United States Coast Guard commissions NSC Munro in Seattle

The United States Coast Guard has commissioned Munro, a new National Security Cutter (NSC), in Seattle, Washington.

The Legend class cutter uses combined diesel and gas turbine (CODAG) propulsion system featuring one GE LM2500 gas turbine and two diesel engines.

Munro is the fourth NSC to be homeported on the West Coast in Alameda, California.  The first National Security Cutter was deployed in 2009.

Munro was commissioned on 1 April  in Seattle to honour the Coast Guard’s only Medal of Honor recipient, Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro (1919–1942).  

The LM2500 gas turbines used for the NSCs were manufactured at GE’s Evendale, Ohio, facility. 

Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft said:“National Security Cutters are state of the art platforms that can operate seamlessly within the Navy’s fleet and leverage our unique authorities to push our maritime borders thousands of miles beyond the homeland in order to ensure our national security and prosperity.

“Our nation faces significant threats posed by violent transnational organized crime networks and the men and women of the Coast Guard are on the front lines of this fight. With ‘Gallantry in Action’ as the cutter’s motto, I cannot think of a more fitting tribute to Douglas Munro’s legacy than to name our armed service’s newest asset after our only Medal of Honor recipient.”

Called as the Legend class, NSCs are designed to be the flagships of the Coast Guard’s fleet. These are capable of executing the most challenging national security missions, including support to US combatant commanders.

NSCs are 418ft in length, 54ft in beam and 4,600 long tonnes in displacement.

With a top speed in excess of 28 knots, these come with a range of 12,000 nautical miles, have endurance of up to 90 days and can hold a crew of up to 150.

The newly commissioned Legend class cutters are replacing the aging high endurance Hamilton class cutters (378-feet) that have been in service since the 1960s.

The cutters conduct operations from South America to the Bering Sea where their ability to operate in extreme weather provides the mission flexibility necessary to conduct alien migrant interdiction operations, domestic fisheries protection, search and rescue, counter-narcotics and homeland security operations at great distances from shore.