York (ACR 2). This service would be a representation of the Em-
pire State, preserved in silver, that would accompany the ship
during the course of its career at sea. The cruiser, launched
only days before at the Cramp Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pa.,
was the latest installment in a movement barely a decade old to
create a “new Navy” for a United States that was just reawaken-
ing to the possibilities of modern naval power. Ebbitt, and many
other New Yorkers like him, saw the creation and donation of
a silver service as a way to show just how much this new Navy
meant to him, and today that spirit has been carried on in the
new USS New York (LPD 21).
The Herald had more than a passing interest in the project
to purchase a silver service for the New York; the newspaper,
in fact, led the effort to raise money for the service. The paper
also put its money where its mouth was by contributing $500
toward the $6,000 thought necessary to purchase a service of
suitable size and quality. It was a grand gesture in an era that
appreciated and encouraged flamboyant expressions of patrio-
tism. On the occasion of the presentation of the service to the
armored cruiser New York in October 1893, New York Congress-
man Amos J. Cummings declared that the silver service “embod-
ies not only the gratitude but the hopes of the people. From this
time on it is an integral part of the armored cruiser in war and in
peace, a mute reminder of their love and confidence.”
Today, this presentation silver service, combined with that of
the battleship New York (BB 34) made more than two decades
later, remains a stunning reminder of Empire State craftsman-
ship and artistry from a bygone time. The tradition of donating
silver services and other valuable keepsakes to warships is an
old one, but it saw its heyday in the United States in the years
1890 to 1920, a time corresponding to a renaissance in naval
shipbuilding and a national mood that was profoundly aware
of the role the Navy was playing in the country’s emergence
as a world power. Perhaps more than in any other era of United
States history, many average Americans at the dawn of the 20th
century (even 12-year-old boys) were bound to agree with Presi-
dent Theodore Roosevelt’s assertion that “we have deliberately
made our own certain foreign policies which demand the pos-
session of a first-class navy.”
SILVER
WEDDED
TO STEEL:
A TRADITION
CARRIES ON
IN USS NEW
YORK
(LPD 21)
“I am only a small boy … just twelve years old, but I read the HERALD, and I’m awfully glad that
we are going to have a navy at last that amounts to something,” wrote Henry Ebbitt, a young
Gothamite and reader of The New York Herald, in December 1891. “When I grow up,” wrote the
precocious boy, “I want to know that I have done something to make the fellows who will do the
fighting on the New York feel that they and their ship are appreciated.”
By Colin E. Babb
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USS NEW YORK LPD 21
This flower bowl with Henry Hudson’s Half Moon as a handle was made by Tiffany & Co. and presented to the battleship USS New York (BB 34) circa 1916 by the state of New York.
158
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USS NEW YORK LPD 21
For the generations that funded, built, and manned the ar-
mored cruiser and battleship New York, there was no finer ex-
pression of civic pride in that Navy than the presentation of a
“first-class” silver service. These essentially dining sets were
eminently practical. However fancy or decorative they might
have been, they were meant to be used and not just to be ob-
served from afar. Such presentations by cities, states, or other
organizations go back to the earliest days of the U.S. Navy, and
mirror similar customs in other navies, such as the Royal Navy.
According to the Naval Supply Systems Command, which man-
ages presentation silver in the Navy, currently there are more
than 18,500 objects associated with silver sets in storage, on
display, or on ships.
The earliest U.S. naval presentation silver dates from the
late 18th and early 19th centuries, to the time of the Barbary
Wars and the War of 1812. The deeds of captains during heroic
victories at sea, such as those of Isaac Hull, Stephen Decatur,
and Oliver Hazard Perry, were commemorated with gifts of sil-
ver vases, urns, and tableware sets from thankful citizens in
seacoast cities such as Baltimore, Md., and Philadelphia. The
practice of honoring individual achievement continued to the
Civil War, when Tiffany & Co. marked key moments such as
Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration in 1861 with a silver pitch-
er presented to the president, and the battle between the USS
Monitor and CSS Virginia in 1862 with a five-piece tea set given
to Monitor Chief Engineer Alban C. Stimers by the ship’s de-
signer, John Ericsson.
In the 1880s, the Navy came out of a 20-year slumber when
the aging wooden, sail-steam hybrid vessels held over from
the days of the Civil War began to be replaced with new ships
of all-steel construction with all-steam power plants, electric
generators, and modern naval weaponry. By the time of the
launching of the armored cruiser New York in 1891, the U.S.
Navy was just beginning to build its first battleships. These
vessels arrived in the midst of the “golden age” of presenta-
tion silver, when people were eager to show their appreciation
for an Army and Navy that were important and visible sym-
bols of the nation’s new-found identity as a modern industrial-
ized country, respected around the world for its technological
achievements. Rather than honoring the activities of individu-
als, the silver of this era was intended to honor vessels and
their namesakes.
The naming of these new ships was done with a certain
amount of thought, and was intended to be both logical as well
as practical. Cruisers were to be named for cities, while the larg-
er battleships would be named for states. “The wisdom of the
laws that assign American place names to our naval vessels is
apparent,” observed The New York Times in 1891. “They supply a
sensible system of nomenclature … instead of the old-time Greek
and Indian medley, spiced with zoology, mythology, and abstract
ideas. And in addition, they often arouse a specific local inter-
est in the navy, which we see nowadays manifesting itself in the
form of very handsome christening gifts.” The service for the ar-
mored cruiser New York was one of the earliest made in this new
movement, and New York City leaders in particular had every
intention of making it the grandest service in the Navy thus far.
The effort to give the New York a presentation silver service
began, perhaps appropriately enough, on Thanksgiving in 1891
with an editorial in The New York Herald. “Knowing how keenly
the officers and men of our navy appreciate every … evidence
of national and State approval the HERALD proposes that our
citizens shall contribute to a service of plate to be presented
the ship when she is first commissioned,” the paper declared.
The following day, the Herald announced the very first con-
tributions to the cause: $100 from J. Seaver Page and $2 from a
“Believer in the New Navy.” Soon, the Herald put $500 of its own
money into the pot, and over the next several months it gave
updates on the campaign, proudly listing new donors by name
and the amount of money they had contributed. Assistant Secre-
tary of the Navy James Russell Soley thought that the gift of a sil-
ver service to the New York was “a capital idea,” and Jefferson
M. Levy, who was the then-current owner of Thomas Jefferson’s
estate of Monticello, hoped that the paper would “succeed in
obtaining a large sum and thereby be enabled to make the ser-
vice of gold instead of silver.”
In March 1892, the campaign came to an end when it was an-
nounced that a final $1,400 would be contributed by Jeannette
Thurber, president of the National Conservatory of Music of
America, from ticket sales for a concert given on March 23 on
behalf of the New York. The Herald announced a prize of $200
for the winning design for the silver service, and eventually
28 sets of designs were submitted, of which 13 were deemed
worthy enough to be submitted to the panel of judges. The win-
ning design chosen by the panel was submitted by Charles Os-
borne, chief designer of the Whiting Manufacturing Company,
one of the nation’s leading silver firms.
