9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America wishes all who will sail aboard this proud ship, the USS New York, safe seas and good hunting!

Updated, 6:02 PM: Chris Hill, the national director of the Gathering of Eagles, attended the christening today and emailed us to say:

[The] Master Chief of the ship promised to “get some” for all of us, and Gen. Mattis promised to make sure his Marines “Never Forget” the ship’s mission. Not a dry eye in the house all day.

Manchu!

The USS New York: Source: U.S. Navy

Motto: “Never Forget.” (watch the video)
Length: 684 feet
Beam: 105 feet
Weight: 24,900 tons
Crew: 28 officers and 332 enlisted Navy personnel; three Marines
Power: Four Colt-Pielstick turbo-charged diesel engines.
Sustainable speed: More than 22 knots
Aircraft: Four CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters or two MV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft.
Armament: Two 30 mm close-in guns, two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers.
Troops: Can land up to 800 Marines
Transport: Two aircushion landing crafts (LCACs); 14 Marine Corps Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles.
Commander: Cmdr. F. Curtis Jones
Homeport: Norfolk, starting in 2009