The USS NY is, in some ways, heading home, even though this is its maiden voyage.

The Navy’s latest amphibious ship was built in Avondale, just outside New Orleans, by shipbuilders who braved Hurricane Katrina to get the job done. They knew their mission was special. The ship contains seven and a half tons of steel recovered from the World Trade Center after 9-11.

This morning, people lined the Mississippi River here in New Orleans, hoping to get a glimpse of the ship. She left Avondale for New York to be commissioned. Along the way she’ll stop in Norfolk to pick up Marines. The USS NY will be in New York for ten days and they’re expecting about one hundred thousand people to come aboard and visit while the ship is open to the public.

Some of the people in the crowd this morning were men who built this ship. The head of Northrop Grumman’s shipbuilding operations told us he got a chill every time he stepped on board. He said while they’ve worked on ships before, everyone understands the importance of the USS NY. They were sad to see her go, but happy to finally see her headed out to sea.

The weather matched the mood in New Orleans. When the ship came by our liveshot spot in New Orleans, it was eerie. A fog had settled in across the river and the USS NY looked like some kind of ghost ship.