The USS Arlington joins the exclusive group of Navy ships who carry a payload of 9/11 memorabilia .  But unlike her sister ship, the USS New York (who is made from Ground Zero steel), the USS Arlington displays steel from the Pentagon.

Twisted chunks of steel torn from the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, will be displayed aboard a new Navy ship named after Arlington County, Va.

The rusted fragments will be displayed in a Lucite box on the quarterdeck of the USS Arlington, a symbolic reminder for those aboard of the terrorist attacks on Virginia and New York.

“This will be very tangible to the young people on the ship,” said Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., who yesterday attended a small ceremony at the Pentagon where the Secretary of the Navy presented the fragments to Arlington County officials.

“This will give them the history of why it was named” the USS Arlington “and why we do the things we do,” he added.

The 80-person ceremony took place barely an hour after 60,000 people attended an outdoor unveiling of the Pentagon’s new Sept. 11 memorial.

A third San Antonio-class ship, the USS Somerset, joines the fleet of 9/11 ships by carrying a name which honors the passengers of United Flight 93 who died in Sommerset County, Pennsylvania.

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