The latest U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter commissioned on Saturday in a ceremony in Seattle, Wash.
USCGC Munro (WMSL-755) is now the sixth Legend-class cutter in service and the fourth based in Alameda, Calif., according to the service. The 4,500-ton cutter is named for the service’s only Medal of Honor recipient, Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro, who died assisting Marines evacuating from Guadalcanal on Sept. 27, 1942.
“As a Marine, I’m honored and humbled to see this cutter commissioned to honor [Munro] who saved hundreds of Marines at Guadalcanal. It’s apparent his legacy and sacrifice lives on in each member of the U.S. Coast Guard,” said Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly in a Saturday statement.
The seventh NSC — Kimball (WMSL-756) – was launched by shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries in December. The eighth cutter — Midgett (WMSL-757) – is currently under construction at HII’s Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.
In late December the coast Guard awarded a $486 million contract for the construction of a ninth cutter.
The Coast Guard had originally planned to replace 12 Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters with eight NSCs. The Legend-class ships are 40 feet longer, have more sophisticated Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) equipment, and have added small boat and aviation operations capabilities.
Congress is considering adding funding for a tenth NSC.
