Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online:
Patrol Combatant-Missile (Hydrofoil)
Photo Archive

Hercules (PHM 2)



Call sign:
November - Juliet - Quebec - Juliet
Pegasus Class Patrol Combatant Missile (Hydrofoil):

  • The sixth Hercules was laid down 12 September 1980 by Boeing Marine Systems, Seattle, Washington
  • Launched 13 April 1982
  • Commissioned 18 December 1982
  • Decommissioned 30 July 1993 and struck from the Naval Register
  • Sold for scrap 19 August 1996 by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 178 t.(lt), 248 t.(fl)
  • Length 133'
  • Beam 29'
  • Speed 51 kts.
  • Complement 24
  • Armament: One 76mm gun mount and eight Harpoon missiles
  • Propulsion: Two 1,600bhp Mercedes-Benz marine diesel engines (Hullborne), and one 18,000shp General Electric LM2500 gas turbine (Foilborne), two water jets.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Hercules (PHM 2)
    Hercules 102k
    Namesake:

    Hercules is a constellation named after Hercules, the Roman mythological hero adapted from the Greek hero Heracles. Hercules was one of the 48 constellations listed by the second-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. It is the fifth-largest of the modern constellations and is the largest of the 50 which have no stars brighter than apparent magnitude +2.5.

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Hercules 388k 14 December 1990
    Gulf of Mexico
    Starboard bow view of the patrol combatant missile hydrofoil Hercules underway on its hull with its foils extended beneath the surface
    Photo by PH1 (AC) Scott M. Allen
    National Archives photo Identifier: 6467183    		 Robert Hurst
    Hercules 258k 13 April 1982
    Launching ceremony on Lake Washington at Boeing's Renton facility
    National Archives photo DN-SN-82-07121    		 Tracy White
    USS Hercules (PHM 2)
    Hercules 108k Defense Visual Information photo DN-SC-87-08273 Defense Visual Information Center
    Hercules/Taurus 205k Hercules and Taurus (PHM 3) "flying" on their foils
    U.S. Navy photo    		 R. L. Wilbur
    Hercules 245k Gulf of Mexico
    Starboard bow view of the patrol combatant missile hydrofoil Hercules underway. Hercules is assigned to PHM Squadron 2, based in Key West Florida
    Photo DN-SC-90-09341 from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Robert Hurst
    Hercules 263k C. September 1983
    The newly completed Hercules turns at speed. Her Harpoon missile banisters have not yet been fitted, but she has her 3" gun and her triple chaff launcher just abaft the base of the fire-control radar; the launcher is controlled by an SLR-20 ESM system. Note the frames of the Harpoon cannisters. The circular housing of an athwart ships propeller for low-speed maneuvering can be seen forward
    Photo from U.S. Small Combatants: An Illustrated Design History, by Norman Friedman
    Gemini 166k Racine (LST 1191), Gemini (PHM 6) and Hercules at Acapulco, Mexico
    U.S. Navy photo from the October 1983 edition of All Hands magazine    		 Joe Radigan
    Hercules 127k Racine (LST 1191), Gemini (PHM 6) and Hercules at Key West, FL
    U.S. Navy photo from the October 1983 edition of All Hands magazine
    Hercules 122k U.S. Navy photo by PH1 Harold J. Gerwien from the March 1984 edition of All Hands magazine.
    Hercules 149k 15 June 1984
    The patrol combatant missile hydrofoils Hercules, front, and USS Aries (PHM 5) lie tied up during the first phase of UNITAS XXV, the silver anniversary hemispheric naval exercise involving Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, the United States
    Defense Visual Information photo DN-ST-90-01292 by JOCS Kirby Harrison    		 Bill Gonyo
    Hercules 155k 16 June 1984
    Key West, FL
