USS ''Plainview'' (AGEH–1) was, in its time, the world's largest

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

. Named after the cities of

Plainview, New York Plainview is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Oyster Bay (town), New York, Oyster Bay in east central Nassau County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 27,100. The Plainv ...

and

Plainview, Texas Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 20,187 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Plainview began when Z. T. Maxwell and Edwin Lowden Lowe establ ...

, she was also the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

's first hydrofoil research ship. ''Plainview'' was designed under project SCB 219;Friedman, Small Combatants, pp. 217 laid down 8 May 1964 by the

Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company (a.k.a. Lockheed Shipbuilding), was a shipyard in Seattle, Washington with Yard 1 on Harbor Island and Yard 2 at what is now Jack Block Park at Seattle Terminal 5, both at the mouth of the West Wat ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

; launched 28 June 1965; sponsored by Mrs. John T. Hayward; and placed in service on 3 March 1969. She cost $21 million to construct. Foilborne propulsion consisted of two

General Electric LM1500 The General Electric LM1500 is an industrial and marine gas turbine produced by GE Aviation. The LM1500 is a derivative of the General Electric J79 aircraft engine series. The LM1500 delivers up to . History The LM1500 was derived from the J79 e ...

free-turbine turboshaft A free-turbine turboshaft is a form of turboshaft or turboprop gas turbine engine where the power is extracted from the exhaust stream of a gas turbine by an independent turbine, downstream of the gas turbine. The power turbine is not mechanicall ...

engines, derivatives of the

J79 The General Electric J79 is an axial-flow turbojet engine built for use in a variety of fighter and bomber aircraft and a supersonic cruise missile. The J79 was produced by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the United States, and under l ...

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

s used in the

F-4 Phantom The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bowers ...

aircraft, but during conventional (hull borne) operations she was driven by two

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s. Her homeport was

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, Kitsap County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city ...

. ''Plainview'' carried out long range experimental programs to evaluate the design principles of hydrofoils and to develop and evaluate tactics and doctrine for hydrofoils, particularly in

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

, and helped to determine the feasibility of hydrofoil operations in high seas. USS Plainview July 2013

''Plainview'' was decommissioned at 10:30 am, 22 September 1978, at Pier 7, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Struck from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 30 September 1978, ''Plainview'' was sold for scrapping by the

Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service DLA Disposition Services (formerly known as the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service) is part of the United States Defense Logistics Agency. Headquartered at the Hart–Dole–Inouye Federal Center in Battle Creek, Michigan, the organizatio ...

(DRMS) on 1 July 1979 to General Metals (now Schnitzer Metals) on the Hylebos Waterway,

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

. She was partially scrapped in 2004. , she lies abandoned on mudflats, on private property, near

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a Port, port city in and the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the ...

. In 2019, the Washington Department of Natural Resources expressed concerns about ''Plainview'' derelict hull leaking pollutants into the environment. ''Plainview'' traveled on her foils for a total of 268 hours, over her entire lifetime.

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

1968 film at British Movietone Digital Archive

1969 film at British Movietone Digital Archive

The Ship that Flew
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plainview Experimental ships of the United States Navy Ships built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company 1965 ships Hydrofoils of the United States Shipwrecks of the Washington coast

See also

References

Notes

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Further reading

External links