United States Coast Guard’s new National Security Cutter James (WMSL 754) sailed away from Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division on Sunday, July 12, just one month after being delivered to the USCG.
James will be commissioned on Aug. 8 in Boston. The ship will then be stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, alongside Ingalls’ fourth NSC, Hamilton (WMSL 753).
Ingalls has delivered five NSCs and has two more under construction. Earlier this year, Ingalls was awarded a construction contract for an eighth NSC.
National Security Cutters, the flagships of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, are designed to replace the 378‐foot Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters, which entered service during the 1960s. NSCs are 418 feet long with a 54-foot beam and displace 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 120.
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Image: HII