Evidence
16 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-16).
-
[1]research packet 958-packet.md [other_primary]
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Identity packet verdict: VERIFIED
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Evidence ID
- uss-high-point-pch1-pkt-958-packet-md
-
[2]DANFS, High Point (PCH-1) - launch, sponsor, in-service date, hydrofoil configuration, Puget Sound tests 1963-67 (live NHHC page verified 2026-10-04) [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS service narrative and spec block
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: 'High Point (PCH-1), an hydrofoil patrol craft, was launched 17 August 1962 by J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, Wash., in conjunction with Boeing Co., Seattle; sponsored by Mrs. William H. Allen; and placed in service 15 August 1963, Lt. H. G. Billerbeck in charge.' First of a series of hydrofoil craft designed to evaluate hydrofoil propulsion for the modern Navy; three submerged foils containing propulsion nacelles and propellers; capable of riding on her hull; very high-speed foilborne operation for antisubmarine forces; 'carried out tests in Puget Sound during 1963 through 1967.' Spec block: dp. 110; l. 115'; b. 32'; dr. about 17' with foils down; s. over 30 k.; cl. High Point.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1961-1967 (entry coverage)
- Population
- Martinac/Boeing construction trades (1961-63); Navy crew and HYSTU personnel (1963-84)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos or material content. DANFS says 'placed in service' with a lieutenant 'in charge' - not 'commissioned' - consistent with the in-service service-craft status documented in ev-14; the 'commissioned 15 August 1963' wording in the batch task and secondary literature is the conventional but technically inaccurate framing. DANFS beam (32') conflicts with NavSource (22').
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-01
-
[3]Naval Vessel Register, ship detail HIGH POINT (PCH 1), shipId 2520, PATROL CRAFT (HYDROFOIL), UIC 06363 (live page verified 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NVR getHull.htm?shipId=2520, Vessel Status and Milestone Dates blocks
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NVR registry data for this hull: Award Date 06/14/1960; Keel Date 02/27/1961; Launch Date 08/17/1962; Delivery Date 08/15/1963. Status: 'reclassed to combatant craft or boat', date status changed 09/01/1970. Commission Date, In Service Date, Out Service Date, Decommission Date, and Stricken Date fields are all BLANK. Custodian: US NAVY. Last Updated 02/17/1999.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1960-1999 (record coverage)
- Population
- Navy registry/administrative record
- Limitations
- Registry record only; no asbestos or material content. The blank Commission Date field is consistent with the never-commissioned 'in service' status (ev-14). The 09/01/1970 'reclassed to combatant craft or boat' status explains her administrative treatment as a service craft. Secondary sources' 'stricken 1980' claim is NOT supported by this NVR page (Stricken Date blank) - see ev-14 and gaps.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-02
-
[4]Wm. M. Ellsworth, 'Twenty Foilborne Years: The U.S. Navy Hydrofoil High Point PCH-1', prepared for David Taylor Naval Ship Research and Development Center (DTNSRDC) under Contract N00600-81-D-0252, ca. 1987-88 (full-text PDF, 327 pp., via International Hydrofoil Society) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ellsworth, pp. 71-72 (complement/OIC service-craft status), 85-91 (delivery/PAT/POIC letter), 205-209 (CG turnover and casualty), 221-225 (1978-80 program), 244-249 (1984 deactivation, Boeing handover), 249-251 (lessons learned, systems tested)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Navy-commissioned technical history of this hull, 327 pages, by the hydrofoil program's lead engineer. Documents: delivery to the Navy at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 15 August 1963 after Preliminary Acceptance Trials 11-12 July 1963; 'in service' service-craft status deliberated by the Prospective Officer-in-Charge ('HIGH POINT is being constructed as a service craft with an ASW capability and not as a combatant ship'); ship's complement OIC + 12 enlisted; two Bristol Siddeley Marine Proteus gas turbines as foilborne mains; HYSTU (Hydrofoil Special Trials Unit) tenant activity at PSNS under DTMB/DTNSRDC technical control and COM-13 operational control; Coast