    The patrol combatant missile hydrofoils Hercules, underway during the first phase of UNITAS XXV, the silver anniversary hemispheric naval exercise involving Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela
    Defense Visual Information photo DN-ST-90-01298 by JOCS Kirby Harrison
    Hercules 151k 23 September 1984
    Near Vieques Island during the joint US/South American Exercise UNITAS XXV
    National Archives photo Identifier 6397308 by PH2 Phil Wiggins    		 Robert Hurst
    Hercules 236k 1 March 1986
    Key West, FL
    An overall view of several patrol combatant-missile (hydrofoils), including the Hercules, foreground, tied up at a pier
    National Archives photo Identifier 6418132 by Photographer D. Taylor    		 Robert Hurst
    Photo added 29 March 2022
    Hercules 239k 21 June 1987
    Off Key West, FL
    A port bow view of the patrol combatant-missile (hydrofoil) Hercules underway alongside the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) during an
    underway replenishment.
    Defense Visual Information photo DN-SC-87-08236 by CWO Wilkerson    		 Bill Gonyo
    Hercules 123k 21 June 1987
    Gulf of Mexico
    National Archives photo Identifier 6418303 by PHAN Glubezynski    		 Robert Hurst
    Hercules 415k 1 November 1989
    Gulf of Mexico
    Hercules operates out of Key West, Florida, as part of PHM Squadron 2, which is used extensively in the nation's drug interdiction program
    National Archives photo Identifier 6455541 by PH2 Kettenhoffen
    Hercules 555k c. November 1989
    Gulf of Mexico
    U.S. Navy photo DN-SC-90-09340 by PH2 (AC) Mark Kettenhofen, USN from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Hercules 344k c. 1990
    Hercules and USS Taurus (PHM 3) maneuver off of Key West, Florida
    U.S. Navy photo DN-ST-90-09381 from National Museum of the U.S. Navy
    Hercules 286k 28 June 1990
    Navy hydrofoils are regularly used on Joint Task Force 4 drug interdiction missions
    Photo by PH1 Allen DoD Media    		 Robert Hurst
    Photo added 29 March 2022
    Pegasus Class 334k 13 June 1993
    All six vessels of Patrol Combatant Missile Hydrofoil Squadron TWO travel in formation en route to Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, VA for decommissioning. The formation includes the USS Pegasus (PHM 1), Hercules, USS Taurus (PHM-3), USS Aquila (PHM-4), USS Aries (PHM-5) and USS Gemini (PHM-6)
    U.S. Navy photo DN-ST-93-05725 by PH2 Douglas F. Mooney    		 Robert Hurst
    Pegasus 398k 13 June 1993
    Vessels of Patrol Combatant Missile Hydrofoil Squadron 2 travel in formation en route to Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Va. for decommissioning. The hydrofoils include: the USS Pegasus PHM 1), Hercules, USS Taurus (PHM-3), USS Aquila (PHM-4), USS Aries (PHM-5) and the USS Gemini (PHM-6)
    U.S. Navy photo DN-SC-93-05730 from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Hercules 153k 13 June 1993
    En route to Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Virginia for decommissioning
    U.S. Navy photo DN-SC-93-05728 from National Museum of the U.S. Navy
    Commanding Officers
    PCULCDR William John Erickson, USN - USNA Class of 1965September 1974 - March 1975
    01LCDR Thomas C. Corcoran, USN15 January 1983 - 12 January 1985
    02LCDR Jeffery A. Hutchison, USN12 January 1985 - 31 January 1987
    03LCDR Larry Richard Simmons, USN31 January 1987 - 15 April 1989
    04LCDR Robert Saunders Warner, USN15 April 1989 - 21 June 1991
    05LCDR John William Peterson, USN21 June 1991 - 10 March 1993
    06LCDR Patrick Eugene Allen, USN10 March 1993 - 30 July 1993
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    There is no DANFS history available for Hercules (PHM-2)
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Index Back to the Patrol Combatant Missile (Hydrofoil) - (PHM) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History