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| Photo - Internet |
That Plane-View American Navy Ship was the one that alarmed the Soviet Union even before its launch. In the deep and stormy seas, where regular combat ships face numerous obstacles, this new Navy ship didn’t just float—it literally lifted above the waves. But here’s the surprising part: if this ship was so advanced, what exactly went wrong that the Navy had to decommission it forever?
This goes back to the 1960s, when the Cold War was ongoing between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Both countries were trying to showcase their strength, each aiming to appear more powerful to the world. To achieve this, they needed to invent something unprecedented, a technology the world had never seen before.
The U.S. Navy, which had already proven its dominance in World War II, was now facing a threat due to several Soviet advancements. The Soviets had begun building advanced nuclear submarines that, even if detected, the U.S. Navy couldn’t do much about.
These submarines could travel at speeds up to 75 km/h underwater, while the Navy's ships at the time were much slower. Not only were these subs fast, but they could dive as deep as 350 meters, making it impossible for Navy radar and sonar systems to detect them.
America feared that Soviet submarines could easily follow and attack U.S. Navy ships. Even if they were detected, nothing could be done because the torpedo missiles available then were much slower than the submarines.
The Soviet submarine threat had become a major issue for the U.S. Navy. The only solution was to build a ship that could go even faster than the Soviet submarines.
Interestingly, what Navy officials were looking for had already been developed by an Italian engineer in 1906. He had created a boat that used underwater wings, allowing it to travel much faster. These underwater wings, placed beneath the boat, would lift the boat's body out of the water once a certain speed was reached.
Only the wings remained in contact with water, which reduced drag significantly and made the boat faster. This design was called a hydrofoil.
After its invention in 1906, hydrofoil technology gradually improved and by the 1950s it was being applied in commercial yards as well.
The Navy liked the hydrofoil design, but there was a catch—it only worked well in calm waters. Oceans, where the Navy actually needed it, were too rough for the standard design to function at high speed.
So, the Navy decided to modify the hydrofoil design. The underwater wings were flattened and positioned beneath the water in such a way that waves would pass between the wings and the boat’s body.
This allowed the boat to maintain high speeds even in rough seas.
However, one issue remained: the wings had to continuously adjust to keep the boat steady. Luckily, by then the technology to achieve this had matured, and it was now clear that this design was the best option to counter Soviet submarines.
By 1970, the U.S. Navy had developed prototypes of hydrofoil ships, including the largest one—the Plainview, weighing 320 tons.
At the time, it was the world’s largest high-speed hydrofoil ship. At low speed, it operated like a regular combat ship. But when higher speed was needed, the hydrofoils would be lowered with hydraulic jacks.
The ship used 14,000-horsepower engines—the same as the ones used in F4 Phantom fighter jets.
Thanks to this engine and hydrofoils, Plainview could travel at 91 km/h—16 km/h faster than Soviet submarines. It even had the option to add extra jet engines to reach an astonishing 170 km/h.
Besides that, the Plainview was equipped with an advanced automatic control system that could stabilize the hydrofoils even in 10-foot-high waves.
The Navy spent a considerable amount of money on these hydrofoil ships. But construction took far longer than expected—about 14 years.
By the time they were ready in 1974, new technologies had emerged, including helicopters that could track and target submarines directly—making hydrofoil ships somewhat obsolete for their original purpose.
As a result, the hydrofoils were reduced to just fast patrolling duties. On top of that, they had more disadvantages than advantages:
- They were structurally weaker than regular combat ships.
- They couldn’t carry much weight, which meant limited heavy weaponry.
- They consumed more fuel, making them less cost-effective than conventional ships.
So, while the Navy’s experiment with hydrofoils was somewhat successful, many began opposing it.
In the rush to appear strong during the Cold War, the hydrofoil ended up becoming a controversy.
No one wanted the Navy to waste a huge budget on something that could be done at lower cost.
Still, to demonstrate something during the Cold War, six hydrofoil ships were made just for coastal patrolling.
They were named Pegasus-class hydrofoils. They served for about 10 years.
Then in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, ending the Cold War. And by 1994, these hydrofoils were decommissioned permanently.
The ship that once flew above the sea now lies abandoned as scrap on the shores of Astoria.
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| Photo - Unfamiliar Land.com |