MUSCATINE, Iowa — Carver Pump Co. employees will watch with pride today when the USS New York is commissioned.

The Muscatine company built more than 100 pumps for the U.S. Navy’s new amphibious assault ship.

“Carver Pump employees are very proud of what they do,” Chief Operating Officer Mark Post said. “We have a very patriotic [team]. I guess you would say, and they understand the importance of what’s happening with the New York.”

The USS New York, with its motto — “Strength Forged Through Sacrifice. Never Forget” — arrived in New York on Monday. The ship’s bow is made from 7.5 tons of steel recovered from the World Trade Center following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Special events and tours have been taking place all week and the ship will be formally commissioned at a 10 a.m. today. The ship will remain in New York until Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Carver Pump built all but one or two of the pumps used for the $1 billion ship.

“Carver Pump is one of the Navy’s top centrifugal pump manufacturers,” Post said.

About 25 different types of pumps, ranging in size from 3 horsepower to 150 horsepower, were used. Carver pumps are incorporated in the ship’s weapons system, the propulsion system and the crew’s accommodations .

“The ship is basically just a big hole in the water that you pump stuff around in,” Post said. “Our pumps are really in all the systems.”

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding built the USS New York in Louisiana. The 684-foot-long ship was keeled in August 2004. During Hurricane Katrina, 1,200 workers opted to keep working on the ship instead of evacuating.

The USS New York is a San Antonio-class  amphibious docking vessel designed to land Marines in combat territory. Its flight decks will accommodate helicopters and the Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.

According to Navaltechnologies.com, San Antonio-class ships are designed to “transport the U.S. Marine Corps’ … Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAAVs), air-cushioned landing craft (LCAC) and the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft to trouble spots around the world.”

The USS New York is the fifth San Antonio-class ship to set sail. Two others commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are still under construction. The USS Arlington includes steel from the attack on the Pentagon and the USS Somerset includes steel from a crane used in the recovery process after American Airlines Flight 77 crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

Carver Pump has the contract for all of the ships.

This is not the first time the 2001 terrorist attack has touched the local company. It made pumps for the company that built the truck-washing system used to decontaminate the wreckage from the World Trade Center.

“We had guys that offered to come in to work on their own on the weekend to get those pumps built,” Post said.

Carver Pump built its first pumps in 1938. Today it is one of the world’s leading centrifugal pump companies. It designs and builds all of its products in Muscatine.