USCGC ''Hamilton'' (WMSL-753) is the fourth , also known as the National Security Cutter (NSC), of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

. She is the fifth cutter named after

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

, who was the first

United States Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

and in that position requested the formation of the United States Coast Guard (as the

United States Revenue Cutter Service ) , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries=4 August , decorations= , battle_honours= , battle_honours_label= , disbanded=28 January 1915 , flying_hours= , website= , commander1= , co ...

). The cutter's sponsor is Linda Kapral Papp, the wife of Coast Guard Commandant

Robert J. Papp, Jr. Admiral Robert Joseph Papp Jr. (born 25 March 1953) is a retired admiral of the United States Coast Guard who served as the 24th commandant from 2010 to 2014. He led the largest component of the United States Department of Homeland Security, wi ...

Construction began in September 2011 by

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

's Ship System Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, with the keel was laid on 5 September 2012. ''Hamilton'' was launched on 10 August 2013, and her christening was on 26 October 2013. She was delivered to the Coast Guard in September 2014. The cutter is homeported at

Joint Base Charleston Joint Base Charleston is a United States military facility located partly in the City of North Charleston, South Carolina and partly in the City of Goose Creek, South Carolina. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Forc ...

North Charleston, South Carolina North Charleston is the third-largest city in the U.S. state, state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. On June 12, 1972, the city of No ...

. In January 2020 ''Hamilton'' became the first NSC to participate in a Navy Composite Training Unit Exercise, integrated with and

Carrier Strike Group 10 Carrier Strike Group 10, abbreviated as CSG-10 or CARSTRKGRU 10, is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. Carrier strike groups gain and maintain sea control as well as project naval airpower ashore. , CSG-10 consist of , the strike group's current ...

. After operating with the

Carrier Strike Group A carrier strike group (CSG) is a type of carrier battle group of the United States Navy. It is an operational formation composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, usually an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least tw ...

, the cutter patrolled the Eastern Pacific Ocean in support of Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) South. The cutter returned in April after the 80-day patrol, during which she captured three drug smuggling vessels, including two

narco-sub A narco-submarine (also called a drug sub or narco sub) is a type of custom ocean-going self-propelled typically semi-submersible (sometimes fully-submersible) vessel built for smugglers. Newer submarines are 'nearly-fully' submersible to be ...

s, and eight suspected drug smugglers. After the patrol she offloaded $324 million worth of cocaine and marijuana.

Notable interdictions

* 15 December 2016 - Cutter USCGC ''Hamilton'' offloaded 26.5 tons of cocaine estimated at a worth of US$715 million after conducting interdiction operations beside the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

since 1 October that same year. * 27 August 2020 - USCGC ''Hamilton'' offloaded 11,500 pounds of cocaine and 17,000 pounds of marijuana estimated at an estimated worth of $228 million after a patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean alongside and

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

patrol boat . * 24 November 2021- USCGC ''Hamilton'' offloaded 26,250 pounds of cocaine and 3,700 estimated at a worth of US$504 million. During the deployment it also intercepted 199 Haitian migrants.

Black Sea patrol

In May 2021 ''Hamilton'' patrolled the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

for nearly three weeks, conducting training exercises with several

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and friendly navies, including

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. This was the first visit to the

by a

Coast Guard cutter United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard. They carry the ship prefix USCGC. History ...

since

USCGC Dallas (WHEC-716) USCGC ''Dallas'' (WHEC-716) was a United States Coast Guard high endurance cutter commissioned in 1967 at the Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the sixth ship or boat to bear the name of Alexander J. Dallas, the Secretary of ...

in 2008. The patrol was monitored by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

whose foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the cutter's presence.

References

Legend-class cutters 2013 ships Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi Ships named for Founding Fathers of the United States {{US-mil-ship-stub

Notable interdictions

Black Sea patrol

See also

References