USS Taurus (PHM-3)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Taurus.

USS Taurus (PHM-3) was the third ship of her class of hydrofoils operated by the United States Navy. Pegasus class vessels were designed for high speed and mobility, and carried a powerful (for their size) armament. The ship was named for the constellation Taurus.

USS Taurus
History
United States
Name	USS Taurus
Namesake	Taurus
Awarded	20 October 1977
Builder	Boeing Marine Systems, Renton, Washington
Laid down	30 January 1979
Launched	8 May 1981
Commissioned	10 October 1981
Decommissioned	30 July 1993
Homeport	Key West, Fl
Motto	Ad Astra (Latin) "To the stars"[1]
Fate	Sold for scrapping, 19 August 1996
General characteristics
Class & type	Pegasus-class hydrofoil
Displacement	255 long tons (259 t) full
Length	133 ft (41 m)
Beam	28 ft (8.5 m)
Propulsion	2 × Mercedes-Benz marine diesels (hullborne), 1,600 bhp (1,193 kW) 1 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbine (foilborne), 18,000 shp (13,423 kW)
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) hullborne 48 knots (89 km/h; 55 mph) foilborne
Complement	4 officers, 17 enlisted
Sensors & processing systems	LN-66 navigation radar MK 92 Mod 1 fire-control system
Armament	2 × quad RGM-84 Harpoon 1 × Mk.75 76 mm OTO Melara, 62 cal. gun

In November 1972, The United States, Germany and Italy signed a Memorandum of Understanding to share the cost of the development of a Patrol Missile Hydrofoil. This brought about the building of the Pegasus class . The Taurus was the first production model.^[2]

Taurus makes a high-speed turn

A sailor aboard the patrol combatant missile hydrofoil USS Taurus (PHM 3) stands beside an M60 machine gun as he keeps an eye on a small craft that was stopped after being spotted unusually far from shore

See also

• List of patrol vessels of the United States Navy