It took more than a year-and-a-half to make the service, which
was presented on Oct. 25, 1893, to the newly commissioned New
York. The captain, John W. Philip, accepted it as an important
symbol that would embody “on foreign stations the hospitality
and good fellowship of the American people at home.” The
service was, in terms of number of pieces, somewhat modest
A silver punch bowl, made by Whiting and presented to the armored cruiser USS New York (ACR 2), circa 1878 by the New York Yacht Club.
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161
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK©
Tiff
any
& Co
.
– about 20 major pieces – but it was
decorated with ornate representations
of the Stars and Stripes, an American
eagle, and the Seal of the State of New
York. The centerpieces were several
punch bowls, one of which was an
additional piece donated by the New
York Yacht Club. Recently, the set was
valued at more than $260,000.
The silver service served as an im-
portant part of a ship’s ability to en-
tertain guests, a function taken advan-
tage of perhaps more in the past than
today, but silver services still serve
their original purpose in the modern
fleet. Even in the early decades of
the 20th century, the use of silver ser-
vices for official occasions was often
dictated by the whim of commanding
officers. The elaborate service made
for the cruiser Maryland (ACR 8) in
1905, for instance, was used regularly
in the officers’ mess; by the late 1920s,
however, the service was largely kept
in storage on board the new caretaker,
the battleship Maryland (BB 46). Be-
cause the centerpieces of most silver
sets were almost always punch bowls,
the etiquette and use of presentation
sets for foreign or official visitors often
revolved around the time-honored cer-
emony of toast giving.
Until the early 20th century, such
toasts of course were made with various
alcoholic concoctions. All this changed
in 1914 with the issuance of General Or-
der 99, signed by Secretary of the Navy
Josephus Daniels, which prohibited
alcohol on all Navy vessels and shore
stations. Unfortunately for the new bat-
tleship New York, about to be commis-
sioned in April of that year, the secre-
tary’s order (which would take effect on
July 1) arrived just in time to put a bit of
a crimp in the plans for a new silver ser-
vice to be added to that of the old cruis-
er. On April 7, just before signing the
Carswell Bill that appropriated $10,000
for a new presentation silver service that
eventually would be purchased from Tif-
fany & Co., New York Gov. Martin Glynn
was asked what would be substituted for
the punch bowl now that liquor had been
banned in the Navy. “Pickle dishes, I
guess,” was the governor’s sly reply.
In the end, the new service actually
did receive a punch bowl (presumably
for nonalcoholic punch). The new ser-
vice added important new pieces, such
as coffee pots (to serve the liquid that
soon overtook alcohol as the favored
shipboard beverage) and cigar boxes.
The central design of the service was
the combined use of the seals of New
York and the Department of the Navy,
and incorporated elements from Dutch
and English silver from the 17th century.
The centerpiece, meant for fruit or flow-
ers, has a miniature model of Henry Hud-
son’s ship, the Half Moon, which entered
New York Harbor in 1609. The service,
completed in late 1916, now consists of
more than 80 pieces and is valued at
about $400,000.
The combined sets served faithfully
on board the battleship New York for
nearly 30 years, being removed for op-
erations during both world wars, until
permanently removed in 1945 just be-
fore the ship was decommissioned.
Because of the size and quality of the
ship’s silver service, the set was sent
to the Naval Academy in Annapolis,
Md., nominally under the care of the
academy’s museum. Much of the silver,
however, ended up at Buchanan House,
the residence of the academy’s super-
intendent, where it has been used for
entertaining foreign and domestic dig-
nitaries. By one estimate, Buchanan
House was hosting about 10,000 guests
a year by the 1970s and was thought to
be only second to the White House in
terms of the number of official govern-
ment visitors who were entertained
there. Because of the nearly continu-
ous use of the silver service (greater,
indeed, than that of any active ships
in the fleet), the Navy declined six re-
quests between 1952 and 1986 to have
the service either moved to a new ves-
sel or back to the state of New York.
In each case, various Navy officials
cited the importance of the service to
the Naval Academy and the tradition
of keeping silver services with ships
bearing the name of the state from
which they had been received.
Today, a new USS New York (LPD 21)
is entering the fleet, the first vessel to
bear the name of both the state and
city of New York in more than 60 years.
A large portion of the historic silver
service from the armored cruiser and
battleship New York will go on board
its namesake vessel, carrying on the
old custom. These priceless objects
of naval silver will be carried to sea
once again, to serve as telling remind-
ers of the storied past of the Navy and
as symbols of the people of the Empire
State, which has given – and sacrificed
– so much for the sea services and the
nation.
With the new New York, additional
items will be added to the service. The
first of those new items is a coffee and
tea service donated by Tiffany & Co.
In addition, and as a special feature
to match the more utilitarian needs of
the times, Tiffany has created a regis-
try for the ship’s silver service, a list
of what New York needs in the way of
silver items. Now individuals can use
the registry to purchase silver directly
for the ship, and anyone interested in
becoming part of the history of the
new USS New York can go to the USS
New York Commissioning Committee
official Web site (www.ussny.org) and
click on a navigation bar labeled “Be
Part of Naval History” to get to the Tif-
fany registry.
Once again, silver and steel have
been bonded. This time the steel con-
tains 7.5 tons of that metal from the
remains of the Twin Towers, and the
silver, as established by long tradition,
has come from New Yorkers in support
of those who are defending their values
and lives.
One of the new silver pieces for USS New York from the ship’s silver registry at Tiffany & Co., an exam-
ple of one of the items that individuals or companies have purchased for the ship, some of them bearing
engraving honoring a 9/11 victim or veteran, or simply wishing the ship “Fair Winds and Following
Seas.” The new silver will join pieces from previous ships named New York, circa 1878 and 1914, many
of which were designed by Tiffany.
162
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Birc
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A HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK COUNCIL
A student of the history of sea power, Theodore Roosevelt
was very concerned about the type of thinking that led to
such post-war reductions. During the second half of the 19th
century, he had seen the vast state-of-the-art fleet that ex-
isted at the end of the Civil War become small and obso-
lete. Since he believed that a strong Navy was a deterrent to
war, he viewed as short-sighted the notion that spending on
the sea services in times of peace is wasteful. Accordingly,
as a public figure, and especially as Assistant Secretary of
the Navy in the first William McKinley administration, he
pressed for naval preparedness.
At the same time, Roosevelt gathered around him like-mind-
ed people to help campaign for a strong Navy. Since Roosevelt
was a prominent New Yorker, it is not surprising that many of
the people who joined this circle were also New Yorkers.
In 1901, Roosevelt became president of the United States,
and made building and maintaining a strong, modern Navy a
key element of his agenda. Britain, Germany, Japan, and oth-
er powers were modernizing and enlarging their fleets. Still,
there was a need to educate and persuade other public offi-
cials and the general public why it was necessary for America
to do the same when two vast oceans separated her from these
potential belligerents.
During a meeting of the New York Commandery of the Naval
Order of the United States in November 1902, Herbert Satterlee
suggested the formation of a civilian organization that would
By Richard H. Wagner
Looking across American history, one sees that in the Civil War, the Spanish American War,
World War I, World War II, and at the end of the Cold War, the United States had a large and
powerful fleet. Thus, it is tempting to conclude that from the time of President Lincoln onwards,
America has always had a powerful Navy. However, what actually happened was that after each
major conflict, spending on the Navy and Marine Corps was cut drastically and the size of the
sea services reduced to a shadow of their former selves, only to be rebuilt in haste when the
next war was upon the country.
