The new U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS New York – commissioned last weekend – has ties to the World Trade Center destroyed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and also to the HVAC industry.

The ship’s bow is forged in part from 7.5 tons of steel recovered from the World Trade Center’s demolished twin towers -- buildings which had been cooled by YORK® chillers from 1970 until the day of the attacks.  Now the USS New York itself is outfitted with seven YORK chillers manufactured by Johnson Controls and supplied by the company’s YORK Navy Systems business headquartered in York, Pa.

The Johnson Controls business has supplied specially-designed chillers to virtually every ship in the U.S. Navy and to the majority of the naval vessels operated by NATO.  The chillers are considered “mission critical” on military ships because they keep sensitive equipment cool and functioning properly, according to Jack M. Barney, director of marketing for YORK Navy Systems. Chillers supplied to the U.S. Navy are manufactured at the Johnson Controls campus in York, Pa., known as the Grantley Technology Center.   

The USS New York is 684 feet long and can carry up to 800 Marines. It has a flight deck that can handle helicopters and the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. Construction with World Trade Center steel was encouraged by Governor George Pataki of New York and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City.  The ship’s keel was laid in August 2004.  Its motto is "Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget."