USCG accepts delivery of new National Security Cutter
What will become the USCGC Stone is scheduled for commissioning in February 2021 at its Charleston, South Carolina, homeport, also home to cutters Hamilton and James.
According to the USCG, the 418ft-long NSCs have an endurance of 60-90 days and can serve as operational-level headquarters for complex law-enforcement, defence and national security missions. They are replacing the 1960s-era 378ft High-Endurance Cutters.
With the most recent delivery, the USCG has taken possession of nine NSCs, eight of which have been commissioned into service.
In addition to Hamilton and James in Charleston, USCG cutters Bertholf, Waesche, Stratton and Munro are stationed in Alameda, California, and cutters Kimball and Midgett in Honolulu.
The service awarded a fixed-price contract option in December 2018 for production of hulls ten and 11 in the programme.
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