National Security Cutter Midgett Launched
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has launched its eight National Security Cutter (NSC) built for the U.S. Coast Guard. NSC Midgett (WMSL 757) was launched on November 22, 2017, and will be christened during a ceremony on December 9.
The ship is named to honor John Allen Midgett, who was awarded the Silver Cup by the U.K. Board of Trade in 1918 for the rescue of 42 British sailors aboard the British tanker Mirlo after it was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of North Carolina. He was also awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1924. Midgett was a senior enlisted member of the U.S. Lifesaving Service when it merged with the U.S. Lighthouse Service and U.S. Revenue Cutter Service to become today’s U.S. Coast Guard.
As the flagships of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, Legend class NSCs are the largest and most technologically advanced class of cutter, with capabilities for maritime homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defense missions. Designed to replace the 378-foot Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters that entered service in the 1960s, they are 418 feet long with a 54-foot beam and displace 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 110. NSCs include an aft launch and recovery area for two rigid hull inflatable boats and a flight deck to accommodate a range of manned and unmanned rotary wing aircraft.
As the flagships of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, Legend class NSCs are the largest and most technologically advanced class of cutter, with capabilities for maritime homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defense missions. Designed to replace the 378-foot Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters that entered service in the 1960s, they are 418 feet long with a 54-foot beam and displace 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 110. NSCs include an aft launch and recovery area for two rigid hull inflatable boats and a flight deck to accommodate a range of manned and unmanned rotary wing aircraft.