Ingalls Shipbuilding to christen USCGC Munro this weekend

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding is set to christen the sixth US Coast Guard National Security Cutter (NSC), USCGC Munro (WMSL 755), on 14 November in Pascagoula, Mississippi, US.

The cutter has been named in honour of Douglas A. Munro, who died on Guadalcanal in 1942 while helping evacuate a detachment of Marines who were under attacks by an enemy force.

Munro was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and he is the Coast Guard’s sole recipient of the award.

The technologically advanced NSCs are 418ft-long with a 54ft-beam and displace 4,500t with a full load.

The ships have a range of 12,000 miles, can reach top speeds of 28k and have the endurance of 60 days.

The vessels feature an aft launch and recovery area for two rigid-hull inflatable boats and a flight deck to accommodate a range of manned and unmanned rotary wing aircraft.

The NSCs, which can each accommodate 110 crew members, will be used for maritime security missions, including maritime homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defence missions.

Ingalls has already delivered the first five NSCs as part of a contract awarded in 2014 by the US Coast Guard to build seven legend-class national security cutter NSC ships.

The seventh ship (WMSL 756) is slated to be delivered in 2018.