Guard turnover 4 April 1975 under a 25 October 1974 Navy-USCG memorandum of agreement (officially commissioned USCG vessel WMEH-1 under LT Douglas F. Gehring USCG, crew of 11), starboard upper gearbox casualty at San Francisco, return to Navy 5 May 1975 (31 days under CG control, 14.5 out of service, 79.6 underway hours); 1978 planned retirement forestalled; DTAS/HYTOW/BQR-15 towed-array trials at Nanoose BC and Keyport; HYPAM mine countermeasures, ALR-66 ESM, HYCATS, Harpoon and MK 44/MK 32 weapons tests; foilborne time 1,362 h 57 m through 1980; deactivation 1 December 1984; handover to Boeing 23 January 1985 as Government Furnished Property under DTNSRDC contract, thereafter maintained and operated by a Boeing crew (captain, first mate, chief engineer, assistant engineer, two mechanics) available at cost for approved tests.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1958-1988 (book coverage)
- Population
- Navy crew/HYSTU (1963-84); CG evaluation crew (Apr-May 1975); Boeing contractor crew (1985-); DTNSRDC/Boeing program engineers
- Limitations
- Ship-specific history only; no asbestos content - the word 'asbestos' appears nowhere in the 327-page document (checked full text 2026-10-04; see ev-12 negative finding). Thermal-insulation mentions are generic and note minimization for weight. Contractor-prepared under Navy contract; figures are program-history data, not registry records.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-03
-
[5]U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 'High Point, 1975' cutter/asset history page (live page verified 2026-10-04; sources: CG Cutter History File; Scheina, U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft 1946-1990) [other_primary]
- Locator
- USCG Historian's Office asset page, spec block and Cutter History narrative
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- USCG official history for this hull: Builder J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma; 'Boeing had designed the craft and subcontracted her construction to Martinac'; sponsored by Mrs. William H. Allen; placed in service 15 August 1963; Puget Sound tests 1963-67. Navy loaned both Flagstaff (PGH-1) and High Point (PCH-1) to the Coast Guard for evaluation beginning late 1974; High Point transferred to the Coast Guard in early 1975, painted in Coast Guard livery, evaluated by a volunteer crew (many cross-decked from the Flagstaff evaluation) with three Navy crewmen remaining aboard; evaluations in Puget Sound then San Francisco in spring 1975; 'as the hydrofoil prepared to moor at Treasure Island, her turbine blew' - the ~$300,000 repair cost was prohibitive, so the Coast Guard returned her to the Navy and ended the evaluation program. Specs listed: length 115', beam 32, draft 17' foils down, displacement 110 tons, machinery 'General Electric turbine (foil-borne)', max 48 knots foil-borne; 'Commissioned: 15 August 1963 (USN)'.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1974-1975
- Population
- CG evaluation crew (~11, under LT Gehring) plus 3 Navy crewmen retained aboard (Apr-May 1975)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific CG evaluation history; no asbestos content. Two internal conflicts: (1) 'turbine blew' vs Ellsworth's documented starboard upper gearbox casualty (ev-03) - casualty mechanism differs between the two official sources, noted in gaps; (2) 'General Electric turbine' conflicts with the documented Bristol Siddeley Marine Proteus gas turbines (Ellsworth Table 4; Rolls-Royce inspection/training) - treated as a CG-page error, noted in ev-14. CG page uses 'Commissioned' wording for 15 Aug 1963 despite the in-service status documented elsewhere.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-04
-
[6]USNI Proceedings, 'USS High Point (PCH-1): A Page from the New Navy', Charles H. Nelson Jr., Chief Journalist, USN, September 1963, Vol. 89/9/727 (live page verified 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- USNI Proceedings archive, September 1963 article body
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Contemporary official-leaning description of this hull at entry into service: constructed 'almost entirely of aluminum'; two 3,100-hp gas turbine engines each driving a nacelle with two propellers (four total) on the aft foil; 600-hp diesel with retractable inboard-outboard drive for hullborne operation; foil retraction draft figures (5.5 ft retracted, ~6.5 ft foilborne, ~16 ft extended); 13-man crew; ASW 'grasshopper'/'leapfrog' operating concept described by RADM Ralph K. James in House testimony; aircraft-type pilothouse and autopilot stabilization.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1962-1963
