Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson toured the U.S. Coast Guard‘s National Security Cutter Hamilton during his visit to the Huntington Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. last week.
The company’s NSC production line has already rolled out three ships as Hamilton and two other vessels are intended to be delivered to the Coast Guard in stages, HII said Thursday.
Johnson was accompanied by Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) and also toured the fifth cutter, James (WMSL 754), which is scheduled to be moved from drydock ahead of its launch next week.
“Today was a great opportunity to show Secretary Johnson the quality craftsmanship of our shipbuilders,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said.
“These cutters play a significant role in homeland security operations, and all of the shipbuilders at Ingalls take pride in providing an agile and innovative ship that the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard need to perform their missions,” he added.
The 418-feet-long cutters are built to travel at speeds of up to 28 knots, ranges of up to 12,000 miles and to work with a 4,500-ton fully-loaded displacement.
Cutters are also designed to operate at sea for up to 60 days with a 110-person crew.
