Maritime response following the September 11 attacks

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Following the September 11 attacks in New York City, many people were unable to leave Lower Manhattan due to the closure of bridges and tunnels and mass transportation. Within minutes of the first plane hitting the first tower, multiple fireboats from the New York City Fire Department rushed to the scene. The United States Coast Guard coordinated a large convoy of merchant ships, tugboats, and ferries to evacuate the stranded and injured victims.

More than 150 different vessels and 600 sailors helped evacuate victims and delivered supplies in the days following the attacks. According to commandant of the Coast Guard James Loy, the mass evacuation of more than 500,000 civilians following the attacks "moved more people from the island than the 1940 evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk in France." It remains one of the largest maritime evacuations in recorded history.