Navy League of the United States
163
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
Opposite page: A group of New York Navy Leaguers during a visit to USS George Washington (CVN 73). Above: Capt. James B. Boorujy, commanding officer of USS Nassau (LHA 4) addressing members of the New York Council in his quarters on Nassau. Above right: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen speaks with New York Council President Dr. Daniel Thys. Right: Sea cadets of the New York Council sponsored Capodanno unit at the controls of USS Springfield (SSN 761) during a Council visit.
provide support for the United States Navy similar to that pro-
vided to the Royal Navy by Great Britain’s Navy League. The
idea met with general approval and after obtaining the support
of the Navy Department, and with Roosevelt’s encouragement,
a committee met at the New York Yacht Club to draft a constitu-
tion for such an organization. Then, in January 1903, the organi-
zation was incorporated in New York as the Navy League of the
United States.
Membership in the new organization would be open to all
except serving sea services personnel and members of Con-
gress. Members would be grouped into local organizations
called “councils,” which would promote the interests of the
sea services on the local level. There also would be a national
board of directors and national officers who would interact with
the national government. Since the Navy League was a New
York corporation, both the national officers and the New York
Council were based in New York at the beginning.
As is evident from the successful around the world cruise
of the Great White Fleet at the end of the Roosevelt adminis-
tration, Roosevelt and the Navy League met with initial suc-
cess in persuading Congress and the public of the need for
a strong Navy. However, in the administrations that followed,
political and public sentiment turned against spending on
the Navy, which was deemed wasteful at best and provoca-
tive at worst. As a result, the military in general was largely
unprepared when the United States entered World War I in
1918.
The war created new roles for the Navy League beyond that
of educating the public about the sea services. Local councils
assisted in recruiting for the Navy and Marine Corps. In ad-
dition, the Navy League became involved in providing direct
support for members of the sea services and their families, in-
cluding legal services for sailors and Marines and insurance
for their dependents. Also, since the government had not made
adequate preparation to clothe the sea services, Navy Leagu-
ers sent clothing and other items of comfort to those serving in
the Navy and Marine Corps.
Following World War I, America went into disarmament
mode, and the sea services were slashed. At first, this was the
result of optimism that the world would not repeat the mistakes
that led to the war, but then as dictators took power in Germany,
Italy and Japan, isolationism became the driving force. Still, the
Navy League continued to argue for naval preparedness as the
nation’s first line of defense.
One of the ways of engendering support for the sea servic-
es was through Navy Day celebrations organized by the Navy
Phot
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LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
League. The first Navy Day was Oct. 27, 1922 – a date selected
because it was Roosevelt’s birthday. The festivities included
visits by Navy ships to American cities, where thousands would
go on board. In New York, it also included an annual dinner
where government officials and senior officers would speak.
These events attracted a great amount of press coverage and
helped to keep the Navy in the public eye.
In 1932, New Yorker Franklin D. Roosevelt became presi-
dent. Like his cousin, he had been an Assistant Secretary of
the Navy and was a great believer in sea power. However, pub-
lic sentiment was still strongly isolationist. Consequently, Roos-
evelt was grateful for the Navy League’s outspoken support for
his ship building program.
When war came, the Navy League again provided direct
support for those serving in the Navy and Marine Corps and
their families. The New York Council started a family assis-
tance program that purchased gifts and household necessities
for Navy families. Some 2,200 shopping orders were placed
each day in New York alone.
It also continued to play an active role in Navy Day celebra-
tions. The parade along Fifth Avenue in 1942 featured 10,000
sailors and drew 300,000 spectators.
After the war, the government once again slashed the fleet.
Indeed, considerable currency was given to the idea that nu-
clear weapons had made the Navy obsolete. The Navy League
argued strongly against such notions and was vindicated when
the Korean War demonstrated that a strong Navy was still very
much needed.
At a Navy League dinner in New York in 1952, Fleet Adm.
William “Bull” Halsey urged the League to “continuously keep
before our people the need for an up-to-the-minute Navy,” and
keeping the Navy in the public eye was a top priority for the
League throughout the Cold War period. To this end, in 1957,
New York Council President John J. Bergen persuaded New
York City officials to hold a parade honoring 67 Navy flag of-
ficers and Marine generals who led the sea services to victory
in the Pacific.
During this period, the Navy League also increased its
commitment to youth programs. At the urging of Adm. Arleigh
Burke, the Navy League created the Naval Sea Cadets Corps
as a separate but related organization. The New York Council
remains a sponsor of several sea cadet units.
Concerned about the unpopularity of the Vietnam War, the
Johnson Administration attempted to reduce the cost of the
war by reducing capital spending on the Navy. It also sought
to reduce cost by under-paying Navy sailors. The Navy League
protested both policies and was successful in persuading Con-
gress to pass an increase in pay for the military.
After the Vietnam War, the sea services once again suffered
severe cutbacks. However, with the election of Ronald Reagan
in 1982, the government’s attitude toward the Navy changed,
and it was recognized that a strong Navy was key to defeating
the Soviet Union. However, the public and Congress also had
to be persuaded.
The New York Council recognized that one of the ways of
developing public support for the Navy was to let the public
get to know the Navy first hand. There were no longer any Navy
bases in New York, ships were not being built at the Brooklyn
Navy Yard, and there was no longer a draft, so most New York-
ers never had any contact with the Navy. To rectify that situa-
tion, the New York Council proposed having a flotilla of Navy
ships come to New York each year so that New Yorkers could
visit the ships and the crewmembers and embarked Marines
could visit the city. After the successful visit to New York by
the battleship Iowa (BB 61) for the re-opening of the Statue of
Liberty, the Navy agreed, and the first Fleet Week was held in
1987. The New York Council has remained an active participant
in Fleet Week ever since.
In addition to the annual Fleet Week visits, the New York
council has sponsored Navy ship commissionings. In April
1997, it hosted the commissioning of USS The Sullivans (DDG
68). Shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Council played
a leading role in the commissioning of USS Bulkeley (DDG 84),
which, like the commissioning of USS New York, took place at
Piers 86-88 in Manhattan. The Council also participated in the
commissioning of USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) in 1988.
Today, the New York Council is building upon its history. Just
as in 1902, the objective remains to provide support to the sea
services.
The first task undertaken by the Navy League was to educate
people about the sea services. In keeping with that mission,
the council presents programs throughout the year to inform
its members and the public of current issues facing the sea
services. Recently, these included talks by former Secretary of
Defense William Cohen, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon
England, Congressman Steve Israel, and Deputy Secretary of
Defense Tom Hall. A panel including former U.S. Senator James
Talent discussed the need for an adequate defense budget.
Rear Adm. Robert Reilly, USN, commander, Military Sealift
Command, was on another panel that discussed the state of the
U.S. Merchant Marine. The council has also presented three
symposia featuring members of the faculty of the Naval War
College.
Capt. Boorujy and New York Council visitors to USS Nassau.
Phot
o by R
ichar
d H. W
agne
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167
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
When the sea services were developing a new maritime
strategy, the council hosted a public forum where then-Chief of
Naval Operations Adm. Michael D. Mullen spoke. It also hosted
a public forum where business leaders were able to speak with
Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter.