- Population
- 13-man Navy crew (1963)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific contemporary description; no asbestos or material-content data. 'Almost entirely of aluminum' supports the weight-critical minimal-insulation design noted in ev-10/12. Crew figure (13) corroborates Ellsworth.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-05
-
[7]HistoryLink.org (Washington State encyclopedia), File 22441, David Norberg, 'USS High Point, a hydrofoil patrol boat, is launched by Tacoma's Martinac shipbuilders on August 17, 1962', posted 2022-04-01 (live page verified 2026-10-04) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- HistoryLink File 22441, body text
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Documented for this hull: $2,082,215 fixed-price contract announced 13 June 1960 to Boeing (prime) and Martinac (subcontractor needing shipbuilding facilities); launched evening of 17 August 1962 at Tacoma; christened by Margaret Allen, wife of Boeing president William Allen; aluminum hull; 600-hp diesel hullborne and two 3,100-hp turbine engines coupled to four propellers foilborne; first took to foils 22 May 1963; first preliminary acceptance trial 11 July 1963; Navy took possession August 1963 and stationed her at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton; Navy operated/modified her 1963-1984 (MK 32 torpedo, 40mm cannon, Harpoon missile tests while foilborne per Ellsworth); CG evaluation 1975 returned within a month; 1978 program cuts blocked by Sen. Magnuson; operated until December 1984 deactivation and Boeing handover; sold through private owners, $45,000 2021 purchase reported by The Post and Courier.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1960-2022
- Population
- Martinac/Boeing trades (1961-63); Navy crew 1963-84
- Limitations
- Ship-specific secondary history (sourced: Ellsworth/DTNSRDC history, Boeing, Seattle Times, Post and Courier); no asbestos content. Consistent with DANFS/Ellsworth on milestones.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-06
-
[8]NavSource Online: Hydrofoil Patrol Craft Photo Archive, USCGC High Point (WMEH-1) ex-USS High Point (PCH-1) - designation timeline, specifications, commanding officers, captioned photo archive (live page verified 2026-10-04) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource 12/0601.htm header block, specifications block, photo captions
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource timeline for this hull: laid down 27 February 1961 (Martinac/Boeing); launched 17 August 1962; 'Delivered and commissioned USS High Point (PCH 1), 15 August 1963'; decommissioned March 1975; transferred to Coast Guard 4 April 1975 and commissioned USCGC High Point (WMEH 1); decommissioned 5 May 1975 and returned to Navy; 'Struck from the Navy Registry in 1980'; deactivated December 1984; transferred to Boeing January 1985; 'Operated with a Navy crew as a test platform for Patrol Hydrofoil (Missile) craft'; final flight 11 May 1989; sold 1991; sold February 2002 to Bob Phillips of Skamokawa, WA, moored at Tongue Point; sold November 2005 to Terence Orme; page footer (stale) 'Currently undergoing restoration on the Columbia River.' Captioned photos document: Straits of Juan de Fuca first high-seas trials c. 1966 (All Hands Mar 1967); AGM-84A Harpoon canister-launcher test at Nanoose, Canada, January 1974 (NARA photos K-21506/21507); underway off California Sept 1974 (K-105621); alongside Plainview (AGEH-1) Puget Sound July 1978 (NARA K-120787); CG-livery photos and SAR exercise off San Francisco 25 April 1975; Astoria/Tongue Point moorage photos 2002-2005; 2019 Pop Yachts sale listing photo. Specs: 110 t; 115' x 22' x 17'; one 40mm mount; GM 12V71 diesel hullborne + 2 Rolls Royce Proteus gas turbines foilborne, 2 shafts.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1961-2005 (page coverage)
- Population
- Navy crew (1963-84); CG crew (1975); later civilian owners/restoration volunteers (1991-2023)
- Limitations
- NavSource is a volunteer secondary compilation tracking NVR/DANFS on milestones but containing errors/staleness: (1) 'commissioned' wording vs documented in-service status; (2) beam 22' vs 32' (DANFS/Ellsworth); (3) 'operated with a Navy crew' post-1985 conflicts with Ellsworth's documented Boeing contractor crew; (4) 'struck 1980' not supported by NVR's blank Stricken Date; (5) 'currently undergoing restoration' stale - scrapped Aug 2023. No asbestos content.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-07
