Hamilton-class cutter
{{Short description|United States Coast Guard cutter class}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = File:USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715).jpg | Ship caption = USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715), lead ship of the Hamilton class }} {{Infobox ship class overview | Name = Hamilton class | Builders = Avondale Shipyards | Operators = See Operators | Class before = Treasury-class cutter | Class after = Legend-class cutter{{cite web|last1=Reed|first1=John|title=End of an Era, USCG Retiring Hamilton Class Cutters - Defensetech|url=https://www.defensetech.org/2011/05/23/end-of-an-era-uscg-retiring-hamilton-class-cutters/|website=Defensetech|access-date=1 June 2017|date=23 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903120935/https://www.defensetech.org/2011/05/23/end-of-an-era-uscg-retiring-hamilton-class-cutters/|archive-date=3 September 2017|url-status=live}} | Subclasses = | Cost = | Built range = 1965–1972 | In service range = | In commission range = 1967–present | Total ships building = | Total ships planned = 12 | Total ships completed = 12 | Total ships cancelled = | Total ships active = *Serving in other countries:
| Total ships laid up = | Total ships lost = | Total ships transferred = 6 | Total ships preserved = | Total ships retired = 12 {{coast guard|United States|1953}} }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = High endurance cutter / Large patrol vessel | Ship displacement = 3,250 metric tons | Ship length = {{convert|378|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|43|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship draft = {{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship depth = | Ship hold depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship power = *2 × 550KW GM 8-645 diesel generators
| Ship propulsion = *CODOG system
| Ship speed = {{convert|29|kn|abbr=on}} via gas turbines | Ship range = {{convert|12500|nmi|abbr=on}} @ {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}} via diesel{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/whec-378.htm |title=WHEC 378' Hamilton class |access-date=2008-08-08 |date=2005-04-27 |publisher=GlobalSecurity.org }}{{cite web |title=Hamilton, 1967 (WHEC 715) |url=https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/Assets/Water/All/Cutters-65-ft-or-greater/Article/2092926/hamilton-1967-whec-715/ |website=United States Coast Guard |access-date=12 October 2024 |date=25 February 2020}} | Ship endurance = 45 days | Ship boats = | Ship troops = | Ship complement = 167 and can carry up to 186 | Ship sensors = *AN/SPS-40E Air Search Radar
| Ship EW = 2 × MK 36 SRBOC launcher system | Ship armament = *1 × OTO Melara Mark 75 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun
| Ship armor = | Ship aircraft = *1 × MH-65 Helicopter | Ship aircraft facilities = *Flight deck and Hangar | Ship notes = }} |
The Hamilton-class cutter was the largest class of vessel in the United States Coast Guard until replaced by the Legend-class cutter, aside from the {{sclass2|Polar|icebreaker}}. The hull classification symbol is prefixed WHEC. The cutters are called the Hamilton class after their lead ship, or the "Secretary class" because most of the vessels in the class were named for former Secretaries of the Treasury, with the exception of the "Hero-class cutters" Jarvis, Munro and Midgett.
Design
The Hamilton-class cutters were designed to be a highly versatile platform capable of performing various operations, including maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, oceanographic research, and defense operations.{{cite web |title=WHEC 378' Hamilton class |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/whec-378.htm |website=www.globalsecurity.org |access-date=20 October 2019}} Because of their endurance and capabilities, the Hamilton-class cutters commonly deployed with Carrier Battle Groups.{{cite web |title=THE CUTTERS, BOATS, AND AIRCRAFT OF THE U.S. COAST GUARD |url=https://www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/documents/CG_Cutters-Boats-Aircraft_2015-2016_edition.pdf?ver=2018-06-14-092150-230 |website=uscg.mil |access-date=20 October 2019}} They were built with a welded steel hull and aluminum superstructure. The Hamilton-class cutters' hull was designed with a V cross section, and through tank testing the hull was expected to survive and stay afloat longer after suffering damage.{{cite web |title=HAMILTON (1967) |url=https://media.defense.gov/2018/Apr/26/2001908644/-1/-1/0/HAMILTON1967.PDF |website=media.defense.gov |access-date=20 October 2019}}
They are powered by a Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG) system consisting of two diesel engines and two gas turbines, and have controllable-pitch propellers. They were the first U.S. military vessels with combination diesel or gas turbine operation. They were equipped with a helicopter flight deck, retractable hangar, and the facilities to support helicopter deployment.