Each year the council offers opportunities for members to
meet on-duty sea services personnel and thus learn first-hand
about today’s services. In 2008 these included visits to USS
Bataan (LHD 5) and USS Nassau (LHA 4).
Communication is key to getting one’s message across.
Accordingly, in addition to the programs and events described
earlier, the council publishes its own magazine, The Log,
which features articles about the sea services in New York, the
council’s activities, naval history, and the issues confronting the
sea services. It is distributed to the council’s members, senior
officers of the sea services, colleges and universities, libraries,
and to executives of the merchant marine. In addition, the
council’s Web site brings the Navy League’s message to an even
wider audience.
The council also helps to inform the public about the sea ser-
vices by encouraging scholars to write about the sea services.
It co-sponsors – with the Theodore Roosevelt Association and
the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute – the Roosevelt
Naval History Award, which is presented each year to an out-
standing author of a book on naval history.
A council tradition since World War I has been providing
direct morale-enhancing activities to members of the sea ser-
vices. To this end, the council has “adopted” the following ships
and stations: Coast Guard Sector New York; SUBGROUP TWO;
USS Dallas (SSN 700); USS San Juan (SSN 751); and USS Spring-
field (SSN 761). Council members periodically travel to the SUB-
ASE in New London and provide lunch to the crews of one or
more boats. Contributions are also made to the boats’ holiday
parties as well as on other special occasions.
Similarly, the council hosts a number of events for the crews
of ships that have not been officially adopted. In recent years,
these have included a dinner cruise for the sailors from USS
Anzio (CG 68) and USS George Washington (CVN 73) as well
as for sailors stationed in the Norfolk, Va., area. The council
also took over the galley duty during USS The Sullivans’ recent
Above: Council Executive Director Richard Kenney with Rear Adm. Charles Michel (USCG) at the Coast Guard Art Program reception. Right: Navy
Leaguers and Sea Cadets man the galley of USS Winston Churchill (DDG 81).
Phot
os by
Rich
ard H
. Wag
ner
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169
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
visit to Staten Island and provided meals to the crew of USCGC
Abbie Burgess (WLM 551) during her call in New York.
The council makes a special effort to ensure that the Navy
crewmembers and embarked Marines visiting New York for
Fleet Week feel welcome. In addition to a reception for the
commanding officers, the council hosts a dinner for junior of-
ficers and a dinner cruise for some 200 senior enlisted person-
nel. The council also distributes tickets to Broadway shows to
visiting service personnel.
Next, the council seeks to support sea services personnel
by furthering their professional education. The council donates
thousands of dollars each year to the Marine Corps University
Foundation, which inter alia distributes books to the fleet and
shore stations worldwide. It also donates to the Naval War Col-
lege Foundation to help it enhance the learning experience at
the War College by providing books, equipment and facilities
not covered by government appropriations.
Another tradition that goes back almost a century is provid-
ing direct assistance to sea services families. The council
offers scholarships to young people whose parents are from
the New York metropolitan area and who have served or are
serving currently in the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or
Merchant Marine. These are in addition to the scholarships the
council awards to five midshipmen from the U.S. Merchant Ma-
rine Academy and five cadets from the SUNY Maritime College
at Fort Schuyler.
The council provides scholarships in memory of Corp. Jason
Dunham, USMC, who received the Medal of Honor for his ac-
tions in Iraq, and in memory of Lt. Michael Murphy, USN, who
received the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan. Their
names, along with all of the other New Yorkers who have re-
ceived the Medal of Honor, are engraved on a plaque the coun-
cil maintains in Times Square.
The council also holds a fundraiser each December for the
Marine Corps Toys for Tots program.
Support for sea services youth programs has long been a
priority for the Council. It sponsors NJROTC units at George
Washington High School and at Graphic Communication Arts
High School in New York City and provides support to the
units at Westbury High School and Freeport High School on
Long Island. The council is the sponsor of the Capodanno Sea
Cadet Unit as well as the Aegis and Liberty Divisions of sea
cadets.
In sum, the New York Council is actively maintaining a cen-
tury-old tradition of supporting America’s sea services. The
council is always looking for new members to get involved in
the support of the U.S. Navy. The council office can be reached
at (212) 825-7333 or online at www.NavyLeague.org.
Left: Council Vice President Richard Wagner presents a cake to commanding officer Lt. Amy Florentino during a council visit to USCGC Katherine Walker (WLM 552). Above: Council President Dr. Daniel Thys presents professors from the Naval War College at a Council Symposium.
Phot
o by R
ichar
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171
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
Today, only a handful of American companies dare to compete
in this business, and the unqualified leader is Northrop Grum-
man Shipbuilding (NGSB). An amalgam of legacy shipbuilding
enterprises, including Newport News Shipbuilding, Litton Ingalls,
and Avondale Shipbuilding among others, NGSB is the product of
a massive industrial consolidation that only today is being fully
integrated. Exclusive builders of aircraft carriers and amphibi-
ous ships for the U.S. Navy, they also build nuclear submarines
and guided missile destroyers. Employing 40,000 workers in four
main yards, doing $5.5 billion in yearly business, NGSB is the larg-
est private employer in states like Virginia and Mississippi.
Mike Petters, the president of NGSB, runs this massive enter-
prise. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and officer in nucle-
ar submarines, 48-year-old Petters runs the single largest ship-
building concern in the Western Hemisphere. What follows are
his thoughts on USS New York, NGSB, the shipbuilding business,
and the special folks he chooses to associate with: shipbuilders.
John D. Gresham – You’ve been building these things (war-
ships) for a while haven’t you?
Mike Petters – [Laughs] I’m starting to get long in the tooth!
I’ve been building ships at Newport News and for Northrop
Grumman for over 20 years, and I’ve been associated with ship-
building and ships and shipyards for over 25 years.
You’ve worked on aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, and
all sorts of other warships. What is it you see in the San An-
tonio-class amphibious transport dock ships that makes them
unique, both in terms of their construction and capabilities?
My full introduction to this ship, the San Antonio-class (LPD 17)
amphibious transport dock ship, was about a year and a half ago
when we decided to integrate the business. I think one of the
things that sets warships apart from all other kinds of vessels is
that they are typically very focused in their missions, and their
designs are very specific to what they set out to accomplish. I
don’t think that is different in this class of ships, the LPDs, versus
the nuclear submarine and aircraft carrier designs we produce.
SHIPBUILDER: AN INTERVIEW
WITH MIKE PETTERS, PRESIDENT OF
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SHIPBUILDING
Warships do not just spring to life: They have
to be designed and built for the crews that
will sail them into harm’s way. The process of
constructing ships like USS New York (LPD
21) often takes decades to complete, and rep-
resents one of the most high-risk commercial
ventures available to those with ambition and
a desire to make money. Military shipbuilding
is one of the last great heavy industries left
in America, which used to lead the world in
such ventures. So someone doing it well and
making money in the process is cause for cel-
ebration among investors as well as interest
among politicians and competitors.
By John D. Gresham and Susan L. Kerr
172
In this case, they support our expedition-
ary Navy and carry Marines and put them
ashore. What we’ve found in the process
of building these ships is that they have
a lot of flexibility and capability that has
been called on lately by the U.S. Navy.
