Meet the newest USCGC
Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton, the newest National Security Cutter, joined the Coast Guard fleet at a commissioning ceremony held Dec. 6, 2014. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Sarah Foster.)
Legend-class NSC’s are the largest and the most technologically advanced vessels in the Coast Guard fleet that is replacing the antiquated the 378-foot high endurance cutters from the 1960s. The NSC is 418 feet long, manned by a 113-man crew, has a top speed of 28 knots and a range of 12,000 nautical miles. It is capable of patrolling in excess of 90 days. Armament includes a Bofors 57mm multipurpose cannon forward, 1 20mm CIWS (Mod.1B) aft, 4 M2 12.7mm heavy machine guns, and 2 M240B GPMGs as well as soft kill electronic countermeasures and decoys. Costs runs about $648 million per hull.