Okay, back in the days before we decided "payloads" trump "platforms" somebody saw the need for small, high speed, heavily armed (per their size) ships to fight in the littorals or in island chains.
So, there was: Hydrofoil Development by the United States Navy:
They did look cool.
Now, just suppose we'd decided not to kill these programs? Where would we be? Where could they have been useful? Where could we use them now?