What are your general impressions
of the LPD 17-class ships, and the New York in particular?
The whole LPD 17 class is a pretty ca-
pable design. What I think is different
about the New York from earlier ships of
the class is the emotion that’s attached
to it. We have steel from the remains of
the World Trade Center in the bow, and
the ship is being built at our yard in New
Orleans. There is a definite connection
between the cities of New York and
New Orleans over the things that have
happened to both places in the past few
years. The cities have mutually support-
ed each other, and for me, in terms of
all of the shipbuilding experiences I’ve
seen – and I’ve seen a few – this one has
a lot more emotion tied up into it by the
communities involved. The City of New
York and the City of New Orleans are at-
tached to this ship, and they’re attached
to each other. I think that that’s going to
create a strength in the crew that will
serve it well for decades.
Presently, the LPD 17 construction
program is structured and shared be-
tween the Northrop Grumman ship-
yards at Avondale, La., and Pascagou-
la, Miss. What have you accomplished
so far with the two yards supporting
each other?
We’re still working our way through
a lot of that. The New York is from our
Avondale yard, and if you look at the next
four ships we have under contract, two
of them are going to be delivered from
Pascagoula, and two of them will be
delivered from Avondale. The delivery
of New York from Avondale will greatly
inform the delivery team in terms of
the construction processes and proce-
dures. One of the things we did when we
decided to do this integration business
was put a test-and-trials team together
that is responsible for the tests and tri-
als of all the ships we’re going to deliver
from the Gulf Coast.
And it has been a busy summer 2009
for them, because they have been go-
ing through the trials of a destroyer
out of Pascagoula, and they’ve turned
right around in a matter of just days and
gone over to Avondale to lead a very
successful set of trials on New York.
That same team is then scheduled to
come back and lead the builder’s trials
on Waesche, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter
out of Pascagoula. This is just one area
where we are taking the lessons we
have learned in each yard and integrat-
ing them into our delivery teams. The
integration effort of Northrop Grumman
Shipbuilding includes our efforts to in-
corporate quality workmanship into all
of these ships, whether it’s pipe and
welding quality, or electrical quality,
or even the hull and mechanical qual-
ity. We also have developed and imple-
mented the exchange forms to make
sure we standardize our processes,
track our quality metrics, and continue
to drive first-time quality into every-
thing that we’re doing.
Obviously, some of the early units of
this ship class (LPD 17) had some qual-
ity problems, many of which pre-date
the acquisition of either yard (Avon-
dale and Pascagoula) by Northrop
Grumman. What is the current state of
the program from a quality standpoint
at delivery, and what are you doing to
make them better?
Well, first of all we’re absolutely
committed to the quality of the prod-
uct [the LPD 17 amphibious transport
dock ships], and our emphasis has
been on trying to improve the quality
further upstream during the construc-
tion process. My word for that is “first-
time quality.” By this I mean the quality
of the work that is being done early in
construction to be of “delivery” quality.
It is incredibly disruptive to the ship-
building process to do something at the
beginning of construction, only to have
to do it over later in construction. It’s
harder to get at, and it’s disruptive to all
the workers around it.
What we are seeing now is that by
giving our people the tools they need,
by setting the expectations for them,
and then by finding the right metrics
and tracking their performance earlier
in the stages of ship construction, we
are seeing some pretty impressive im-
provements in those first-time quality
metrics. The proof of this will be seen
in the delivery of the ships. I believe the
trials that we just ran on New York rep-
resent just that. It is a data point of “1,”
but I believe that trial is indicative of the
kind of improvement we’re going to see
over this class of ships as we go forward
building the later units of the class.
New York is the fifth unit of the class.
How has she gone together down at
Avondale, and how have those sea tri-
als that you just talked about gone?
Well, she’s gone together very well.
The folks at Avondale now have a cou-
ple of these [LPD 17-class ships] under
their belt, especially as we have begun
the process of integration and really
been able to bring some of the lessons
from all our shipbuilding enterprise
components to bear on this product.
We’ve been able to head off some is-
sues before they became major issues
at the end of construction. What that
led to was a sea trial here last month
[July] that was remarkable in every re-
gard. The fit and finish of the ship was
very good, as was the functionality of
the ship. The Navy appears to be very
happy with the product that we have at
this point, and we’re working our way
through to get to delivery this year.
You referenced earlier the special
story of this ship and the connection
it has to 9/11 and the World Trade Cen-
ter. If you can, please explain to the
people who are going to read about
this what that means in terms of the
construction, and what your workers
did with the metal from the Fishkill
disposal site. What was the reaction
of your employees to working on a
ship like this?
I think that any time you have the
kind of national tragedy that we had
in New York, and you give Americans
the opportunity to participate in some
way to memorialize that, to heal from
that event, I think that they will rise
to that occasion, and I don’t think this
situation is any different. After all that
had happened in New York on 9/11, the
shipbuilders in New Orleans were go-
ing to be honored by having the chance
to build this ship with that steel. That
would have been special in itself. But
then you compound this with the Hur-
ricane Katrina story, and what Katrina
did to the Gulf Coast and our Avondale
shipyard, particularly the flooding in
New Orleans and the shipbuilders who
were displaced from their homes by
that storm. Then they see New York City
firefighters and rescue teams there
on the site helping them. That creates
a special level of bonding between
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174
those two cities. The New Orleans fire
departments and rescue teams were in
New York in September 2001, and the
New York fire departments and res-
cue teams and policemen were in New
Orleans in 2005. For the shipbuilders
to have a chance to participate in that
American history is an incredibly mov-
ing and emotional event for them.
How much recovered steel from Fish-
kill went into the bow of USS New York?
It was about seven and a half tons.
After New York how many more LPD
17s is Northrop Grumman contracted
to build?
Four currently. There is already long-
lead funding for the fifth and the sixth
units. We’re moving to negotiate the
contract for the fifth one presently, and
look forward to building more ships
based upon the LPD 17 hull. Right now
we have two planned in each yard. We
certainly will continue to review how’s
the best way to produce them and
where they should be produced and all
of that, but right now we’ve got two to go
in each [yard]. For a lot of reasons these
ships have been a class run in two ship-
yards, and there have been different
build strategies at each facility. What
we’re doing now is focusing on creat-
ing a single-class build plan, because
we can see where this class is going.
The functionality and capability of the
San Antonio-class carries it far beyond
the existing LPD requirement. We see
having a class plan, a series production
plan, and being able to work through a
common process as a way for us to take
some significant costs out of building
them. To the extent that we’re able to
take the cost out of it, we’re able to de-
termine our future.
A personal question now. Speaking
for the tens of thousands of people of
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, how
do you feel about building ships?
[Laughter] Let me tell you about ship-
building. Just who is a shipbuilder?
Shipbuilders are usually the first ones
to leave their neighborhoods in the
morning to go to work and they’re the
last ones to come home at night. Often,
they’re the ones who leave after a Little
League practice to go back to work at
night, and they come home in the morn-
ing just in time to see their kids off to
school. They are the ones who coach
those Little League teams. They are
the ones who hold your schools and
churches together. They are the fabric
of the community. And they are the fab-
ric of the communities wherever they
live, whether it’s in Virginia or Missis-
sippi, Louisiana or California. When
they come to work, they want to do a
good job. And they are able to do some-
thing that most of us don’t get a chance
to, and that is to take raw material and
somehow with their hands transform
it into something that is greater than
themselves.
