USCGC Hamilton (WMSL-753)

USCGC Hamilton (WMSL-753) is the fourth Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. She is the fifth cutter named after 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).

USCGC Hamilton (WMSL-753)

History
United States
Namesake:	Alexander Hamilton
Ordered:	November 2010
Builder:	Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Laid down:	September 5, 2012
Launched:	August 10, 2013
Sponsored by:	Linda Kapral Papp
Christened:	October 26, 2013
Commissioned:	December 6, 2014
Identification:	MMSI number: 368883000 Callsign: NMAG
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[1]
Sensors and processing systems:	EADS 3D TRS-16 AN/SPS-75 Air Search Radar SPQ-9B Fire Control Radar AN/SPS-73 Surface Search Radar AN/SLQ-32
Electronic warfare & decoys:	AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare System 2 SRBOC/ 2 x NULKA countermeasures chaff/rapid decoy launcher
Armament:	1 x MK 110 57mm gun a variant of the Bofors 57 mm gun and Gunfire Control System 1 × 20 mm Block 1B Phalanx Close-In Weapons System 4 × .50 caliber machine guns 2 × M240B 7.62 mm machine guns
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. The keel was laid on September 5, 2012. The cutter's sponsor is Linda Kapral Papp, the wife of Coast Guard Commandant Robert J. Papp, Jr.[2]

Hamilton was floated on 10 August 2013. The ceremonial ship launching (christening) was on 26 October 2013.[3] She was delivered to the Coast Guard in September 2014. The cutter is homeported in the City of North Charleston, SC, at the old Charleston Naval Base

In January 2020 the Hamilton became the first NSC to participate in a Navy Composite Training Unit Exercise, for 3 weeks the cutter integrated with the 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 throughout the Eastern Pacific Ocean and offloaded $324 million worth of cocaine and marijuana.[4]

See also

• USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750)
• USCGC Waesche (WMSL-751)
• USCGC Stratton (WMSL-752)
• USCGC James (WMSL-754)
• Integrated Deepwater System Program
• USS Alexander Hamilton

References

1. "National Security Cutter: Program Profile". USCG.mil. US Coast Guard. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
2. "Ingalls Shipbuilding Authenticates the Keel of U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter HAMILTON (WMSL 753)". Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
3. "Coast Guard Christens 4th National Security Cutter". military.com. October 28, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
4. "Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton returns home after 80-day patrol". www.southcom.mil/. Retrieved 5 May 2020.