The USS New York, built with steel from the rubble of the World Trade Center, was put into Navy service yesterday both as a symbol of healing and strength.

"No matter how many times you attack us, we always come back," Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said at the amphibious assault ship's commissioning. "America always comes back. That's what this ship represents."

He spoke on a Manhattan pier where hundreds of Navy officers and sailors joined first responders and families of Sept. 11 victims.

"I hereby place the USS New York in commission," Mr. Mabus announced.

And with a long drum roll, the ship's crew was set on the first watch, obeying the order, as traditionally worded: "Man our ship and bring her to life!"

From atop the vessel, decked in red, white and blue bunting, black smoke rose into the chilly fall morning to signal that the USS New York was powered up. A loud cheer accompanied a flyover by Navy planes.

The 7 1/2 tons of steel debris from ground zero had been melted down to form the bow of the USS New York as "a symbol of our unshakable resolve; this is a city built of steel," said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, representing the Obama administration.

Mrs. Clinton is a former U.S. senator from New York .

The USS New York's new skipper, Cmdr. Curtis Jones, a native of Binghamton, N.Y., will oversee a crew of 360 sailors on a vessel transporting up to 700 Marines to war zones and humanitarian missions.

The $1 billion warship was built near New Orleans by workers who survived Hurricane Katrina.

Washington correspondent Daniel Malloy writes the "Pittsburgh On The Potomac" blog exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.