Aries Got her Gun (back)

We’ve always been fans of the six-pack of Pegasus-class hydrofoil patrol missile (PHM) boats that entered service in 1977, were sadly underutilized during the Cold War, and were retired wholesale when it ended. Each carried eight Harpoons, a 76mm/62c MK75 OTO Melara Super Rapid forward, and a GE LM2500 gas turbine that could drive the whole enterprise at 48 knots. These 133-foot “Boeing boats” were magic to behold. Pegasus on trials USS Hercules (PHM-2) and Taurus (PHM-3) 1983 Hydrofoil USS Hercules PHM-2 Squadron 2 in Key West DN-SC-90-09332 The plan was that the Navy was to build over 30 of these little boats to operate in a couple of forward-deployed squadrons, with Italy, Germany, and possibly Japan to follow, but as soon as PHM champion Elmo Zumwalt left the CNO’s office, that plan went right out the window and just six were completed– although Japan and Italy did build some even smaller (75-foot) Sparviero/1-go boats, still with the Otobreda 76 forward but with half as many…