You might want to check the accompanying thread on whether Bismarck
was sunk or scuttled. That thread arose from a New York Times article,
a promo for the show you have seen.

I think you'll find that few posters in that thread have had any time
for the Bismarck-had-to-be-scuttled theory. The arguments are briefly
repeated there and have been discussed at length in the newsgroup and
in print. Best regards,

On Mon, 9 Dec 2002 01:43:50 -0500, "James Anatidae"

.

Ship to Be Built From Trade Center Steel
Sat Dec 28, 8:29 PM ET

By JOEL STASHENKO, Associated Press Writer

ALBANY, N.Y. - Steel salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center
was headed to a Mississippi shipyard Saturday for use in the USS New York, a
warship named in honor of those who perished in the Sept. 11 terrorist
attack.

It was the Navy's idea to incorporate the steel into the vessel, said Capt.
Kevin Wensing, a Navy public affairs officer in Washington.

He said the steel was removed Friday from the New York landfill that holds
much of the debris from the twin towers and was being shipped to the
Northrop Grumman shipyard at Pascagoula, Miss., where construction of the
warship is to begin next year.

The USS New York will be the fifth of 12 amphibious assault ships in the San
Antonio class, which the Navy calls one of its most technologically
innovative. The 684-foot vessel will carry a crew of 402 plus as many as 800
Marines.

If the trade center scrap meets specifications, it will be melted down and
used to configure the leading edge of the ship's bow, said Northrop Grumman
spokesman Jim McIngdale.

The $800 million vessel should be ready for active duty in 2007.

"We're very proud that the twisted steel from the WTC towers will soon be
used to forge an even stronger national defense," New York Gov. George
Pataki said.

Currently, only submarines are given state names, but state officials
lobbied Navy Secretary Gordon England to make an exception.

The structural steel, primarily from a section of beam about 20 feet long
and weighing 20 to 30 tons, was part of the wreckage taken across New York
Harbor to the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island after the Sept. 11
attack. It is believed to have been part of the south tower, the second of
the twin skyscrapers hit by airliners hijacked by terrorists but the first
to collapse.

Nearly 2,800 people died in the attack on the World Trade Center.

Most of the structural steel from the towers has already been sold for
scrap.