Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. [HII] yesterday said it has begun fabrication on the fourth Coast Guard National Security Cutter (NSC), the Hamilton (WMSL 753), which is scheduled to be delivered to the service in the fall of 2014.

HII received the $480 million construction contract for Hamilton in November 2010. The first two NSCs have already been delivered to the Coast Guard and the third vessel, the Stratton, is scheduled to be delivered on Friday.

The 418-foot Legend-class NSCs are being built to replace 12 378-foot Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters, which entered service in the 1960s. The Coast Guard plans on acquiring eight NSCs.

HII’s Ingalls division in Pascagoula, Miss., makes the hull and mechanical and electrical systems for the NSCs while Lockheed Martin [LMT] builds and integrates the C4ISR capabilities aboard the vessels.