They make it into something that is
going to go out and make history for 30,
40, or even 50 years. They do that with
their hands. They just didn’t wake up
and say, “I can go do this.” They had to
learn how to do the shipbuilding trade.
They had to take instruction from peo-
ple who have been building ships for
a long time. They had to go to school,
they had to be apprentices, they had
to go to engineering classes, and they
had to get degrees. So, they’ve not only
had to work with their hands, but also
they have a lot of knowledge and intel-
ligence in their head in this, because
shipbuilding is a very complex busi-
ness. We have craftsmen who can run
their fingers across a plate and tell you
whether it’s flat or not. They can also
do that with a laser beam. So, it’s not
just their hands, but their heads too.
But what I love about shipbuilders the
most is that every single thing they do,
they put their hearts into it. Whether it
is the work that they are doing, the work
that their co-workers are doing, the way
they look out for each other from a safety
and quality standpoint. They have the
unique opportunity to come to work ev-
ery day and use their hands, their heads,
and they use their hearts. And then they
go home and they hold our communities
up. Where else would you want to work?
Where else could you find that? There
are other places where you can get that,
but I happen to have the privilege of be-
ing associated with 40,000 people who
get the chance to do that every single
day. When I wake up in the morning, I
can’t wait to get here. That is what ship-
building is!
And it’s a multi-generational busi-
ness, isn’t it?
There’re all kinds of nuances to it. I
mean, we’ve got five generations now
working together here in Virginia. We’re
now on four generations down in Missis-
sippi. You stop and think about how many
college educations were spawned here
in this shipyard, how many nighttime
‘round the dinner table discussions be-
tween parents and their children started
with a day laborer in the shipyard? How
many loaves of bread were baked to sup-
port the work that was going on in the
shipyard? It is mind-numbing to step
back and see what the impacts the peo-
ple in this business have on the fabric of
our society.
How’s your personnel base holding
up in terms of retirements versus new
hires and trainees?
We’re about to go into a pretty heavy
hiring process at Newport News, and
we have been hiring aggressively on the
Gulf Coast. What’s happening in New-
port News is that we’re going through
the post-Cold War retirement phase of
our workforce. What’s happening on the
Gulf Coast is that we’re bringing entirely
new people into the business. So it’s a
couple of different personnel challenges
on both ends of our business geographi-
cally. We’ve by and large been able to
hire to the numbers that we wanted to
hire to. But it’s not just hiring people. It’s
making sure they have the training and
certifications that they need. It’s making
sure they’re qualified to do the work that
we assign them, and that we’re able to
track and evaluate all of that. Creating
or enhancing those training courses and
institutions where we already have them
is a big part of what we’re working on
right now.
As we sit here today, how do you feel
about this company that you run?
I’m pretty optimistic about the future.
If you step back and look at the port-
folio of things that shipbuilding is go-
ing to be doing … somebody has to be
building something, and we’re going to
be making something. We are still work-
ing through some of the challenges of
recapitalizing the Gulf Coast shipbuild-
ing facilities after Hurricane Katrina, for
example. As we have worked our way
through those issues, as we work our
way out of those issues and we integrate
this business, I see a portfolio of work
that will provide a healthy base of busi-
ness for many years. My focus is on mak-
ing sure that we continue to provide the
kind of future and the kind of leadership
that our shipbuilders deserve.
177
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
Command Leadership
CDR F. Curtis Jones, USN
CDR Erich Brian Schmidt, USN
CMDCM(SM) Robert William Stocklin, USN
Officers
LT Stephen D. Argroves, USN
ENS Maria J. Batdorff, USN
LCDR Laura Jane Bender, CHC, USN
LT Peter J. Blameuser, USN
ENS Mauricio Blondet, USN
LT Reza Chegini, USN
ENS Timothy Gorman, USN
ENS Paul Guebert, USN
LCDR Christopher Harris, USN
ENS Jamal L. Headen, USN
LT Jeffrey A. Hextell, USN
ENS Paul John Kloepping, USN
LTJG Michael R. Kreider, USN
LTJG Angela Laird, USN
ENS Jason Lancaster, USN
LT Erin Elizabeth Millea, D.D.S., USN
LTJG John Moore, USN
ENS Jeremy Mowery, USN
ENS Howard W. Newell III, USN
LTJG Dennis Palaniuk, USN
LTJG Robert B. H. Phaneuf, USN
LT Melissa Renee Proud, USN
LT James D. Raymond, USN
LTJG Kyle Recker, USN
LTJG Richard A. Reese, SC, USN
LTJG Shallia Saptoro, USN
LT Vaughn Schneider, USN
ENS Philip B. Smith, USN
LT Adam Michael Van Den Boom, M.D., USN
LTJG Matt Walton, USN
LT Donald V. Wilson, USN
LT Richard Zabawa, USN
LT Elizabeth Worley Zdunich, USN
PLANK OWNERS
179
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
Enlisted
BM2 Ryan Abbott, USN
OS2(SW) Mitchell Adams, USN
IT2(SW) James C. Alcorn, USN
EM1(SW) Gary Lynn Allbee Jr., USN
ITSN(SW) Justin R. Anderson, USN
ENFR Matthew Arthur, USN
