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Patrol Combatant-Missile (Hydrofoil)
Photo Archive

Aquila (PHM-4)



Call sign:
November - Victor - Mike - Zulu
Pegasus PHM-1 Class Patrol Combatant-Missile (Hydrofoil):

  • Laid down 10 July 1979 by Boeing Marine Systems, Seattle, Washington
  • Launched 16 September 1981
  • Commissioned 26 June 1982
  • Decommissioned 30 July 1993
  • Struck from the Naval Register 30 July 1993
  • Sold for scrap 19 August 1996 by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 178 t.(lt), 255 t.(fl)
  • Length 133'
  • Beam 28'
  • Speed 12 kts. (Hullborne), 48 kts. (foilborne)
  • Complement 21
  • Armament: One 76mm Mk 75 gun mount and eight Harpoon missiles
  • Propulsion: Two 1,600bhp Mercedes-Benz diesel engines and one 18,000shp General Electric LM2500 gas turbine, two water jets.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Aquila 98k
    Namesake:

    Aquila is a constellation on the celestial equator. Its name is Latin for 'eagle' and it represents the bird that carried Zeus/Jupiter's thunderbolts in Greek-Roman mythology.

    Its brightest star, Altair, is one vertex of the Summer Triangle asterism. The constellation is best seen in the northern summer, as it is located along the Milky Way. Because of this location, many clusters and nebulae are found within its borders, but they are dim and galaxies are few

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Aquila 487k Replacement photo: U.S. Navy photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy Original photo: International Hydrofoil Society website
    Replacement photo: Michael Mohl
    Aquila 132k Robert Hurst
    Aquila 333k Aquila on a high speed run, her forward foil visible under the bow. Note she only has two of her eight Harpoon canisters, but her chaff rocket launcher is on board, barely visible at the edge of the deckhouse, nearly abeam the lattice mast. The small horizontal waveguide forward of and below the egg-shaped radome housing Aquila's Mark 92 fire control and search radar is an SPS-63 navigational radar
    Photo courtesy of Boeing Marine Systems from U.S. Small Combatants: An Illustrated Design History, by Norman Friedman
    Aquila 335k Photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy Michael Mohl
    Aquila 433k Underway with the Boeing jetfoil Bima Samudera 1 built as a fast troop carrier for the Indonesian navy, in Puget Sound
    Photo courtesy of Boeing Marine Systems from U.S. Small Combatants: An Illustrated Design History, by Norman Friedman    		 Robert Hurst
    Aquila 76k Moored at NAS Key West, FL, 11 August 1982 after her 5,000 mile voyage from Puget Sound, WA. Astern is Taurus (PHM 3)
    U.S. Navy photo NH 96630 from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships    		 Original photo: Phyllis Moorhead
    Replacement photo: Robert Hurst
    Taurus 269k c. September 1982
    The forward hydrofoil of Taurus (PHM 3) and a stern view of Aquila at Pier 1, Trumbo Point, Key West, FL
    Photo by Raymond L. Blazevic
    Courtesy of Florida Keys Public Libraries    		 Robert Hurst
    Aquila 308k 1 September 1982
    A view of the Aquila equipped with eight harpoon surface-to-surface cruise missiles. She is shown on a foilborne high speed run of approximately 40-knots.
    U.S. Navy photos DN-ST-82-10870 and DN-ST-82-10871    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Aquila 331k
    Aquila 184k U.S. Navy photo from the February 1983 edition of All Hands magazine Joe Radigan
    Aquila 121k 1 June 1984
    The patrol combatant missile hydrofoil Aquila lies tied up at a wharf during Exercise UNITAS XXV. The USCGC Courageous (WMEC 622) is in the background
    Defense Visual Information photo DN-ST-90-01294 by JOCS Kirby Harrison    		 Bill Gonyo
    Aquila 104k 1 June 1984
    Sailors man the rail in front of the 76 mm Mark 75 anti-aircraft gun on the patrol combatant missile hydrofoil Aquila.
    Defense Visual Information photo DN-ST-90-01295 by JOCS Kirby Harrison
    Aquila 248k Replacement photo: 4 September 1986
    U.S. Navy photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Original photo: Robert Hurst
    Replacement photo: Michael Mohl
    Aquila 253k Key West, FL
    A port bow view of the patrol combatant missile hydrofoils USS Gemini (PHM 6), left and the Aquila moored to a pier. The Gemini's foils are deployed
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo DN-SC-93-03749 (18461586004). National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Robert Hurst
    Photos added 26 February 2022
    Taurus 236k 1 November 1989
    Key West, FL
    Patrol combatant missile hydrofoils Aquila, front, and USS Gemini (PHM 6), center, lie tied up in port with a third PHM (Probably Taurus (PHM 3)). The Coast Guard surface effect ship USCGC Shearwater (WSES 3) is in the background
    Photo by PH2 (AC) Mark S. Kettenhofen
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo DN-SC-90-09333/National Archives Identifier (NAID) 6451967
    Taurus 223k c. April 1993
    Key West, FL
    A port bow view of the patrol combatant missile hydrofoils Taurus (PHM 3), USS Gemini (PHM 6) and Aquila
    Photo by OS2 John Bouvia
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo DN-SC-93-03750/National Museum of the U.S. Navy
    Pegasus Class 334k 13 June 1993
    All six vessels of Patrol Combatant Missile Hydrofoil Squadron TWO travel in formation en route to Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, VA for decommissioning. The formation includes the USS Pegasus (PHM 1), USS Hercules (PHM 2), USS Taurus (PHM 3), Aquila, USS Aries (PHM-5) and USS Gemini (PHM-6)
    U.S. Navy photo DN-ST-93-05725 by PH2 Douglas F. Mooney    		 Robert Hurst
    Aquila 883k 13 June 1993
    U.S. Navy photo DN-ST-93-05726 from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Pegasus 398k 13 June 1993
    Vessels of Patrol Combatant Missile Hydrofoil Squadron 2 travel in formation en route to Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Va. for decommissioning. The hydrofoils include: the USS Pegasus PHM 1), USS Hercules (PHM-2), USS Taurus (PHM-3), Aquila, USS Aries (PHM-5) and the USS Gemini (PHM-6)
    U.S. Navy photo DN-SC-93-05730 from National Museum of the U.S. Navy
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR David Michael Lee, USN - USNA Class of 196826 June 1982 - 28 July 1984
    02CDR Thomas F. Hatrick, USN28 July 1984 - 25 October 1986
    03LCDR Marvin E. Butcher, Jr., USN25 October 1986 - 3 December 1988
    04LCDR John W. Mickelson, USN3 December 1988 - 15 December 1990
    05LCDR William Edward Landlay, III, USN - USNA Class of 1978
    Awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and Legion of Merit - Retired as Vice Admiral    		15 December 1990 - 9 October 1992
    06LCDR Jeffrey Eugene Kline, USN15 December 1992 - 30 July 1993
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Aquila (PHM-4)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
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