USS High Point underway |
|
| Career (USA) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS High Point (PCH-1) |
| Namesake: | High Point, North Carolina |
| Awarded: | 14 June 1960 |
| Builder: | J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down: | 27 February 1961 |
| Launched: | August 17, 1962 |
| Acquired: | 15 August 1963 |
| In service: | 15 August 1963 |
| Struck: | 1980 |
| Status: | Private ownership |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | High Point-class patrol craft |
| Displacement: | 110 Tons |
| Length: | 115 ft (35 m) |
| Beam: | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Draft: | 17 ft (5.2 m) with foils down |
| Speed: | 30 knots |
USS High Point (PCH-1) was a High Point-class patrol craft of the United States Navy, and was launched August 17, 1962 by J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corporation in Tacoma, Washington. Built in conjunction with Boeing in Seattle, Washington she was placed in service August 15, 1963 with Lieutenant H. G. Billerbeck in charge. High Point was named after High Point, North Carolina.
High Point was the first of a series of hydrofoil craft designed to evaluate the performance of this kind of craft for the US Navy. She has three submerged foils containing propulsion nacelles and propellers, and was also capable of riding on her hull like a more conventional ship. On her foils, High Point obtained very high-speed and was evaluated for mobility and flexibility as an antisubmarine force. The craft carried out tests in Puget Sound during 1967-1968.
High Point was decommissioned in March 1975 from the US Navy and transferred to the United States Coast Guard on April 4, 1975 and commissioned as USCGC High Point (WMEH-1). She was again decommissioned May 5, 1975 and returned to US Navy custody. High Point was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register sometime in 1980. In 2002 she was purchased by a private owner intent on restoring the craft, but the effort did not succeed. In 2005 Terence Orme purchased High Point to save it from scrap. Currently volunteers are restoring the vessel as a future museum.[1]