ET3(SW) David K. Atkins, USN
DCFN Nicholas A. Atkins, USN
SK2(SW/AW) Darrius Mackellis Austin, USN
FCC(SW) Ronald L.B. Bailey Sr., USN
GM3 Scott Bailey, USN
ENFR Dereck Baker, USN
ITSN Joshua A. Barker, USN
EN1(SW) Joshua Barnes, USN
ET2(SW) Joseph R. Bennett, USN
DC1(SW) Paul George Bershers, USN
IT3 Jhrimack E. Besarra, USN
ABF1(AW/SW) Joseph William Birdsell, USN
EN2(SW/AW) Kyle Blackniak, USN
HTC(SW) Joshua Boeltz, USN
ENFR Charles Bolanos, USN
ENFR Esteban Bolanos, USN
ENFR Duane Boltinghouse, USN
EN1(SW) Michael Borden, USN
ABH3 Matthew Thomas Bork, USN
IT1(SW) Geoffrey D. Box, USN
CSSA Andrew Lee Bradford, USN
ABF2(AW) Karlus Breaux, USN
ENFR Benjamin Brennan, USN
ICFN Brandy L. Briggs, USN
ITC(SW/AW) Hakeen S. Bristow, USN
HM1(SW/AW) Mark Gregory Brown, USN
EM2(SW/AW) Ramel Bumanglag, USN
DC1(SW) Clayton D. Byington, USN
ENFA Alan Cai, USN
HM3 Malarie Dawn Campbell, USN
SN Israel Cardenas III, USN
BMSA John Carlson, USN
EN1(SW) Timothy Carlton, USN
YN1(AW) Mia Raychelle Carney, USN
DCFN Michael Carpenter, USN
ENFR Richard Casey, USN
BMSR Thomas Casey, USN
PSC(SW/AW) Ronald Undra Chandler, USN
SK1(SW/AW) Joquel Natarkie Chapple, USN
QMC(SW) Venetta Victoria Charles, USN
IT1(SW) Brett C. Cheuvront, USN
ETCS(SW) David P. Close, USN
HT2 James Coker, USN
BMSA Marcus Coleman, USN
EMFA Andre Collins, USN
SN Tyler D. Collins, USN
SR Peter Colon, USN
GM3 Christine E. Cooke, USN
YN1(SW) Craig Thomas Copeland, USN
BMSA Hector Cortes, USN
EN2 Argenis Cottesgonzales, USN
HM1 Winette Cox, USN
EMFN Christopher Craft, USN
ET2 Darrell E. Crawford, USN
IC3(SW) Zachary L. Cripe, USN
ENC(SW) Mark J. Cromer, USN
ABHC(AW/SW) Timothy Gregory Croxton, USN
SA Bryant Curley, USN
HM3 Dale Melvin Daffron, USN
BMSA Peter D’Alessandron, USN
BM2 Ozell Daniels, USN
GMC(SW/EXW/SCW) Richard Daue, USN
BM1(SW) Alan O. Davenport, USN
BMSN Adrionnia B. Davis, USN
OS1 Robert Earl Davis, USN
CSCS(SW/AW) Mary Beth Davis-Wells, USN
QM2(SW/AW) Brandy Nicole Day, USN
FCC(SW) John James DeAngellis, USN
HM2 Kristina Leonora Decena, USN
CSSR Shawn Clinton DeHorney, USN
CTT1(SW) Charles Denham, USN
SKC(SW/AW) Rosa Esthela-Barrera Diaz, USN
ET3 Matthew J. Dimmick, USN
OS1(SW/AW) Amanda April Doige, USN
SR Lee Van Domingo, USN
ENFN Dwayne Donaldson, USN
ENFR Paul Dotson, USN
CTT3 Richard J. Doucette, USN
BMSA Timothy Dronko, USN
EN2(SW) Samuel C. Dugo, USN
PSSN Ruth Wambraire Dupree, USN
CSSR Brian Joseph Dvorak, USN
BM2(SW/AW) Walter Stanley Dybis, USN
HM2 Cleora Dannyel Edwards, USN
EN3 Kam-Mira Edwards, USN
CTT1 Kerstin Elliott, USN
HM2 Holly Eve, USN
BMSN Felix Fernandez, USN
EN1 Alexander Figueroa, USN
SSgt Juan C. Fisher, USMC
BMSN David Foley, USN
ENFN Vincent Fontana, USN
OS2 Cecilia A. Fosu, USN
DCFN Zita E. Foto, USN
DC2(SW) Christina Gallegos, USN
RP1(FMF) Edmond Peter Garrett IV, USN
ENCM(SW) Christopher Gary, USN
IT1(SW/AW) Genita M. Gentry, USN
BMSA Mark George, USN
QM3 Myra Gillespie, USN
DCFR Randall Ginn, USN
HMC(SW) Colin T. Glynn, USN
EMFN Avinash Gomes, USN
OS2(SW/AW) Daquita J. Goodrich, USN
Phot
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Information Systems Technician 2nd Class James Alcorn raises the Navy Jack for the first time aboard the amphibious transport dock ship Pre-Commisioning Unit (PCU) New York (LPD 21) after the Navy took custody of the ship.
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183
LPD 21 USS NEW YORK
CWO2 Greg Gorczyca, USN
IC3 Benjamin Gorter, USN
EN3 Tameka R. Granison, USN
SR Ian Graves, USN
ET1(SW) Thomas M. Grawl, USN
DCFN Nicholas Ryan Gregrow, USN
SKC(SW) Keenan George Gresham, USN
ENFR Max Groesbeck, USN
EMFA Shoulong Gu, USN
EN3 Trevor Gulish, USN
PC1 Joseph Earl Guss, USN
OS2 Andrew Hahn, USN
HTFN Zachary Hanes, USN
FC1(SW/AW) Chad Eugene Hardwick, USN
IT1 Bryan T. Harman, USN
YNSN Kimberly Sue Harman, USN
SKSN Jordan Johnnie Harris, USN
CSSN Noah Tommy Harrison, USN
BMSA Keegan Hartman, USN
BMSN Jeffrey W. Haynes, USN
FC3 Chaley Henderson, USN
GMC(SW) Robert Henderson, USN
IT3 Sylas G. Hensley, USN
EN1(SW/EXW) Brandon Higgs, USN
SHSN Victoria Highsmith, USN
EN3 Christopher Hill, USN
EMFN Jordan Hoff, USN
SA Christopher Hoffman, USN
EN1(SW) Donald C. Holmes, USN
ET3 David L. Howard, USN
SK1(SW) Carl Anthony Hunt, USN
EM3 DeAnna Jackson, USN
EMFR Isaiah Jackson, USN
CSSA Karlows Jea Jackson, USN
IC1(SW/AW) Alan Jernigan, USN
DCC(SW/AW) Enrique C. Jograj Jr., USN
OCS Anthony Johnson, USN
ABF3(AW) Daniel Nevell Johnson, USN
CTT3 Jonathan Johnson, USN
IT2(SW) Lavar Johnson, USN
ENFR Rebbecca Johnson, USN
OS1(SW) Ronald Johnson, USN
ET3 Travis Johnson, USN
ENFR David R. Jones, USN
HMC(AW) Jason Paul Jordan, USN
ENCS(SW) Thomas O. Kane, USN
IC1(SW) Eric Keef, USN
EM1(SW) Kraig Kellar, USN
ET3 Ethan E. Kempf, USN
ETC(SW/SCW/EXW) Michael William Kerrigan, USN
QMSN Timothy Kidd, USN
OSSN Micah Kimbrell, USN
ET1(SW/AW) Daniel E. Kinder, USN
MAC William Jason Kline, USN
OS2(SW/AW) Marrion Canzell Knight, USN
AS3 Michael Vincent Knorr, USN
QMSN Christopher Koch, USN
SR Michael Kolbeck, USN
SHSN Srdjan Kremonic, USN
DC1(SW) Mark A. Kryger, USN
BMCS(SW) Chaas C. Kunze, USN
ITSN Mikal S. Kuyothrote, USN
IT3 Jeremy W. Landrum, USN
ENFN Scott Langford, USN
SKSN Adam Carl Ledet, USN
PS2 Kum-Seng Lee, USN
PSC Thomas Bradford Lehman, USN
MC1(SW/AW) Corey Tryone Lewis, USN
FC2(SW/AW) Neco Lewis, USN
QMSN Jason Lightburn, USN
