Cutter completes builder's trials

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - The Northrop Grumman-built Waesche, second in a new class of national security cutters, successfully completed builder's trials in the Gulf of Mexico this week. Propulsion, electrical, damage control and combat systems were tested. Waesche, under construction at the Pascagoula shipyard, is the second in the Coast Guard's Legend class, an eight-ship national security cutter program. A third cutter is about 25 percent complete at the Pascagoula yard. (Source: Mississippi Press, 08/19/09)