-
[9]Pacific Maritime Magazine, 'U.S. Navy's 1st Hydrofoil Scrapped in Astoria', Oct-Nov 2023 (ARCHIVED - live pacmar.com URL now serves a publication-closed placeholder; Wayback capture 2023-11-28 verified) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Pacific Maritime Magazine article body via Wayback capture 2023-11-28
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Final disposition of this hull: 'the 116-foot former USS High Point hydrofoil was scrapped in August at the Hyak Tongue Point Shipyard in Astoria, Ore.' (August 2023). After the 2021 purchase, the last owner paid WCT Marine to haul her out at Tongue Point; the foils were dropped at dockside and retrieved later; 'once onshore, severe corrosion below the waterline was clearly visible, and thus ended the final rescue plan. There was no ceremony when the High Point was scrapped in August.' Also documents: construction subcontracted by Boeing to J.M. Martinac in Tacoma; aluminum hull powered by 'a pair of marinized aero engines: Rolls Royce Proteus gas turbines, each producing over 3,000 hp'; retractable foil/drive reducing draft 17' to 6.5'; ~50-knot foilborne top speed; Detroit Diesel azimuthing stern drive for slow-speed work; program deactivated 1984 and boat returned to Boeing; turbines removed before the 1990s private sales; moved to the Columbia River around 2000.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 2000-2023
- Population
- Hyak Tongue Point Shipyard scrapping workers (Aug 2023); restoration workers (2021-22)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific disposition reporting; no asbestos or hazmat content - no demolition-environmental record located in this source. ARCHIVED copy cited because the live URL is dead (publication closed); label preserved per citation hygiene.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-08
-
[10]USNI News, Ben Werner, 'FOR SALE: The Navy's First Operational Hydrofoil', 29 November 2019 (live page verified 2026-10-04) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- USNI News article body
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- 2019 status of this hull: listed for sale pier-side in Astoria, Oregon through broker Hal Palmer; 115-foot hull with a 450-hp Detroit Diesel needing new hydraulics and the three hydrofoils stowed under the ship. Documents delivered armament (two MK 32 torpedo launchers amidships trained 45 degrees off the bow), weight-driven habitability compromises ('officer and typical crew of 12 enlisted sailors' per Ellsworth), Navy ASW evaluation history, 1975 Coast Guard transfer, 1985 deactivation/'used by Boeing as a test vessel,' and NARA photo of the January 1974 Harpoon canister-launch test at Nanoose.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 2019
- Population
- Owner/broker personnel; prospective buyers (2019)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific press account; no asbestos content. Minor imprecisions ('sailing on its three submerged foils' - foils are submerged only hullborne; nacelles/props are on the aft foil).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-09
-
[11]The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), Thomas Novelly, 'The Navy's USS High Point was abandoned. A Charleston man hopes to bring it back to life', 14 January 2021 (live page verified 2026-10-04; body text extracted through paywall) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- Post and Courier article body
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- 2020-21 ownership transfer and restoration attempt for this hull: Neil Beach of James Island/Charleston, SC purchased her for $45,000 via broker Hal Palmer (popyachts.com listing) and began monthly restoration trips to the Tongue Point Shipyard, Astoria, OR. Condition on purchase: 8 inches of water in the bilge, cockpit gauges needing replacement, diesel needing new hydraulics, but 'the aircraft-grade aluminum hull was intact under the piles of moss and barnacles'; diesel engine restarted during the restoration effort; 'crew of 13 men' noted in the article's history summary.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 2020-2021
- Population
- Neil Beach and son (restoration workers, 2020-2023)
- Limitations
- Ship-specific press account; no asbestos or hazmat content. Contains one numeric typo ('155-foot' hull - all other sources 115'). Final owner whose effort ended with the August 2023 scrapping (ev-08).
