Posted on 07/21/2009 9:45:46 AM PDT by Islander7
PASCAGOULA — First lady Michelle Obama will serve as the sponsor of the third National Security Cutter, Stratton.
Officials celebrated the ship’s construction Monday as the U.S. Coast Guard and Northrop Grumman laid the ship’s keel at the Pascagoula shipyard.
Rear Adm. Ronald J. Rábago announced at the ceremony that Obama will serve as the Stratton’s sponsor and she will attend the christening ceremony at Northrop Grumman, scheduled for next summer.
This is the first time a first lady has sponsored a U.S. Coast Guard cutter.
“As the sponsor, the first lady will be involved in the life of this cutter,” said Rábago. “She will be very involved by attending the christening ceremony, the commissioning of the ship, and correspond with the crew through letters for information about missions.”
Irwin F. Edenzon, general manager for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding–Gulf Coast, said next summer shipbuilders across the Coast will be on stage.
“We will be able to show the nation how we build ships here at Northrop Grumman,” he said. “It’s a great day to be a shipbuilder and we are honored that the first lady has agreed to be the sponsor of this great ship and we welcome her as part of our shipbuilding family.”
The Stratton is named in honor of Dorothy C. Stratton, the U.S. Coast Guard’s first female commissioned officer and director of the SPARS, the U.S. Coast Guard Women’s Reserve, during World War II.
(Excerpt) Read more at sunherald.com ...
Her ass is as big as one.
We’re gonna’ need a bigger boat...
LOL! Yours is one comment I can agree with 100%!
I did not know that the Coast Guard operated garbage scows.
“For the first time in my life, I’m proud of the Coast Guard.”
You are insulting the ship...............
LOL
We’re gonna’ need a bigger boat...
__________________
BWA HA HA HA HAaaaaaaaaa
Any Mission, Anytime, Anywhere
At 418 feet, the lead ship in the new Legend-class of national security cutters is designed to be the flagship of the U.S. Coast Guard’s fleet, capable of executing the most challenging maritime security missions including supporting the mission requirements of the joint U.S. combatant commanders. The NSC is the largest and most technically advanced class of the Integrated Deepwater System (IDS) program’s three major classes of cutters and will replace the aging 378' High Endurance Hamilton class cutters that have been in service since the 1960s.
Capability
Compared to legacy cutters, the NSC’s design will provide better sea keeping and higher sustained transit speeds, greater endurance and range, and the ability for launch and recovery, in higher sea states of improved small boats, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles – all key attributes in enabling the Coast Guard to implement increased security responsibilities. Such duties include exerting more effective jurisdiction over foreign-flagged ships transiting U.S. waters. Deepwater’s more capable maritime security cutters, for example, will enable the Coast Guard to screen and target vessels faster, more safely and reliably before they arrive in U.S. waters – to include conducting onboard verification through boardings and, if necessary, taking enforcement-control actions.The NSC will serve as an integral part of the Coast Guard’s collaborative inter-agency effort to achieve maritime domain awareness and ensure the safety of the American public and sovereignty of U.S. maritime borders.
Evolving Mission Requirements
Just as the multiple maritime and military roles of the U.S. Coast Guard have grown in scope and significance since the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States, so too have the NSC’s capability requirements evolved to be responsive to today’s ever-more challenging operational missions and threats. “ The Coast Guard’s Deepwater Program existed prior to 9/11”, said Blore at the keel-laying ceremony for “Waesche”, “as did our Coast Guard, as did this shipyard. For Deepwater to modernize and recapitalize the Coast Guard, we need to change with the threat.”
http://www.uscg.mil/acquisition/nsc/projectdescription.asp
“We will be able to show the nation how we build ships here at Northrop Grumman,” he said. “It’s a great day to be a shipbuilder and we are honored that the first lady has agreed to be the sponsor of this great ship and we welcome her as part of our shipbuilding family.”
he was probably actuallly thinking,
o’please dear god don’t actually let her have a part in this,
Don’t they prefer a good looking model for the ship’s head.
Um, wasn’t Dorothy Stratton also the name of a seventies’ porn star who was murdered by her boyfriend? Bob Fosse made a movie about it, as I recall.
In Case of Emergency the First Lady’s Rear can be used as a Flotation Device...........
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