The U.S. Coast Guard’s third 418-foot National Security Cutter (NSC), the Stratton (WMSL 752), has successfully completed several days of acceptance trials to ensure that it meets all contractual requirements, making it ready for delivery to the service. The Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII]-built cutter went through acceptance trials at the shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., and at sea in the Gulf of Mexico by the Coast Guard and the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV). “NSC 3 acceptance trials were a very safe and well executed evolution,” says Rear Adm. Bruce Baffer, the program executive officer for the Coast Guard’s Acquisition Directorate. “We got underway on schedule, successfully demonstrated all contractual requirements and returned three hours early, flying two brooms, signifying a clean sweep of all challenges during at-sea testing.” As for issues with the cutter, acceptance trials resulted in two starred cards for Stratton, down from three with NSC 2, the Waesche, and eight with NSC 1, Bertholf. Starred cards are discrepancies that must be corrected before delivery or waived by the government. The INSURV team will soon make a formal recommendation regarding the Stratton’s acceptance to the Coast Guard. The cutter is expected to be delivered to the service in early September. The production contract for NSC 4 was awarded last November and construction is slated to begin later this month. The Coast Guard plans to acquire eight NSCs to replace 12 Hamilton-class high endurance cutters that began service in the 1960s.
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