United States Ship New York (LPD-21), a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, is the fifth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the state of New York. The ship is designed to deliver a fully-equipped battalion of 700 Marines.

Shortly after 11 September 2001, Governor of New York George E. Pataki wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy Gordon England requesting that the Navy bestow the name USS New York on a surface warship involved in the War on Terror in honor of September 11's victims. In his letter, the Governor said he understood state names are currently reserved for submarines, but asked for special consideration so the name could be given to a surface ship. The request was approved 28 August 2002.

Oddly enough, a previous holder of the name, USS New York (BB-34), had its keel laid on September 11, 1911, exactly 90 years to the day before the WTC was attacked.

Twenty-four tons of the steel used in its construction came from the small amount of rubble from the World Trade Center actually preserved for posterity. Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, Louisiana to cast the ship's bow section. It was poured into the molds on September 9, 2003. With seven tons melted down and cast to form the ship's "stem bar" — part of the ship's bow.[1] The shipyard workers reportedly treated it with "reverence usually accorded to religious relics", gently touching it as they walked by.[2] LINK

I don't know what's worse-----700 cranky Marines on a ship like this or the havoc they can cause once they hit land.