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-10
-
[12]Era inference built on: DANFS spec block and service dates (1963-era naval craft); Ellsworth DTNSRDC history (aluminum hull, Proteus gas turbines, Detroit diesel, weight-critical design with thermal insulation minimized); GAO HRD-80-2 (see ev-11); USNI 1963 contemporary description [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ellsworth pp. 41-42 (modification list: plastic superstructure, thermal insulation reduced); GAO HRD-80-2 product page
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- A naval craft built 1961-63 for the Bureau of Ships sits inside the Navy's documented asbestos-use era; era-standard applications aboard a small patrol craft of this period were gaskets, valve packing, machinery and exhaust lagging, and electrical insulation. Countervailing design facts reduce, but do not eliminate, the inference: the craft was weight-critical aluminum construction with thermal insulation 'reduced to a minimum' and a plastic superstructure substitution that 'eliminated the necessity of thermal insulation in the superstructure' (Ellsworth); gas turbine + diesel plant with no steam system, so no boiler/turbine lagging pathway.
- Verification
- inferred
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1961-2023
- Population
- Martinac/Boeing construction trades (1961-63); Navy/CG crew and HYSTU personnel (1963-84); Boeing contractor crew (1985-89); restoration volunteers and 2023 scrapping workers
- Limitations
- Class/era inference only - no hull-specific insulation survey, material list, or work package located for PCH-1. Names era-standard applications, not confirmed installed materials. The minimal-insulation design makes this among the weakest era inferences in the series: plausible low-level asbestos in gaskets/packing/electrical only, entirely unverified. No quantity. No manufacturer attribution.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-11
-
[13]GAO, Navy Efforts To Protect Workers From Asbestos Exposure, HRD-80-2 (Oct 18, 1979) [gao]
- Locator
- GAO product page HRD-80-2 (full text blocked, HTTP 403)
- Finding type
- gov_survey
- Finding
- GAO documented that the Navy used asbestos insulation extensively aboard ships and did not begin substituting alternative insulation materials until the early 1970s - spanning this hull's construction (1961-63) and Navy service era (1963-84).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1979
- Population
- Navy shipyard workers; asbestos program review
- Limitations
- Program-level documentation; supports era context only, not any fact specific to this hull. Full text not retrieved (gao.gov blocks automated fetch, HTTP 403, confirmed in prior batches 2026-09) - content via product-page description.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-12
-
[14]Batch-8293 search ledger (this record): DANFS/NHHC; NVR shipId 2520; DTNSRDC technical history (Ellsworth, full text); USCG Historian's Office; USNI Proceedings 1963; HistoryLink 22441; NavSource; Pacific Maritime Magazine (archived); USNI News 2019; Post and Courier 2021; IHS correspondence archive; NARA deck-log online index; asbestos/litigation web sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-high-point-pch1-01 through -14
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, or verified litigation naming USS High Point (PCH-1/WMEH-1) was found in the public sources searched. The ship's own 327-page DTNSRDC technical history (Ellsworth) contains zero occurrences of the word 'asbestos.' The August 2023 scrapping at Hyak Tongue Point Shipyard is documented without any hazmat/ACM handling record in the located sources. CAVEAT: CourtListener could not be queried this session - every attempt via the authenticated helper returned the fleet-pacing throttle (shared hourly budget spent by other sessions), logged as blocked in search_ledger, not as a negative result. No law-firm marketing claims were located asserting asbestos aboard this specific hull (unusual - most hulls surface listicle hits; none found here).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 2026-10-04