HTFN Stephen Lippold, USN
CSSR Ronald Anthony Longfellow, USN
BM2 Steven Christopher Love, USN
SN Corey Lyons, USN
OS2 Shatara M. Mackey, USN
ET3 Juan Madrigal, USN
BMSN Darius Magee, USN
SA Marquis Manuel, USN
ABHAA Hannah Lee Marihugh, USN
DC2(SW) Brian Martin, USN
SH1(SW/AW) Daniel M. Martinez, USN
ABFAN Kathy Martinez, USN
OSSN Raulito Martinez, USN
BMSA Darren Martins, USN
CTT3 Mallory Maurer, USN
FC3 Stacey R. Mays, USN
ABHAN Francis Joseph McCarthy III, USN
BM1(SW) Roderick McCaskill, USN
EN2 John McConico, USN
HM1 Michelle Yolanda McCray, USN
SN Benjamin McDowell, USN
CWO3 Shawn E. McGowan, USMC
FC2(SW/AW) Jeremy L. McHenry, USN
CS2 Gloria Nadecha Medina, USN
SR Jhonnier Mejiaherrera, USN
DCFN Donita Milgan, USN
SN Grant Mills, USN
ET3 Eric Miravite, USN
FC2(SW/AW) Derek E. Mitchell, USN
IT3 Brian T. Moller, USN
PSSN Antwan Deawn Montague, USN
ET1(SW) Glen Moody, USN
BMSN Carlos Moore, USN
ABFAN Keith Bernard Moore, USN
HMC(SW/AW) Casey Raquel Moorer, USN
SR Jordan Morelli, USN
ABFAA Edward Moreno-Bahena, USN
OS1(SW) Earl Morey, USN
SR Brandon Morris, USN
HTFN Tiffany Moser, USN
USS NEW YORK LPD 21
184
GySgt John B. Mulder IV, USMC
IT2(SW) James Murray, USN
HM3(FMF) Kevin Joseph Muse, USN
FC2 Kelli N. Myers, USN
ET2(SW) John T. Nagy, USN
SHSN Ronald P. Nepacena, USN
SHC(SW/AW) Hilton L. Newton, USN
QM1 Steven M. Olague, USN
SN Rocky Orr, USN
YN2 Michael Anthony Ortiz, USN
HM1 Donald Charles Orton, USN
HTFN Ty D. Ottbeiriger, USN
YN2(SW/AW) Aaron Elroy Palacio, USN
PS3 Woodson Raynard Parker, USN
EM2(SW) Suzie Sophia Parris, USN
BM2 Tricia L. Pearson, USN
OS3 Anthony Pflugradt, USN
DCC(SW) Matthew J. Platto, USN
ABHAN Kevin Robert Probach, USN
CTTC(SW/AW) Richard Rabineau, USN
BMSN Gaspar Ramos, USN
AS2(AW) Willie Louis Ratliff, USN
BM3(SW) Franklin Rendo, USN
ABFAR Robert Anderson Richardson, USN
GMSN Ashley N. Roberts, USN
MR2 Robert Rodado, USN
SH2(SW) Ebony Kiysha Rogers, USN
EM3 Jaime J. Rojas, USN
SR Zachary Romena, USN
OS2 Arnaldo Romero, USN
BMSR Joseph Romero, USN
FC2(SW) Kenneth G. W. Ruth, USN
OS1(SW/AW) Narissa Latrice Samuels, USN
ENFR Joseph Sanchez, USN
CSSR Jasmine Deneka Sanders, USN
IT2(SW) Nicole Saunders, USN
EN1 David Sellers, USN
EN2(SW) Eric Selmer, USN
ET3 William Adam Shempert, USN
SK1(SW/AW) Ursula D. Sheran, USN
CS1 Jeffrey Shermak, USN
ABH2(AW/SW) Dustin Alyn Shipman, USN
ENFR Paul Silatolu, USN
SR Ryan Simpson, USN
HT1(SW) William Sisk, USN
SR Brandon J. Smalley, USN
QMSN Adam Smith, USN
CS1(SW/AW) Danielle Smith, USN
EM2(SW) Jason Smith, USN
BMSR Lamar Smith, USN
SR Leslie Smith, USN
ENFR Danita Soto, USN
QMSN David Soto, USN
CSSA Florentino Soto, USN
FC3 Mary Spell, USN
HTFN Keiaria Spires, USN
DC2(SW/AW) Jennifer Stage, USN
ETC(SW/SCW) Benjamin Cameron Stearns, USN
EMC(SW/AW) Todd A. Steiner, USN
EM2 Christopher Stevens, USN
ITCM(SW/AW) Sean M. Stewart, USN
HT1(SW) John Stinnett, USN
ITSN Alexander T. Stokes, USN
CSSN Anna Stuckey, USN
HT1(SW) Wesley A. Stump, USN
ET3 Nicholas Styles, USN
FC1(SW/AW) Michael Sullivan, USN
EN2 Glenn Swift, USN
CWO4 Scott Sylvester, USN
BMCS Patrick Taffe, USN
IT1(SW) Shareef H. Talbert, USN
ENFR Darius Talley, USN
HM2(SW) Roy Antoine Teague, USN
ABHAA Donna Joy Terrado, USN
QM3 Debra Thomas, USN
ENFR Dennis Thomas, USN
NCC(SW/AW) Lori Lynn Thomas, USN
CS1 Travis Thomas, USN
ENFR Corey Thompson, USN
CWO3 Manfred Tiedemann, USN
EMFN Lester Toledo, USN
CSSR Guinno Torres, USN
OS1 Jerred M. Truman, USN
GM2(SW/AW) Mindy H. Tutti, USN
CS2 Chrystelle Usher, USN
ENFR Salud Valdez Perez, USN
SK2(SW/AW) Yudi E. Vazquez, USN
ISC Tricia D. Viviano, USN
SR Nicholas Vonpechmann, USN
ITSN Brandon M. Waddell, USN
ICFN Shatara Ward, USN
ENFR Jonathan M. Watford, USN
QM2 Dominique Wheelock, USN
IT2(SW) Daniel D. White, USN
GM3 Eric L. White, USN
ICFN Lawrence White, USN
IT3 Robert D. White, USN
EN1 Antonn A. Williams, USN
OS2 Cory Williams, USN
ABFAA Keon Markee Williams, USN
ABHC(AW/SW) Douglas Lee Wilmoth, USN
HM2(SW) Latoya Monique Wilson, USN
BMC(SW) Jared E. Winegardner, USN
SH2(SW/AW) Jason Raynard Winns, USN
CSC(SW/AW) Jerryl Winters, USN
SR Anthony Wizner, USN
ENFR Randy Woodhead, USN
CTM2 Laron Worsley, USN
Forged with 7.5 metric tons of salvaged
steel from World Trade Towers and the
spirit of American resolve, Curtiss-Wright
is proud to have had a hand in producing
mission critical hardware for the USS
New York. Spirit, sacrifice and dedication
is endemic in the legacy our founding
fathers bequeathed to us. They would be
pleased that we are a part of this mission
to protect freedom wherever it’s
threatened.
A Powerful Symbol of Freedom and Resolve
Never Forget.
USS NEW YORK LPD 21 is the newest addition to the U.S. Navy’s 21st Century amphibious assault
force. Led by 7-1/2 tons of World Trade Center steel melted into her bow stem, the 684-foot-long ship can
transport and land nearly 800 Marines, their equipment, aircraft and supplies. USS New York symbolizes
the strength and courage of our nation. The craftsmanship of our highly skilled shipbuilders who built this
ship and the resolve of the finest men and women in uniform who will sail her into harm’s way, are themselves
a testament to the strength and power of the American spirit. Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget.
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www.northropgrumman.com/shipbuilding