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 Gunboat (Hydrofoil)
Photo Archive

USCGS Flagstaff (WPBH 1)

Courtesy of Mike Smolinski

ex-USS Flagstaff (PGH 1)

Flagstaff served both the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard

Flagstaff Class Patrol Gunboat (Hydrofoil):

  • Laid down 1 June 1966 by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, Stuart, FL
  • Launched 15 July 1966
  • Commissioned USS Flagstaff (PGH-1), 14 September 1968
  • Decommissioned 1 September 1970
  • Loaned to the Coast Guard 8 November 1974 and commissioned USCGS Flagstaff (WPBH 1) at San Diego, CA
  • Returned to U.S. Navy 18 February 1975
  • Reacquired by the Coast Guard 29 September 1976
  • Placed in commissioned (Special), 2 March 1977
  • Placed in commission (Active) 17 July 1977
  • Decommissioned 30 September 1978 and returned to U.S. Navy custody and scrapped.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 67 t.
  • Length 82' (overall)
  • Beam 21' 6"
  • Draft 4' 4" (foils retracted), 18' (foils extended)
  • Speed 45+ kts. (foil-borne), 8 kts. (hull-borne)
  • Complement 16
  • Armament: One 40mm gun mount, four .50 cal. machine guns and one 81mm mortar
    Small arms only while serving with Coast Guard
  • Propulsion: One Rolls Royce gas turbine with super cavitating propeller (foil-borne) and two 160hp General Motors diesel engines with two water jet pumps (hull-borne).
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Flagstaff (PGH 1)
    Flagstaff 35k
    Namesake:

    Flagstaff is a city in, and the county seat of, Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 14 September 2020
    Flagstaff 43k U.S. Navy photos International Hydrofoil Society website
    Flagstaff 52k
    Flagstaff 130k Photo from the International Hydrofoil Society website Robert Hurst
    Flagstaff 203k Photo courtesy of Grumman Aircraft Corp. from the 1968/1969 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    Flagstaff 79k c. 1969
    Being transported to Vietnam on board Gunston Hall (LSD 5)    		 Cliff Boxer
    Flagstaff 202k c. February 1970
    Refueling from USS Platte (AO 24)    		 Richard Miller BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Flagstaff 377k c. 1971
    Off the coast of Florida
    Photo 428-GX-USN1149130 by Gerald G. Kallman Associates. Photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Flagstaff 243k c. 1971
    Shown fitted with the same 152 mm M81 low-velocity gun as fitted to the United States Army's M551 Sheridan Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Flagstaff 588k c. August 1974
    Flagstaff along with the experimental coastal patrol and interdiction craft at center, and the Osprey class fast patrol boat PTF-23, underway off the coast of southern California
    Photo from U.S. Small Combatants: An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman
    Flagstaff 499k c. August 1974
    In foil-borne during a high-speed run off the coast of Southern California
    U.S. Navy photo 428-GX-K104581 by PH1 William J. Galligan, USN from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    USCGC Flagstaff (WPBH 1)
    Flagstaff 87k Undergoing Coast Guard evaluations
    U.S. Coast Guard photo    		 U.S. Coast Guard
    Washington, DC
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Nathan Howard Beason, USN
    02LT Douglas F. Gehring, USCG8 November 1974
    03LT Terrance Hart, USCG2 March 1977
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for Flagstaff (PGH-1)
    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 Gunboat (Hydrofoil) - (PGH) 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