Coast Guard
Coast Guard’s newest cutter Calhoun sails away from Ingalls
Stars and Stripes
November 21, 2023
USCGC Calhoun departed Huntington Ingalls Industries’ shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Miss., on Nov. 19, 2023. The national security cutter is the 10th Legend-class cutter to be delivered to the Coast Guard. (Huntington Ingalls Industries)
A new Legend is joining the fleet of U.S. Coast Guard cutters.
USCGC Calhoun departed Huntington Ingalls Industries’ shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Miss., on Sunday. The national security cutter is the 10th Legend-class cutter to be delivered to the Coast Guard.
“Watching Calhoun sail away is a proud moment for us all, and we look forward to watching this highly capable national security cutter serve for decades to come,” Ingalls Shipbuilding NSC Program Manager Amanda Whitaker said in an HII news release.
The Calhoun is named for Charles L. Calhoun, who served as the first master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard from 1969-1973, advising the commandant on matters affecting the enlisted ranks. He also served in the Navy during World War II.
The Coast Guard calls the Legend-class cutter the “centerpiece” of its fleet. The cutters, which replaced the endurance cutters that had been in service since the 1960s, provide “better sea-keeping and higher sustained transit speeds, greater endurance and range, and the ability to launch and recover small boats from astern, as well as aviation support facilities and a flight deck for helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles,” according to a Coast Guard fact sheet.
The Calhoun will be homeported in Charleston, S.C., alongside cutters Hamilton, James and Stone. It is scheduled to be commissioned in 2024, the release said. Ingalls continues work on the 11th and final Legend-class cutter, USCGC Friedman.