Video: Launching of 4th NSC Hamilton

Two days ago, the fourth U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter, Hamilton (WMSL 753), was launched at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula. NSCs are the flagship of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, designed to replace the 378-foot Hamilton-class High-Endurance Cutters, which entered service during the 1960s.

Hamilton will be christened on Oct. 26 in Pascagoula by ship sponsor Linda Kapral Papp, wife of Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr., commandant, U.S. Coast Guard.

Keel laying for Ingalls’ fifth NSC, James (WMSL 754), took place on May 17. The ship is currently 32 percent complete and will launch the spring of 2014. Ingalls has started construction on nine units for NSC 6. An advance long lead material procurement contract has also been awarded for a seventh NSC.

NSCs are 418 feet long, with a 54-foot beam, displacing 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 110.

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Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, August 15, 2013; Video: huntingtoningalls