Nichols Martin
The shipbuilding division of Huntington Ingalls Industries has authenticated the keel of a future Legend-class U.S. Coast Guard cutter, marking the start of the ship’s construction.
Structural welder Demetrica Hawkins affixed a commemorative steel plate the WMSL 758 or National Security Cutter Stone during the keel-laying ceremony of at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding Division, the company said Friday.
The steel plate displays the initials of Laura Cavallo, the ship’s sponsor and great niece of former USCG Cmdr. Elmer Fowler Stone, the ship’s namesake.
Stone joined the service in 1910 and became USCG’s first aviator in 1917, following his training at Pensacola, Fla.
HII received a contract in late 2016 to build the ship, following the six previous NSC units that the company delivered to the government.
