Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division announced the completion of acceptance sea trials for the company’s fourth U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter, Hamilton (WMSL 753).
The ship was underway for a two-day period in the Gulf of Mexico, performing numerous tests and demonstrations of shipboard systems for the Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV).
“It’s another great shipbuilding day, bringing NSC 4 back to Ingalls after very successful acceptance trials,” said Jim French, Ingalls’ NSC program manager. “The NSC program is a blueprint for success when it comes to shipbuilding. We continue to improve our performance on each ship, which translates into efficiency and affordability for our customer.”
While underway, Ingalls’ test and trials team conducted extensive testing of the propulsion, anchor handling, steering and combat systems. The testing culminated in the successful completion of a full-power propulsion run.
“The Ingalls/Coast Guard team had the ship prepared for an extensive two days of testing,” said Richard Schenk, Ingalls’ vice president, program management and test and trials. “The ship is ready to enter the service and start performing key Coast Guard missions.”
Ingalls has delivered three NSCs, and three more are currently under construction. A seventh NSC, Kimball WMSL 756, is scheduled to begin construction in early 2015. Hamilton is scheduled to be delivered next month and commissioned on Dec. 6 in Charleston, S.C.
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