About The World

NEW YORK (CBS) ― The USS New York, built with steel from the rubble of the World Trade Center, was put into service Saturday both as a symbol of healing and strength.

"No matter how many times you attack us, we always come back," Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said at the amphibious assault ship's commissioning. "America always comes back. That's what this ship represents."

He spoke on a Manhattan pier where hundreds of Navy officers and sailors joined first responders and families of Sept. 11 victims for the ceremony, reports CBS station WCBS-TV.

"I hereby place the USS New York in commission," Mabus announced.

And with a long drum roll, the ship's crew was sent on its first watch, obeying the order, as traditionally worded: "Man our ship and bring her to life!"

From atop the vessel, decked in red, white and blue bunting, black smoke rose into the chilly fall morning to signal that the USS New York was powered up. A loud cheer accompanied a flyover by Navy planes.

The 7 1/2 tons of steel debris from ground zero had been melted down to form the bow of the USS New York as "a symbol of our unshakable resolve; this is a city built of steel," said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, representing the Obama administration.

Clinton was a U.S. senator from New York before she became the nation's top diplomat.

She noted that many of New York's iconic buildings were forged from steel, from the Statue of Liberty to the Chrysler building.

"But the strongest steel of New York has always been in the spines of its people," Clinton said, calling New Yorkers "strivers and seekers, immigrants from every country, speakers of every language."

The USS New York's new skipper, Cmdr. Curtis Jones, is a native New Yorker.

The ceremony had started with a moment of silence for those who died in the 9/11 attacks.

The $1 billion vessel was built near New Orleans by workers who survived Hurricane Katrina.

"They had to rebuild their lives and their homes at the same time as they built the ship," said Irwin F. Edenzon, general manager for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding-Gulf Coast, which built the USS New York.

The war ship arrived in New York City on Monday for a week of ceremony and celebration. Its first stop was a very solemn one, occurring near Ground Zero, where the crew paid tribute with a 21-gun salute.

The New York is called an "amphibious transport" and once you step inside you can see she carries weapons of war as well as the Marines trained to use them.

"We're pretty much showing our enemies that you can do whatever you want and we're gonna sit here and smile at you," said Lance Corporal Nelson Acevedo, originally from Miller Place, N.Y.

On display were the rifles snipers use with deadly accuracy from thousands of meters away, along with tripod and shoulder-launched anti-tank and aircraft missiles. Also shown were mortars and the troop vehicles needed once they reach land.

Stepping out onto the flight deck you'll find the air component. Think of the New York as an aircraft carrier for helicopters, like the CH-46 Sea Knights that flew us on board Sunday. The ship can carry four at a time. She also supports the expensive and controversial MV-22 osprey, a vertical takeoff plane whose development was plagued by accidents, but finally deployed just two years ago.

The ship's bow is built from 7 and 1/2 tons of World Trade Center steel and it's here the ships motto, "Strength through sacrifice. Never forget," has meaning for New Yorkers and the ship's crew.

"I was standing over the Palisades looking down the Hudson at what was the World Trade center, but just a pile of smoke was left over," recalled Lance Cpl. Adam Liguori of Fort Lee.

As time goes on, the USS New York and the sailors and Marines that live aboard her will forge their own history in service to the country. "Good duty" is a term service members use to describe a plum assignment, and while all time aboard a ship has its challenges, being assigned to the USS New York is considered good duty.

WCBS' Rob Morrison contributed to this report.

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