The U.S. Coast Guard's newestüLegend-class national security cutter,üStoneü(WMSL 758), departed from Huntington Ingalls Industries' Ingalls Shipbuilding division today, sailing to its homeport in Charleston, South Carolina.
'I cannot think of a better ending to 2020 than seeing the look of pride on the faces of our shipbuilders asüStoneüsails away from our shipyard to join the Coast Guard's cutter fleet,' Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said. 'Our workforce has provided the Coast Guard with another state-of-the-art, highly capable national security cutter that will work for decades to come to ensure our nation's maritime safety and security.'
Stoneüwill be commissioned in early 2021 in Charleston, which is also home to cuttersüHamiltonü(WMSL 753) andüJamesü(WMSL 754).
Ingalls is the builder-of-record for theüLegend-class NSC program and has delivered nineücutters with one more under construction and one additional under contract.ü
Stoneüis named to honor Coast Guard Commander Elmer 'Archie' Fowler Stone, Coast Guard aviator number one, who made history in 1919 for being one of two Coast Guard pilots in the four man air crew who completed the first trans-Atlantic flight in a Navy seaplane.ü
TheüLegend-class NSC is the most technologically advanced ship in the Coast Guard's fleet, which enables it to meet the high demands required for maritime and homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defense missions. NSCs are 418 feet long with a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 120.
