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NavSource Online: Hydrofoil Patrol Craft
Photo Archive

Courtesy of the International Hydrofoil Society and Mike Smolinski

USCGC High Point (WMEH 1)
ex-USS High Point (PCH 1)


High Point served both the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard.
High Point Class Patrol Craft Hydrofoil:

  • Laid down 27 February 1961 by the J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, WA and the Boeing Co., Seattle, WA
  • Launched 17 August 1962
  • Delivered and commissioned USS High Point (PCH 1), 15 August 1963
  • Decommissioned in March 1975
  • Transferred to the Coast Guard 4 April 1975 and commissioned USCGC High Point (WMEH 1)
  • Decommissioned 5 May 1975 and returned to U.S. Navy custody
  • Struck from the Navy Registry in 1980
  • Deactivated in December 1984
  • Transferred to the Boeing Co. in January 1985
  • Operated with a Navy crew as a test platform for Patrol Hydrofoil (Missile) craft
  • Final flight 11 May 1989
  • Sold in 1991
  • Sold in February 2002 to Bob Phillips of Skamokawa, WA and moored at Tongue Point
  • Sold in November 2005 to Terence Orme
  • Currently undergoing restoration on the Columbia River.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 110 t.
  • Length 115'
  • Beam 22'
  • Draft 17' (with foils down)
  • Speed 30+kts. (maximum 48 kts.)
  • Armament: One 40mm mount
  • Propulsion: Hullborne, one General Motors 12V71 diesel engines and Foilborne, two Rolls Royce Proteus gas turbines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    High Point (PCH 1)
    High Point 96k Inboard profile
    Photo from U.S. Small Combatants: An Illustrated design History by Norman Freidman    		 Robert Hurst
    High Point 322k 17 August 1962
    Launching ceremonies for the Boeing built hydrofoil High Point. Dignitaries shown are Mrs.William Allen, Mr J.S. Martinac, Mr. William Allen, Mrs. Homer Wallin and Vice Admiral Homer Wallin (RET)
    Tacoma Public Library, Richards Studio, Photo No. D135632-A    		 Mike Green
    High Point 259k 17 August 1962
    Launching of High Point, at Tacoma, Washington. Shown are: Mrs. E. C. Bovee, Mr. E. C. Bovee, Mrs. Herbert C. Albrecht; Captain Herbert C. Albrecht; Mrs. W. E. Beall; Mrs. George C. Towner; Admiral George C. Towner; Mr. J. G. Martinac; Miss Terri Henderson; Mrs. J. G. Martinac; Vice Admiral Homer N. Wallin, who is speaking
    U.S. Navy photo 428-GX-USN1064122 from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    High Point 87k 17 August 1962
    Mrs. William M. Allen, wife of the Boeing president, formally christens the High Point    		 J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp.
    USS High Point (PCH 1)
    PCH-1 50k

    The U.S. Navy experimental hydrofoil USS High Point (PCH 1) is accompanied by a Kaman UH-2A Seasprite during the first high seas trials in the Straits of Juan de Fuca, circa 1966.

    U.S. Navy All Hands magazine March 1967, p. 61.    		 Robert Hurst
    PCH-1 123k U.S. Navy photos
    PCH-1 32k
    PCH-1 105k
    PCH-1 151k . Robert Hurst
    High Point 115k Boeing Co. photos
    High Point 90k
    High Point 163k c. 1963
    U.S. Navy photo from the 1964/1965 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    PCH-1 167k In this image the protrusions from the sonar dome are visible below the hull, directly under the mast, the bottom of which housed the retracted sonar strut
    U.S. Navy photo from the June 1964 edition of All Hands magazine    		 Original photo: Joe Radigan
    Replacement photo: Robert Hurst
    PCH-1 136k In this image the propeller is shown neatly folded up against her transom, under the two gas-turbine exhausts. The winch above was installed for experiments with a high-speed towed sonar. She appears to be fitted with torpedo tubes on her starboard side only. The significance of her two big cradles is unknown
    U.S. Navy photo from the July 1968 edition of All Hands magazine    		 Joe Radigan
    PCH-1 151k Robert Hurst
    High Point 340k c. January 1974
    Launching an AGM-84A Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile during a test to evaluate the prototype canister launching system on a hydrofoil platform at Nanoose, Canada. The test is underway at the joint US-Canadian range
    U.S. Navy photos 428-GX-KN21506 and 428-GX-KN21507 from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    High Point 467k
    High Point 409k c. September 1974
    High Point underway off the coast of California, Pacific Ocean
    U.S. Navy photo 428-GX-K105621 by Chief Journalist (AC) Warren Grass, USN from National Museum of the U.S. Navy
    PCH-1 49k U.S. Navy photo from the April 1977 edition of All Hands magazine Joe Radigan
    PCH-1 98k c. July 1978
    High Point (foreground) and the experimental hydrofoil Plainview (AGEH 1) underway in Puget Sound, WA
    National Archives photo K-120787    		 Robert Hurst
    High Point 470k c. July 1978
    Puget Sound, Washington
    Hydrofoil Research Ship, Plainview, (AGEH 1), left, and High Point, underway at a foil-borne speed
    U.S. Navy photo 428-GX-K120789 by Douglas Dobbins from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    USCGC High Point (WMEH 1)
    WMEH-1 87k WMEH-1 during Coast Guard evaluations
    U.S. Coast Guard photo    		 U.S. Coast Guard
    Washington DC
    WMEH-1 44k
    WMEH-1 121k
    WMEH-1 88k U.S. Coast Guard photo
    WMEH-1 130k Photo from the International Hydrofoil Website Robert Hurst
    High Point 373k 25 April 1975
    Underway during a search and rescue exercise off San Francisco
    U.S. Navy photo 428-GX-K108129 by JOC(AC) Warren Grass, USN from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    High Point
    High Point 71k Photo from Pop Yachts Lee Wahler
    Photo added 30 September 2019
    High Point 44k c. 2002
    North Tongue Point, Astoria
    Photos courtesy of her former owner Bob Phillips    		 Robert Hurst
    High Point 48k
    High Point 20k c. 2005
    North Tongue Point, Astoria
    Awaiting restoration by it's owner Terence Orme
    Photo courtesy of Alex Pajunas of "The Daily Astorian" newspaper
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Henry George Billerbeck, USN - USNA Class of 195415 August 1963
    02LT Walter Scott Slocum, USN1977 - 1978
    ??LCDR James Worthington Orvis, USN - Awarded two Legion of Merits, the Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals and the Navy Achievement Medal - Retired as Captain
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the High Point (PCH 1)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites 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 Craft Hydrofoil (PCH) Photo Index
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