Coast Guard commissions the Hamilton, the first national security cutter based on the East Coast

The Coast Guard’s newest and largest class of cutter now has a home in Charleston.

The Coast Guard commissioned the cutter Hamilton on Saturday at the Port of Charleston’s Union Pier Terminal, according to the Coast Guard. Commandant Adm. Paul F. Zukunft gave the principal address, and Vice Adm. William “Dean” Lee, the service’s Atlantic Area commander, also spoke, Coast Guard photo records from the ceremony show.

Hamilton is the fourth of eight planned Legend-class national security cutters and the first of its class homeported on the East Coast, the Coast Guard said. The 418-foot cutter has a top speed of 28 knots and a range of 12,000 nautical miles, and it can patrol for more than 90 days. The class is replacing the 378-foot high endurance cutters that have served since the 1960s.

The Coast Guard took possession of the ship Sept. 15, The Post and Courier reported. It arrived in Charleston on Nov. 24 after a 24-day trip of more than 3,000 miles from Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, according to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard awarded the Pascagoula shipyard, then part of Northrop Grumman, a $480 million fixed-price incentive contract to build the cutter in November 2010, according to Northrop Grumman.

Capt. Doug Fears, the commanding officer, said when the cutter arrived that his crew was “honored to bring this great cutter to its new homeport as we begin a four-plus decade relationship with Charleston.”

Fears told The Post and Courier the crew unpacked “probably around $5 million worth of inventory and parts” after taking over the ship.

The cutter has a crew of 117, according to the Coast Guard. After the commissioning, the crew will complete more training and certification before the cutter deploys next year for maritime law enforcement missions in the Western Hemisphere, the service said.

A second national security cutter, the James, is the last of the class slated for Charleston, according to the Coast Guard.

Earlier this year, the cutter Gallatin, which served 45 years and had been stationed in Charleston for 18 years, was decommissioned and transferred to the Nigerian navy, The Associated Press reported.

The new cutter is the sixth to be named for Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the Treasury, who prompted Congress to create the Revenue Marine Service, a forerunner of the modern Coast Guard.