The U.S. Coast Guard has taken delivery of its fourth Legend-class National Security Cutter from Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi.

Three more of the new cutters are on order from Ingalls Shipbuilding, which is a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.

Legend-class cutters are replacing Hamilton-class cutters, which entered service in the 1960s. Bertholf, Waesche and Stratton, the first three in the series, are all in service on the West Coast.

The Hamilton, which features an aft launch and recovery area for two rigid hull inflatable boats and a flight deck for manned and unmanned rotary-wing aircraft, will be commissioned in December at Charleston, SC.

"Our performance on the National Security Cutter program is a blueprint for success in building high-quality, affordable ships," said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. "We've significantly improved our learning, efficiency and affordability with each successive ship in the Legend class, and this one, our fourth, is the best yet.

"The benefits of serial ship production are clear, and with our hot production line we expect for this to continue."

The Hamilton is 418 feet long, 54 feet in the beam and displaces 4,500 tons with a full load. It has a maximum speed of 28 knots and a range of 12,000 miles.

The Hamilton completed acceptance trials last month, which involved testing of the ship's propulsion, anchor handling, steering and combat systems.