USS Somerset Arrives In Philadelphia For Commissioning
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia got a new attraction Friday -- though it is a temporary one.
The newest ship in the U.S. Navy is docked at Penn's Landing.
"It's a nice-looking ship, I'll tell you that," veteran Wallace Littlewood said.
Veterans from the welcoming committee of the Navy League watched as the USS Somerset turned 180 degrees to pull into its berth on the Delaware River.
"It's a beautiful new ship, very advanced, highly technical and everything," Littlewood said.
The Somerset is the third of three ships built to memorialize 9/11, this one named for the Pennsylvania county where Flight 93 went down. It will be officially commissioned here March 1st and public tours start on Wednesday, but its arrival in the wet chill was a modest affair, with a few onlookers who'd stumbled onto it.
"We just wanted to take a look at what was going on down here and it's pretty cool. We heard part of the steel for the ship was from one of the 9/11 aircraft so it's kind of neat," visitor Ian said.
The 700-foot ship can carry 1,200 sailors and land an Osprey helicopter.
Across its back are the words, "Let's roll."