USCGC Stone

USCGC Stone (WMSL-758) is the ninth Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard and is expected to be stationed in Charleston, South Carolina.^[4][5]

USCGC Stone (WMSL-758)

History
United States
Name	Stone
Namesake	Elmer Fowler Stone
Awarded	31 March 2015
Builder	Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Cost	$499.76 Million[1]
Laid down	14 September 2018
Launched	4 October 2019
Christened	29 February 2020
Acquired	10 November 2020
Commissioned	19 March 2021
Homeport	Charleston
Identification	Pennant number: WMSL-758
Motto	"Energy Efficiency Courage"[2]
Status	Active
Badge
General characteristics
Class & type	Legend-class cutter
Displacement	4,500 long tons (4,600 t)
Length	418 ft (127 m)
Beam	54 ft (16 m)
Draft	22.5 ft (6.9 m)
Propulsion	Combined diesel and gas
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range	12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi)
Endurance	60 to 90-day patrol cycles
Complement	120
Sensors & processing systems	AN/SPS-75 air search radar SPQ-9B fire control radar AN/SPS-79 surface search radar
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare system 2 x Mk 36 SRBOC/ 2 x Mk-53 NULKA countermeasures chaff/rapid decoy launcher
Armament	1 x Mk 110 57 mm (2.2 in) Naval Gun System (variant of the Bofors 57 mm gun) 1 × 20 mm Block 1B Phalanx Close-In Weapons System 4 × .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns 2 × M240B 7.62 mm machine guns
Armor	Ballistic protection for main gun
Aircraft carried	2 x MH-65C Dolphin MCH, or 1 x MH-65C Dolphin MCH and 2 x sUAS[3]

Development and design

Main article: Legend-class cutter

All of Legend-class cutters were constructed by Huntington Ingalls Industries and were part of the Integrated Deepwater System Program.^[6] They are of the high endurance cutter roles with additional upgrades to make it more of an asset to the Department of Defense during declared national emergency contingencies.^[7] The cutters are armed mainly to take on lightly-armed hostiles in Low-Threat Environments.

Construction and career

Stone was laid down on 14 September 2018, launched on 4 October 2019 by Huntington Ingalls Industries and christened on 29 February 2020. She will be expected to be commissioned in February 2021. Her sea trials took place on 15 September in the Gulf of Mexico and was successfully delivered to the Coast Guard on 10 November 2020.^[8]

On 22 December 2020, she left Pascagoula, Mississippi for her first patrol, which was also her shakedown cruise, in the South Atlantic.^[9][10] While in the South Atlantic, she participated Operation Southern Cross which is designed to counter illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing along with strengthening partnerships throughout the region.^[11][12] On January 29, 2021, it was announced that the Stone would not make her scheduled stop in Argentina after visiting Guyana, Brazil, and Uruguay. The crew did not disembark in Montevideo, due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.^[13] Before returning home, while off the coast of Guyana she helped to interdict a suspected narcotic trafficker with USCGC Raymond Evans (WPC-1110).^[14] Evans took possession of the contraband and the traffickers. The recovered cocaine was estimated to be in excess of 970 kilograms.^[15] After recovering the drugs, she continued on her shakedown cruise covered 18,250 nautical miles (33,800 km) over the course of 68 days before returning home.

Stone was commissioned on 19 March 2021, in her homeport of North Charleston, S.C.

See also

• Integrated Deepwater System Program