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NavSource Online: Gunboat (Hydrofoil)
Photo Archive

Left patch courtesy Tommy Trampp, right patch Wolfgang Hechler

Tucumcari (PGH 2)

Tucumcari Class Patrol Gunboat (Hydrofoil):

  • Laid down 1 September 1966 by the Marine Branch of Boeing Company's Aerospace Group, Seattle, Washington
  • Launched 16 July 1968
  • Placed in service 7 March 1968
  • Lost due to grounding on a coral reef at Caballo Blanco, Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, 16 November 1972
  • Struck from the Navy Register 7 November 1973
  • Transferred to the Naval Ship and Research Development Center, Annapolis, MD. She was subsequently used as a test hulk for structural evaluation and fire containment tests
  • Scrapped in 1973.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 57 t.
  • Length 80'
  • Beam 22'
  • Draft 14'
  • Speed 50 kts.
  • Complement 13
  • Armament: One 40mm gun mount, two twin .50 cal. machine guns and one 81mm mortar
  • Propulsion: Proteus gas turbine.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Tucumcari 26k
    Namesake:

    Tucumcari A city in and the seat of Quay County, New Mexico. The name is derived from the Comanche Indian word "tukamukaru," which means to lie in wait

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 26 September 2020
    Tucumcari 205k 16 July 1968
    Launching. Note her waterjet exhaust is visible in her transom, as are her main and forward foils. The water intakes for the jet are in the forward ends of the main strut tips, the boxy sections from which foils themselves protrude
    Boeing Company photo from U.S. Small Combatants: An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman    		 Robert Hurst
    Tucumcari 486k On trial run
    U.S. Navy photo 428-GX-K16276 photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Tucumcari 32k U.S. Navy photos International Hydrofoil Society website
    Tucumcari 78k
    Tucumcari 41k
    Tucumcari 90k
    Tucumcari 58k . Stan Svec
    Tucumcari 59k Tucumcari being transported on board USS Coronado (LPD 11) from the west coast to Norfolk. Bill Foss
    Tucumcari 130k Underway on her foils at high speed
    U.S. Navy photo from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships    		 Robert Hurst
    Tucumcari 71k International Hydrofoil Society website
    Tucumcari 62k
    Tucumcari 59k
    Tucumcari 215k c. 1968
    Boeing Co. photo
    Tucumcari 287k Photo courtesy of the Boeing Co. from the 1968/1969 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    Tucumcari 410k Making a high-speed run in San Diego Harbor, California, 6 August 1968
    U.S. Navy photo 428-GX-K16276 photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Tucumcari 111k c. 1969
    Being transported to Vietnam on board Gunston Hall (LSD 5)    		 Cliff Boxer
    Tucumcari 205k c. 1969
    Boeing Co. photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Tucumcari 211k c. 1969
    U.S. Navy photo
    Tucumcari 170k c. 1970
    U.S. Navy photo
    Tucumcari 222k
    Wood County 8k c. March 1971 to February 1972
    Wood County (LST-1178) seen here with Tucumcari on her main deck    		 LST Home Port Website
    Tucumcari 117k U.S. Navy photos from the March 1971 edition of "All Hands" magazine Joe Radigan
    Tucumcari 47k
    Tucumcari 44k
    Tucumcari 121k c. 1971
    Making a high speed run in the English Channel off Plymouth, Devon, England
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Tucumcari 627k c. April 1971
    U.S. Navy photo 428-GX-USN-1150451 by PH1 Claude V. Sneed, USN photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Tucumcari 638k Original photo: U. S. Navy photo from the August 1972 edition of "All Hands" magazine
    Replacement photo: c. May 1971
    Foil-borne during a high-speed run
    U.S. Navy photo 428-GX-USN-1150505 by PH1 Claude V. Sneed, USN from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Original photo: Joe Radigan
    Replacement photo: Michael Mohl
    Tucumcari 241k 15 May 1971
    USS Wood County (LST-1178) and hydrofoil patrol gunboat Tucumcari underway during a highline operation off Cape Henry, VA
    National Archives photo K-88730    		 Michael Smolinski
    Tucumcari 289k 7 June 1971
    Olpenitz, Germany
    German officers from left to right: Fregattenkapitän Hoffman, Konteradmiral Hartwig, Vizeadmiral Zimmerman, Flottillenadmiral Klose, Kapitän zur See Rieve and Fregattenkapitän Walter Schmidt
    Photo taken during tests by the Bundesmarine in the Baltic Sea    		 Volker Groth, Member of board/Association Förderverein Museumsschnellboot e.V. Wilhelmshaven
    Tucumcari 231k 7 June 1971
    Olpenitz, Germany
    Second from left is Kapitän zur See Rieve
    Photo taken during tests by the Bundesmarine in the Baltic Sea
    Tucumcari 277k Model of Tucumcari on display in the Association Förderverein Museumsschnellboot room of the Bundesmarine museum ship Mölders
    (D 186)     at the Deutsches Marinemuseum Wilhelmshaven, Germany
    Tucumcari 70k 25 June 1971
    Doing high speed demonstrations in the Solent, the strait that separates the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England near Portsmouth, England. Observers, on the USS Wood County (LST-1178) include Admiral Sir Michael Pollock, RN, First Sea Lord, along with senior NATO Officers and Scientists
    Imperial War Museum Admiralty Official collection photo © IWM (A 35357)    		 Mike Green
    Tucumcari 61k Denmark's world-famous Little Mermaid looks out over the Copenhagen harbor as USS Wood County (LST 1178) arrives with Tucumcari on her main deck
    U.S. Navy photo from the July 1971 edition of All Hands magazine    		 Robert Hurst
    Tucumcari 518k 11 August 1971
    Coming alongside the tank landing ship USS Wood County (LST 1178) for refueling in the Baltic Sea
    U.S. Navy photo 428-GX-USN1150496 by PH1 Claude V. Sneed, USN from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Tucumcari 124k 21 September 1971
    Off La Spezia, Italy    		 Carlo Martinelli
    Tucumcari 358k 16 November 1972
    Grounded
    Photo by PH2 Karl Rehbaum, United States Navy Photographic Division    		 Robert Hurst
    Tucumcari 518k Laying hard aground on Caballo Blanco Reef, off Puerto Rico, in 3 feet of water, down by the bow (bow strut ripped off) approximately 25 degrees, listing 3 degrees to port with the aft end supported by its two stern struts
    Image scanned from Mud, Muscle, and Miracles by Captain Charles A. Bartholomew, USN, and Commander William I. Milwee, Jr., USN, Ret.
    Tucumcari 305k c. 1973
    Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
    In drydock, undergoing repairs after grounding
    Photo by ETR2 John Clingman, USN
    USS Chehalis (PG 94)    		 John Clingman, ETR2, USN 1969-1973
    Beacon 233k 1 October 1973
    Beacon (PG 99) in position in flooded drydock on the right. On left is Tucumcari in another drydock, where repairs were attempted
    after grounding
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Marvin H. Mandles, USNR7 March 1968
    02LT Richard L. Stedd, USN1 May 1969 - 1 October 1971
    03LT Edward Norman Bond, USN1 October 1971
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Tucumcari (PGH-2)
    DANFS History entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command Website
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