The Pegasus-class hydrofoils were a series of fast attack

Fast Attack Craft

Fast Attack Craft are small, fast, agile and offensive warships, that are armed with anti-ship missiles, guns or torpedoes. These are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the sea-keeping and all-round defensive capabilities to survive in blue water. The size of the vessel...

 patrol boat

Patrol boat

A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...

s employed by the U.S. Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. They were in service from 1977 through 1993. These hydrofoil

Hydrofoil

A hydrofoil is a foil which operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to airfoils.Hydrofoils can be artificial, such as the rudder or keel on a boat, the diving planes on a submarine, a surfboard fin, or occur naturally, as with fish fins, the flippers of aquatic mammals, the...

s carried the designation "PHM" for "Patrol, Hydrofoil, Missile." The Pegasus class vessels were primarily intended for green water coastal operations, such as narcotic

Narcotic

The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...

s interdiction and coastal patrol.

History

Admiral Elmo Zumwalt began the PHM project to increase the Navy's number of surface vessels in a cost-effective manner. The project was to involve four other navies

Navy

A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...

—the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, Canadian Forces

Canadian Forces

The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...

, the Bundesmarine, and the Marina Militare

Marina Militare

The Italian Navy is the navy of the Italian Republic. It is one of the four branches of military forces of Italy; formed in 1946, from what remained of the Regia Marina . As of 2008, the Italian Navy had 35,200 active personnel with 180 commissioned ships, 19 Floating Docks, and 123 aircraft...

, for as many as 100 craft.

After Zumwalt's retirement, the Navy chose to funnel most of the money for the PHMs into larger vessels. This delayed the ongoing construction of Pegasus, and the other vessels were not started. Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 eventually forced the Navy to complete the vessels. The difficulties in project progression forced the other involved navies to abort their participation.

The Pegasus class ships were powered by two 1,600 horsepower

Horsepower

Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...

 (1,200 kW) Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 diesels when waterborne, giving them a speed of 12 knots. When foilborne, the ships were powered by a General Electric LM2500

General Electric LM2500

-External links:* .* *...

 gas turbine, giving them a speed of 48 knots.

Pegasus ships were well armed for their size, carrying two four-rack RGM-84 Harpoon

Boeing Harpoon

The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system, developed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas . In 2004, Boeing delivered the 7,000th Harpoon unit since the weapon's introduction in 1977...

 anti-ship missile

Anti-ship missile

Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type, many use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing...

s and an Oto Melara 76 mm

Otobreda 76 mm

The Otobreda 76 mm gun is a naval artillery piece built by the Italian defence conglomerate Otobreda. It is based on the Oto Melara 76mm/L62 Allargato, which was bigger and heavier...

 gun. The Harpoons, specifically, were capable of sinking far larger ships at distances in excess of 60 nautical miles (111.1 km). The German version would have carried the MM38 Exocet

Exocet

The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Hundreds were fired in combat during the 1980s.-Etymology:...

.

As Pegasus was constructed several years before the rest of the series, there are some slight differences, such as the fire-control system

Fire-control system

A fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more...

.

All six vessels were constructed by Boeing

Boeing Integrated Defense Systems

Boeing Defense, Space & Security formerly known as Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a unit of The Boeing Company responsible for defense and aerospace products and services. Boeing Integrated Defense Systems was formed in 2002 by combining the former "Military Aircraft and Missile Systems"...

, in Seattle

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

 at the Renton plant at the south end of Lake Washington

Lake Washington

Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It is bordered by the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and...

. They were stationed at NAS Key West

Naval Air Station Key West

Naval Air Station Key West , is a naval air station and military airport located on Boca Chica Key, four miles east of the central business district of Key West, Florida, United States....

.

The technology was first pioneered by the , where it successfully operated in Vietnam, but ultimately ran aground off Puerto Rico. It was judged to be more advanced than the Grumman which was built at the same time to the same requirements. The primary technology, also used in the Boeing Jetfoil ferries, used submerged flying foils with waterjet propulsion.

The ships were retired because they were not judged cost effective for their mission in a Navy with primarily offensive missions rather than coastal patrol. USS Aries PHM-5 Hydrofoil Memorial, Inc. obtained Aries for rehabilitation as a memorial located on the Grand River in Brunswick, Missouri

Brunswick, Missouri

Brunswick is a rural city in Carroll County, Missouri, United States. The population was 925 at the 2000 census. The Missouri Farmers Association was founded here in 1914. Today the city is considered the Pecan Capital of Missouri...

 at 39°25′15"N 93°7′47"W. All other PHMs in the class were sold for scrap.

List of ships

(July 9, 1977–July 30, 1993), formerly Delphinus (December 18, 1982–July 30, 1993) (October 10, 1981–July 30, 1993) (June 26, 1982–July 30, 1993) (September 18, 1982–July 30, 1993) (November 13, 1982–July 30, 1993)

See also

• Boeing hydrofoils
• HMS Speedy (P296)
  HMS Speedy (P296)
  HMS Speedy was a Boeing Jetfoil mine countermeasure vessel of the British Royal Navy. She was procured in 1979 to provide the Royal Navy with practical experience in the operation of a hydrofoil, to ascertain technical and performance characteristics, and to oversee the capability of such a...
  
  , a Royal Navy
  Royal Navy
  The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
  
   Jetfoil mine countermeasure vessel.

External links

• Navysite.de PHM page
• Boeing page
• USS Aries PHM-5 Hydrofoil Memorial, Inc. - Brunswick, Missouri
  Brunswick, Missouri
  Brunswick is a rural city in Carroll County, Missouri, United States. The population was 925 at the 2000 census. The Missouri Farmers Association was founded here in 1914. Today the city is considered the Pecan Capital of Missouri...