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.jpg) USS Plainview
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Plainview |
| Namesake | |
| 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 |
| Stricken | 30 September 1978 |
| Homeport | Bremerton, Washington |
| Fate | Partially scrapped, hull still extant |
| 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 |
|
| Speed | 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph) |
| Complement | 20 |
| Armament | None |
USS Plainview (AGEH–1) was, in its time, the world's largest hydrofoil.[1] Named after the cities of Plainview, New York and Plainview, Texas,[2] she was also the United States Navy's first hydrofoil research ship. Plainview was designed under project SCB 219;[3] 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. She cost $21 million to construct.[1]
Foilborne propulsion consisted of two General Electric LM1500 free-turbine turboshaft engines, derivatives of the J79 turbojets used in the F-4 Phantom aircraft, but during conventional (hull borne) 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 anti-submarine 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 scrapped in 2004.[1] As of 10 April 2019[update], she lies abandoned on mudflats, on private property, near Astoria, Oregon46°15′25″N 123°51′06″W / 46.256886°N 123.851683°W. In 2019, the Washington Department of Natural Resources expressed concerns about Plainview's derelict hull leaking pollutants into the environment.
Plainview traveled on her foils for a total of 268 hours, over her entire lifetime.[2]
- ^ a b c Luke Whittaker (10 April 2019). "Once a marvel, USS Plainview now a pollution concern: Former Navy ship left in the mudflats". Daily Astorian. Hungry Harbor, Washington. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
Launched in 1965, the USS Plainview was the Navy's biggest and fastest hydrofoil, a 210-foot, 320-ton prototype built by Lockheed in Seattle. The sleek aluminum vessel was powered by twin turbo fan jet engines, capable of speeds exceeding 50 knots as it rose 10 feet above the water on three struts.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
PvMeyerwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Friedman, Small Combatants, pp. 217