Commissioning

A San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock (or LPD) is an impressive sight at sea or in port. She may not have the majestic presence of a fleet aircraft carrier or the sleek lines of an Aegis destroyer. But her broad, confident bulk sits easy in the water; her massive twin masts stand proudly against the sky. USS New York (LPD 21) is also about the size of a young battleship. 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 behemoth World War II namesake, the battleship New York (BB 34). Today she arms herself with 30 mm chain guns and Rolling 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 supercharged 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.