=Combat Suite=
The Hamilton-class cutters were designed and built during the Cold War. Due to this they were originally equipped for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), with the capability to find, track and destroy enemy submarines.{{cite web |title=The Morgenthau Experiment: Platform for progress |url=https://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2017/04/the-morgenthau-experiment-platform-for-progress/ |website=coastguard.dodlive.mil |access-date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=21 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521021941/https://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2017/04/the-morgenthau-experiment-platform-for-progress/ |url-status=dead }} When constructed, they were armed with a 5"/38 naval gun, two 81 mm mortars, two .50 caliber machine guns, two MK 10 Hedgehogs, two MK 32 torpedo tube systems, and Nixie torpedo countermeasures.
During the 1980s and 1990s the cutters were modernized under the Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) program. The FRAM program replaced the 5"/38 gun with the MK 75 76 mm naval gun, upgraded the MK 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes to Mod 7, installed MK 36 SRBOC launchers and the AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare suite, and upgraded the cutters' sonar and their air and surface search radars.{{cite book |title=Coast Guard Oversight: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Navigation of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives |date=1981 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFXVAAAAMAAJ |access-date=20 October 2019}} During the modernization of the cutters the U.S. Navy saw the program as a low cost and easy way to use the cutters as a valuable force multiplier with trained crews that could be called upon during war.{{cite web |title=Mellon History |url=https://www.pacificarea.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Cutters/cgcMellon/History/ |website=www.pacificarea.uscg.mil |access-date=20 October 2019}}
After the completion of FRAM, a joint Navy/USCG board decided further upgrades to the cutters' armament would be implemented, including the installation of Harpoon anti-ship missiles and a MK 15 Phalanx CIWS. The Harpoon anti-ship missiles were fitted to multiple cutters of the class but only one cutter, the USCGC Mellon, ever fired a Harpoon missile, in January 1990.{{cite web |title=Mellon History |url=https://www.pacificarea.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Cutters/cgcMellon/History/ |website=www.pacificarea.uscg.mil |access-date=20 October 2019}} After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the joint Navy/USCG board decided there was no military threat to require the installation of anti-ship missiles and anti-submarine weapons on board cutters, and removed the weapons.{{cite web |title=The History and Legacy of the United States Coast Guard Cutter BOUTWELL (WHEC 719) |url=https://media.defense.gov/2018/Oct/17/2002052353/-1/-1/0/BOUTWELL1968.PDF.PDF |website=media.defense.gov |access-date=20 October 2019}}
After the removal of the ASW weapons, the Coast Guard installed MK 38 25 mm chain guns on both sides of each cutter. The Hamilton-class cutters were equipped with the Coast Guard's SeaWatch command and control system, which combined navigational, tactical, surveillance and communications into one situational awareness picture, replacing the cutters' outdated Shipboard Command and Control System.{{cite web |title=Coast Guard Develops Indigenous Technologies for Cutters |url=https://www.afcea.org/content/coast-guard-develops-indigenous-technologies-cutters |website=www.afcea.org |date=March 2014 |access-date=20 October 2019}} Missile defense was handled by the MK 36 launchers and the Phalanx CIWS.
