USS Plainview (AGEH-1)

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USS Plainview
Career
Name: USS Plainview
Builder: Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, Washington
Laid down: 8 May 1964
Launched: 28 June 1965
Commissioned: 3 March 1969
Decommissioned: 22 September 1978
Struck: 30 September 1978
Homeport: Bremerton, Washington
Fate: Wrecked
General characteristics
Type: Hydrofoil
Displacement: 310 long tons (315 t)
Length: 220 ft 6 in (67.21 m)
Beam: 40 ft 5 in (12.32 m)
Draft: 24 ft 4 in (7.42 m)
Propulsion: 2 × diesel engines
2 × 14,000 hp (10,440 kW) General Electric J79 gas turbine engines
Speed: 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph)
Complement: 20
Armament: None
Plainview (AGEH-1) in flight in Elliott Bay, Seattle, Washington circa late 1967 or 1968. The ship was returning from sea trials en route back to the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, Washington yard on the Duwamish waterway. US Navy photo.

USS Plainview (AGEH–1) was, in its time, the world's largest hydrofoil. Named for the cities of Plainview, New York and Plainview, Texas, she was also the United States Navy's first hydrofoil research ship. Plainview was laid down 8 May 1964 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, Washington; launched 28 June 1965; sponsored by Mrs. John T. Hayward; and placed in service on 3 March 1969.

Propulsion consisted of two General Electric J79 jet engines of the same type used in the F4 Phantom aircraft, but during conventional operations she was driven by two diesel engines. Her homeport was Bremerton, Washington. Plainview carried out long range experimental programs to evaluate the design principles of hydrofoils and to develop and evaluate tactics and doctrine for hydrofoils, particularly in antisubmarine warfare, and helped to determine the feasibility of hydrofoil operations in high seas.

Plainview was decommissioned at 10:30 AM, 22 September 1978, at Pier 7, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 September 1978, Plainview was sold for scrapping by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) on 1 July 1979 to General Metals (now Schnitzer Metals) on the Hylebos Waterway, Tacoma, Washington. She was partially broken up and then abandoned on the Columbia river where she remains as of 2009.[1] Coordinates: 46°15′25″N 123°51′06″W / 46.256886°N 123.851683°W / 46.256886; -123.851683

See also

References

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

External links