USCGC Hamilton (WMSL-753)
USCGC Hamilton (WMSL-753) is the fourth Legend-class cutter, also known as the National Security Cutter (NSC), of the United States Coast Guard. She is the fifth cutter named after Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, who was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury and in that position requested the formation of the United States Coast Guard (as the United States Revenue Cutter Service). The cutter's sponsor is Linda Kapral Papp, the wife of Coast Guard Commandant Robert J. Papp Jr.
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Namesake | Alexander Hamilton |
| Ordered | November 2010 |
| Builder | Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Mississippi |
| Laid down | 5 September 2012 |
| Launched | 10 August 2013 |
| Sponsored by | Linda Kapral Papp |
| Christened | 26 October 2013 |
| Commissioned | 6 December 2014 |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In service |
| Badge | |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Legend-class cutter |
| Displacement | 4500 LT |
| Length | 418 ft (127 m) |
| Beam | 54 ft (16 m) |
| Height | 140 ft (43 m) |
| Draft | 22.5 ft (6.9 m) |
| Decks | 4 |
| Propulsion | Combined diesel and gas |
| Speed | 28+ knots |
| Range | 12,000 nm |
| Endurance | 60 days |
| Complement | 111 (15 Officers, 15 CPO, 81 Enlisted) and can carry up to 148 depending on mission |
| Sensors and processing systems |
|
| Electronic warfare & decoys | |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | Ballistic protection for main gun |
| Aircraft carried | 2 x MH-65C Dolphin MCH, or 4 x VUAV or 1 x MH-65C Dolphin MCH and 2 x VUAV |
| Aviation facilities | 50-by-80-foot (15 m × 24 m) flight deck, hangar for all aircraft |
Construction began in September 2011 by Northrop Grumman's Ship System Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, with the keel was laid on 5 September 2012. Hamilton was launched on 10 August 2013, and her christening was on 26 October 2013. She was delivered to the Coast Guard in September 2014. The cutter is homeported at Joint Base Charleston in North Charleston, South Carolina.
In January 2020 Hamilton became the first NSC to participate in a Navy Composite Training Unit Exercise, integrated with USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and Carrier Strike Group 10. After operating with the Carrier Strike Group, the cutter patrolled the Eastern Pacific Ocean in support of Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) South. The cutter returned in April after the 80-day patrol, during which she captured three drug smuggling vessels, including two narco-subs, and eight suspected drug smugglers. After the patrol she offloaded $324 million worth of cocaine and marijuana.