Dominique Stump
Huntington Ingalls Industries‘ Ingalls Shipbuilding division launched the seventh Legend-class National Security Cutter the company built for the U.S. Coast Guard from a floating dry dock Saturday.
HII said Tuesday the 418-feet-long Kimball was transferred to the dry dock via Ingalls’ rail car system and was launched off the dock with tugboats.
“Our crew works hard to make sure these translations and launches go as smoothly as possible, while incorporating lessons learned from previous ships so we become that much more efficient,— said Derek Murphy, Ingalls’ NSC program manager.
“We are now focused on the upcoming milestones such as first fuel, generator and engine light-offs, and sea trials,” Murphy added.
Legend-class NSCs are designed to navigate the ocean at a range of 12,000 miles and speed of up to 28 knots to support Coast Guard maritime homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defense missions.
