Linda Kapral Papp News

Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton, the first national security cutter homeported on the East Coast, entered into active service today at Union Pier Terminal in downtown Charleston. The commissioning ceremony for the Coast Guard’s largest and newest 418-foot cutter was presided by Vice Adm. William “Dean” Lee, Coast Guard Atlantic Area commander. Commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, delivered the keynote address. “Together with my shipmates, we’re beginning the most important milestones in the life of a cutter,” said Capt. Doug Fears, Hamilton’s commanding officer and the most senior member of the crew. While being “new” to the Coast Guard is the highlight of the ceremony, Cutter Hamilton’s most enthusiastic crewmembers are just as new to the Coast Guard.

The U.S Coast Guard christened its fourth National Security Cutter Saturday, during a ceremony at Ingalls Shipyards in Pascagoula, Miss. The cutter's sponsor, Linda Kapral Papp, led the time-honored tradition of breaking a champagne bottle on the cutter's bow, officially giving the cutter the name Hamilton. She was accompanied by Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp, who was the keynote speaker for the event. "A ship's sponsor is considered a permanent part of the ship's crew and an advocate for its continued service and well-being," said Linda Kapral Papp. The Hamilton was named after Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury and the driving force behind the establishment of the Revenue Cutter Service, a precursor to the modern U.S. Coast Guard.

The National Security Cutter (NSC) 'Hamilton' was christend by Linda Kapral Papp, the wife of the US Coast Guard Commandant, at a ceremony attended by nearly 1000 guests at the shipyard. Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr., commandant of the Coast Guard, served as the keynote speaker. "As a sailor myself, I've learned that when you're sailing against the wind and the tide, getting to your desired destination often requires a great amount of effort and sometimes takes longer than you thought it might," he said.

Huntington Ingalls Industries' (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division launched the company's fourth U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter (NSC), Hamilton (WMSL 753), on Saturday. "Launching a ship involves quite a bit of logistics, and our team pulled this off in a very safe and efficient manner," said Ingalls' NSC Program Manager Jim French. "It's a weeklong process to first translate the ship across land into our floating drydock and then going through an extensive ship-wide check-out process to launch.

Ingalls Shipbuilding authenticates the keel of U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter 'Hamilton' (WMSL 753) with sponsor's intitials welded in. Mrs. Linda Kapral Papp, wife of Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr., commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, is the ship's sponsor. Her initials were welded on a keel plate that will be part of the ship as long as it remains in the operational fleet. Ingalls has delivered three NSCs, the flagships of the Coast Guard's cutter fleet. They are designed to replace the 378‐foot Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters, which entered service during the 1960s.