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard. If CourtListener remained throttled at session end its row stands as blocked, not a negative result. Deck logs (RG 24), PSNS/HYSTU work packages, Boeing contract files, and any Oregon DEQ/scrapping-contract hazmat records for the 2023 breakup are undigitized leads. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-13
-
[15]Status cross-check: Ellsworth DTNSRDC history (POIC letter: 'service craft...not...a combatant ship'; 'in-service, not in-commission' retention proposal); NVR shipId 2520 (blank Commission Date; status 'reclassed to combatant craft or boat' eff. 09/01/1970); DANFS ('placed in service', officer 'in charge'); USCG Historian ('Commissioned: 15 August 1963 (USN)'); NavSource ('Delivered and commissioned'); Wikipedia (commissioned 15 Aug 1963, stricken 1980) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ellsworth pp. 72, 124-125; NVR shipId 2520; DANFS narrative; USCG Historian spec block; NavSource header/specs; Wikipedia infobox
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- CORRECTION (status): this hull was never formally commissioned as a Navy ship. She was placed 'in service' 15 August 1963 at PSNS Bremerton as an 'in-service' service craft under an Officer-in-Charge (OIC), retained 'in-service, not in-commission' for the R&D program, and led by a succession of OICs (LT Billerbeck; LT Orvis; LT Bianco; LCDR Givens; LCDR Mulhall; LCDR Dunaway; ENCS McDowell; QMCM Wylie). The batch task's 'commissioned 15 August 1963' and secondary literature's 'commissioned'/'decommissioned March 1975' wording are conventional but technically inaccurate - NVR carries no Commission Date. Her only formal commissioning was the one-month USCGC WMEH-1 commissioning of 4 April - 5 May 1975. CORRECTION (stricken): 'struck from the Navy Registry in 1980' (NavSource/Wikipedia) is unsupported by the live NVR page (Stricken Date blank; status 'reclassed to combatant craft or boat' 1970; Navy operations documented through 1984, custodian US NAVY through last update 1999). CORRECTION (machinery): USCG Historian's 'General Electric turbine' conflicts with documented Bristol Siddeley Marine Proteus gas turbines (Ellsworth Table 4; Rolls-Royce maintenance inspections/training) - treated as a spec-block error.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1963-1999
- Limitations
- Corrects circulating status and machinery errors; not a material claim. The 'stricken 1980' claim may reflect an administrative striking later reversed when the program continued - unresolved; NVR's own record is inconsistent with it either way.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-14
-
[16]International Hydrofoil Society correspondence archive, 'HIGH POINT (PCH-1)' (12-pp. PDF of 1997-2003 posted messages; includes IHS history summary and owner/restoration correspondence) [other_primary]
- Locator
- IHS SHIP-HIGH-POINT-97-2000.pdf, posted-message pages 1-2 (history summary), 5-9 (ownership messages)
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Post-Navy ownership chain for this hull from participant correspondence: turbines already removed by 1999 (Eliot James tour report); Janice Fraser/CAPT Fraser ownership in San Diego (offered for sale Dec 2000); William Knuth tending and listing her ~1999-2000 ($100,000 ask, 'off she goes to the scrapper'); Ron Ihle's Hydrofoil HIGH POINT Association preservation effort from Dec 2001 (501(c)(3)/museum intent, planned transit to San Francisco Bay); IHS member Bob Phillips as new owner restoring her by June 2003. Program origins also documented: 24 January 1958 CNO request to BuShips for hydrofoil design study; 25 July 1958 SCB characteristics for PCH; 18 January 1960 contract plans approved; June 1960 contract to Boeing; March 1965 DTMB made Technical Agent for Navy hydrofoil R&D, forming HYSTU at PSNS under COM-13.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-10-04
- Study period
- 1997-2003 (message coverage)
- Population
- Post-Navy private owners and preservation volunteers (1991-2005)
- Limitations
- Archival lead / correspondence-level documentation: owner names and dates are participant-reported, not registry records - used only to corroborate the NavSource/press sale chain, not for dates of record. A former-crew anecdote (planned San Diego homeport under Amphibious Force Pacific before HYSTU) is plausible but uncorroborated.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-high-point-pch1-15