Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] yesterday said it has begun building the sixth Legend-class National Security Cutter (NSC) for the Coast Guard, which will eventually deploy eight of the high-endurance ships.
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| Coast Guard NSC Waesche. Photo: Coast Guard |
So far HII has delivered three NSCs that are operating with the Coast Guard’s fleet. The fourth vessel recently completed an electronics light-off milestone, which means the ship’s electrical system was powered up for the first time. The Hamilton (WMSL-753) is scheduled to be christened on Oct. 26.
The fifth NSC, James (WMSL-754), is 70 percent complete and is scheduled to launch next spring.
The sixth NSC, Munro (WMSL-755), is scheduled to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2016.
“Our shipbuilders have a great jump start on the construction of this ship as we have already cut and processed more than 400 tons of steel for NSC 6,” Jim French, program manager for the NSC at HII’s Ingalls division, said in a statement. “We are seeing improved efficiencies across the board in National Security Cutter construction as this program matures and we leverage lessons learned from one ship to the next.”