View source for USS High Point (PCH-1)

{|{{Infobox Ship Begin}}
{{Infobox Ship Image
|Ship image=[[Image:USSHigh PointPCH1.jpg|300px|USS High Point]]
|Ship caption=USS ''High Point'' underway
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=USA
|Ship flag={{USN flag}}
|Ship name=USS ''High Point'' (PCH-1)
|Ship namesake=[[High Point, North Carolina]]
|Ship awarded=14 June 1960
|Ship builder=[[J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corporation]]
|Ship laid down=27 February 1961
|Ship launched=August 17, 1962
|Ship acquired=15 August 1963
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=15 August 1963
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=1980
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=
|Ship status=Private ownership
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox Ship Characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=''High Point''-class patrol craft
|Ship displacement=110 Tons
|Ship length={{convert|115|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|32|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|17|ft|abbr=on}} with foils down
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=30 knots
|Ship complement=
|Ship armament=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''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.<ref>Cassandra Profita, "Ship's Legacy Could Rise Again" ''Daily Astorian'', 15 December 2009.  Accessed online at http://www.dailyastorian.com/print.asp?ArticleID=66417 10 April 2010.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h6/high_point.htm}}
*{{NVR|http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/PCH1.htm}}

==External links==
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/0601.htm USS High Point at Navsource]
*[http://usshighpoint.com Current owner website]
*[http://rpstander.tripod.com/ 2002 website of past owner]
*[http://www.movietone.com/assets/BMN0331/wmv/BMN_88585_3.wmv Video at British Movietone Digital Archive]

{{DEFAULTSORT:High Point (PCH-1)}}
[[Category:Cold War patrol vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Boeing hydrofoils]]
[[Category:United States Navy North Carolina-related ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Washington (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Ships of the United States Coast Guard]]
[[Category:1962 ships]]
[[Category:Unique ships]]


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