Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WMSL 757), right, meets Coast Guard Cutter Kimball (WMSL 756) off Diamond Head Aug. 16, 2019 while a C-130 Hercules aircraft from Air Station Barbers Point flies between them.
COAST GUARD IS OVERHAULING WHITE, RED AND BLACK HULL FLEETS BY EDWARD LUNDQUIST
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Coast Guard OUTLOOK
MISSIONS OF NSCS, OPCS, AND FRCS NSCs, OPCs, and FRCs, like the cutters they are intended to replace, are to be multi-mission ships to perform search and rescue (SAR); drug interdiction; migrant interdiction; ports, waterways, and coastal security (PWCS); protection of living marine resources; other/general law enforcement; and defense readiness operations. If needed, they can also support other Coast Guard operations such as aids to navigation (ATON) support or pollution response. The first NSC, USCGC Bertholf (WMSL 750), was commissioned in August of 2008. At 4,500 tons and 418-feet in length, it is larger and more capable than its predecessor, the 378-foot, Hamilton-class WHEC. While the original program of record (POR) was to build eight NSCs, the program has been supported by Congress, and funding has been authorized for up to 11. All of the NSCs are built at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Mississippi. The seventh and eighth NSCs, Kimball and Midgett, respectively, were commissioned into service in a joint ceremony at their homeport of Honolulu in 2019. The ninth NSC, Stone, will be
U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY CHIEF PETTY OFFICER JOHN MASSON
The Coast Guard cutter fleet has served with distinction, but it is old and in need of recapitalization. Fortunately, new ships are on the way. The good news is that today there are cutters in the water, being built, or planned to replace the aging “white hull” high endurance and medium endurance cutters and patrol boat fleets; “red hull” icebreakers; and “black hull” buoy and inland waterway tenders. The legacy multi-mission “white hull” cutters are grouped by size, with high-endurance cutters (WHECs) being the largest, followed by medium endurance cutters (WMECs), and finally patrol boats (WPBs). The older ships are increasingly more expensive to operate and maintain, and they are also no longer optimal for mission sets that have become more complex. In rebuilding the fleet, the WHECs are being replaced by the National Security Cutter (NSC), which are designated as “maritime security cutter large” or WMSLs. The WMECs are being replaced by the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), which carry the “maritime security cutter medium” or WMSM designation. The patrol boats are being replaced with the Fast Response Cutter (FRC).
