NSC Stone’s keel authenticated

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding authenticated the keel of the National Security Cutter Stone (WMSL 758) on Sept. 14. It is the ninth Legend-class cutter built at Ingalls for the Coast Guard. Laura Cavallo, the great niece of the ship’s namesake, former Coast Guard commander Elmer “Archie” Fowler Stone, is the ship’s sponsor. Demetrica Hawkins, a structural welder at HII-Pascagoula, welded Cavallo’s initials onto a steel plate, signifying the keel of NSC 9 as being “truly and fairly laid.” The plate will remain affixed to the ship throughout its lifetime. Ingalls has delivered six NSC, the flagship of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, designed to replace the 12 Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters that entered service in the 1960s. The ship’s namesake, former Cmdr. Stone became the Coast Guard’s first aviator upon graduating from flight training at Pensacola, Fla., in April 1917. In 1919, Stone was one of two pilots to successfully make a transatlantic flight in the Navy seaplane NC-4. (Source: Huntington Ingalls Industries 09/14/18) The Curtiss flying boat NC-4 is on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola Florida.