Ingalls authenticated keel of fifth NSC for USCG
Huntington Ingalls Industries' (NYSE:HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division today authenticated the keel of the company's fifth U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter, James (WMSL 754), the shipbuilder’s news release said.
The fifth NSC is named for Joshua James, who is credited with saving more than 600 lives along the New England coastline during a nearly 60-year career in the 1800s with the U.S. Life Saving Service. James' great-great-niece, Charlene Benoit is the ship's sponsor, and she authenticated the keel, a maritime tradition signifying the keel of the ship has been "truly and fairly laid." Her initials were welded onto a steel plate by Ingalls welder D.J. Robinson.
Ingalls has delivered three National Security Cutters to the Coast Guard. The fourth ship, Hamilton (WMSL 753), will be christened on Oct. 26. Currently James has all 45 units in production and is 17 percent complete. She will be launched in spring of 2014 and delivered to the Coast Guard in the summer of 2015. Ingalls was recently awarded a $487 million contract to build a sixth NSC.
NSCs are 418 feet long with a 54-foot beam, displacing 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.
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) designs, builds and maintains nuclear and non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and provides after-market services for military ships around the globe. For more than a century, HII has built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder at its Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding divisions. Employing about 37,000 in Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and California, HII also provides a wide variety of products and services to the commercial energy industry and other government customers, including the Department of Energy.