US Coast Guard, News, Reports, Data, etc.

Equation said:

Will there be any new ice breaker type ships design coming? I figure since the global warming are melting more of the arctic ice, more and more ice breaker types ships will be needed for a new passage way for cargo ships and other vessels.

Click to expand...

Jeff Head said:

Yes, I believe there will be.

How soon...I do not know.

But the US certainly needs more and is capable of building them.

Click to expand...

Jeff Head said:

Well it has been a year since the US Coast Guard selected the Eastern Shipbuilding design for the new class of large cutter, the Off-Shore Patrol Cutter which will replace a fleet of existing vessels.

The class name is to be the "Heritage Class, WMSM- 915 Cutter".

The National Security Cutter, or Legend WMSL-750 Class, is the larger class cutter for the US Coast Guard and is a good sized frigate class and can carry two Jayhawk (Coast Guard version of the Seahawk) helicopter.

Where as nine of the Legend Class will be built (and each of them displaces about 4,000 tons), 25 of the Heritgae are to be built and they are frigate sized vessels.

Like the Legend class, they are built to be able to be tasked with US Navy escort and patrol duties in a time of crisis, adding certain sensors and weapons systems that they have been built for, but not with.

This means that the US Coast Guard has now completed choosing all of its new cutter program for replacing a total of nintey+ cutters.

The Legend Class which are the largest will be a class of nine, seven of which jave already been launched nd the last two building.

The Heritage Class of Offshore Patrol Cutters which will be a fleet of 25 strong. The first of these cutters is currently building, but still awaiting keel laying.

And the Sentinel Class of Medium Response Cutters, which will be a fleet of 58 cutters, 23 of which are commissioned and 25 have been launched.

The 91 planned Legend, Heitage and Sentinel class cutters are intended to replace 90 older Coast Guard ships—12 high-endurance cutters (WHECs), 29 medium-endurance cutters (WMECs), and 49 110-foot patrol craft (WPBs).

Here is some later news about the Heritage Class:

Click to expand...

Naval Today said:

Ingalls Shipbuilding launched the US Coast Guard’s eighth national security cutter Midgett (WMSL 757) in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on November 23.

Midgett was translated via Ingalls’ rail car system to the floating dry dock last week, and the dock was moved away from the pier on Tuesday night. With the assistance of tugboats, Midgett launched off the dock early Wednesday morning.

The cutter will be christened during a ceremony on December 9.

“As the National Security Cutter program continues to mature, we are providing our Coast Guard customer the best ships in their fleet,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. “Our shipbuilders know and understand the importance of quality in building these highly capable cutters so the men and women of the Coast Guard can perform their important national security missions.”

The ship is named to honor John Allen Midgett, who was awarded the Silver Cup by the UK Board of Trade in 1918 for the renowned rescue of 42 British sailors aboard the British tanker Mirlo after it was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of North Carolina. He was also awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal by the US Coast Guard in 1924. Midgett was a senior enlisted member of the US Lifesaving Service when it merged with the US Lighthouse Service and US Revenue Cutter Service to become today’s US Coast Guard.

Legend-class NSCs are the flagships of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet. Designed to replace the 378-foot (115 m) Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters that entered service in the 1960s, they are 418 feet (127 m) long with a 54-foot (16.4 m) 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.

NSCs include 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.

Click to expand...

Naval Today said:

The U.S. Coast Guard on August 4 announced the names of the first 11 offshore patrol cutters that are set to start deliveries in fiscal year 2021.

Built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group, the cutters will be named:

Argus,
Chase,
Ingham,
Pickering,
Rush,
Icarus,
Active,
Diligence,
Alert,
Vigilant and
Reliance.

The Coast Guard’s new vessels will bridge capabilities between the national security cutter, which patrols the open ocean, and the fast response cutter, which serves closer to shore. The offshore patrol cutter will replace the service’s 270-foot and 210-foot medium endurance cutters.

“The offshore patrol cutter will be the backbone of Coast Guard offshore presence and the manifestation of our at-sea authorities,” said Adm. Paul Zukunft, commandant of the Coast Guard. “It is essential to stopping smugglers at sea, for interdicting undocumented migrants, rescuing mariners, enforcing fisheries laws, responding to disasters and protecting our ports.”

According to the Coast Guard program, twenty five Offshore Patrol Cutters are planned to be built at a total cost of over 10 billion dollars.

The OPCs will be 360 feet long and 54 feet wide with a projected speed of 22 knots. The cutters will be capable of carrying an MH-60R or MH-65 helicopter and three OTH small boats.

Click to expand...