NSC 'Hamilton' Christened at Ingalls Shipbuilding

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. "But I can count among our most satisfying accomplishments over the last several years that we have the construction of at least eight National Security Cutters in our sight."

Papp compared the christening to a wedding, saying, "It's the Coast Guard family coming together with the Ingalls family for a great adventure and a great providence. It is, in fact, a wedding. It's a marriage built out of business, but it is definitely a partnership, and we appreciate our partnership with Ingalls."

Adm. Papp's wife, Linda Kapral Papp, is the ship's sponsor. She smashed a ceremonial bottle across the ship's bow, officially christening WMSL 753, "Hamilton."

The ship is named in honor of Alexander Hamilton, who is credited with establishing the Revenue Cutter Service, the forerunner of today's U.S. Coast Guard. It is the third Coast Guard cutter to bear the name Hamilton.

HII President and CEO Mike Petters said the ship's namesake "would be most proud of the fact that this ship is the product of a manufacturing company like HII, from a community like Pascagoula, and the result of an American industrial base that includes 649 suppliers from 39 states."

NSCs are 418 feet long with a 54-foot beam and displace 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 110.