History
The 378-foot WHEC cutter program which created the Hamilton class was initiated in the 1960s. The Hamilton-class cutters were intended to fulfill both the peacetime and wartime requirements of the Coast Guard.{{cite book |title=U.S. Coast Guard Authorizations: Hearings Before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation |date=1981 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxy9EOaopIYC}} Construction at Avondale Shipyards on the lead ship, the Hamilton, began in the 1960s and the cutter was commissioned on March 18, 1967. Originally the Coast Guard planned to build 36 Hamilton-class cutters. Due to the termination of the ocean stations program, they reduced the number of planned cutters to 12.{{cite web |title=Coast Guard Cutter Design |url=https://media.defense.gov/2017/Jun/27/2001769154/-1/-1/0/CUTTERDESIGN1990.PDF |website=media.defense.gov |access-date=20 October 2019}}
During the Vietnam War multiple Hamilton-class cutters supported Operation Market Time. The cutters patrolled the South Vietnamese coastline, boarded and inspected suspected North Vietnamese and Viet Cong vessels, conducted naval gunfire support missions, and provided medical assistance to Vietnamese civilians.{{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/h_tulichvietnam.asp |title=The United States Coast Guard in South East Asia During the Vietnam Conflict |first=Eugene N. |last=Tulich |website=USCG Historian's Office |date=January 26, 2012 |access-date=October 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111085520/http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/h_tulichvietnam.asp |archive-date=November 11, 2013 |url-status=live }} Throughout their service Hamilton-class participated in other conflicts and military operations such as Operation Urgent Fury, Operation Vigilant Sentinel, Operation Deny Flight, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.{{cite web |title=The U.S. Coast Guard in Grenada |url=https://www.navalhistory.org/2013/10/24/the-guard-in-grenada |website=www.navalhistory.org |access-date=20 October 2019}}{{cite web |title=Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau to be decommissioned Tuesday |url=https://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-cutter-morgenthau-to-be-decommissioned-tuesday/2017/04/17/ |website=coastguardnews.com |access-date=20 October 2019 |quote=Morgenthau was the first U.S. Coast Guard cutter to deploy to the Persian Gulf. Participating in Operation Vigilant Sentinel,}}{{cite web |title=Guardians of the Gulf: A History of Coast Guard Combat Operations in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2002-2004 |url=https://media.defense.gov/2017/Jul/02/2001772360/-1/-1/0/USCGINOIF.PDF |website=media.defense.gov |access-date=20 October 2019}}
Beginning in the 1980s and ending in 1992, the entire class was modernized through the FRAM program. The program included updates and changes to the cutters weapons, sensors, the addition of a helicopter hangar, engine overhauls, and improved habitability.
Cutters Midgett and Munro were renamed to John Midgett and Douglas Munro to allow the new Legend-class cutters Midgett and Munro to assume the former names of the two Hamilton-class cutters.
In March 2007, cutters Hamilton and Sherman intercepted the Panamanian-flagged fishing vessel Gatun in international waters and recovered {{convert|20|metric ton}} of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $600 million retail. The seizure was at that time the largest at-sea drug bust in US history.{{cite web |title=Coast Guard Seizes 43,000 Pounds of Cocaine |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101122.html |website=washingtonpost.com |access-date=20 October 2019}}
Ships in class
Operators
- {{navy|Bangladesh}}
- {{navy|Nigeria}}
- {{naval|Philippines}}
- {{navy|Sri Lanka}}
- {{Flagicon image|Vietnam Coast Guard flag.svg}} Vietnam Coast Guard
=Former=
- {{coast guard|United States|1953}}
See also
- {{sclass2|Treasury|cutter|1}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Hamilton class cutters}}
- [http://www.uscg.mil/d13/docs/factsheets/378.pdf {{convert|378|ft|m|adj=on}} High Endurance Cutter Fact Sheet]
- [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/whec-378.htm GlobalSecurity.org overview]
- [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/05/06/12/next-navy-ship-be-named-after-corregidor-hero Next Navy ship to be named after Corregidor hero]
{{Hamilton class cutter}}