One Hundred Years of U.S. Navy Air Power

by Smith, Douglas V.

  Strategic considerations would shape the future development of rotary-wing aviation. In 1946, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Vice Admiral Forrest Sherman focused on a new maritime strategy. Forward, offensive operations dominated the new strategy and anti-submarine warfare was central to the operational concept. The introduction of the German Type XXI submarines at the end of World War II had sparked a revolution in submarine warfare.29 The acquisition of numerous Type XXI boats by the Soviet Union at the end of the war, combined with tensions between the emerging superpowers, would have a dramatic impact. Sherman focused on offensive operations against the bases for hostile submarines, but the lessons of the recently concluded conflict were not lost. The difficulty inherent in degrading the submarine threat at the source was recognized, but so too was the reduced effectiveness of aircraft as ASW assets as a result of the Type XXI–induced revolution. During the war, the mere presence of an aircraft was enough to disrupt submarine attacks. The new generation of submarine was far less vulnerable.30 New technologies would be required to augment the defensive measures that would facilitate Sherman’s offensive posture. Frank Erickson’s foresight in mating the dunking sonar to the helicopter would provide part of the answer.

  The Hayes dunking sonar used in World War II experiments would evolve, as would the underpowered helicopters. In the immediate postwar years, twin rotor–configured aircraft like the McDonnell XHJD-1 and the Piasecki H-21 would garner increasing attention. Sikorsky Aircraft would develop a competing model based on the earlier successful configuration of a single main rotor. Originally developed to compete for the Air Force rescue helicopter contract, the S-55 was adapted for a Navy operational investigation of helicopter ASW using dipping sonar. Designated the HO4S-series in naval service, it was underpowered and could carry either the dipping sonar or antisubmarine torpedoes, but not both simultaneously. Naval rotary-wing aviation continued to be an exercise in adapting equipment originally intended for other purposes. In spite of this handicap, the project would succeed and would set the stage for the next generation of ASW helicopters.

  Concurrent with the demonstration of the ASW capabilities of the Sikorsky variant, Piasecki would also enter the competition with a tandem-rotor variant, the HUP series aircraft. When Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron ONE (HS-1), the first squadron of its type, was established in October 1951, it was equipped with HUP-1/2 aircraft. As with the rapid development that occurred in all naval aviation communities during the decade following the end of World War II, the early HS squadrons would experience a rapid transition through a series of airframes including the HUP and the Sikorsky HRS, HO4S, and HSS-1 helicopters. This rapid evolution would slow with the introduction of this last model beginning in 1955.31 Representing the highest evolution of the piston-engine helicopter, the night-capable HSS-1N Sea Bat (Sikorsky S-58) would remain the standard antisubmarine helicopter until the advent of the turbine-engine helicopters in the following decade. Following the transition to turbines, the Sea Bat, by then re-designated the H-34-series, would continue to serve as a search and rescue platform as well as in the Marine Corps. Various foreign navies would continue to fly it for decades.

  Wartime has historically spurred innovation. One enduring concern in conducting combat flight operations is the retrieval of downed aircrewmen in hostile territory. During the conflict in Korea, the logical evolution from utilizing helicopters for rescue operations at sea to recovery of pilots ashore came to fruition. Primarily relying on the older HO3S helicopters, rescue units were staged forward in order to speed these recoveries. Even after the Chinese offensive had pushed United Nations forces well south of Wonsan, the waters of the harbor served as a haven for naval operations. Yo Do, an island in the harbor, remained under the control of U.S. forces and was the site of an emergency landing strip. In early 1951 LST-799 was modified to include a mid-ship flight deck for the launch and recovery of helicopters and was assigned to the Wonsan Harbor Control System.32 From this location, it and other modified LSTs provided a secure base from which rescue operations could be mounted swiftly. A new, dramatic, and dangerous chapter in the employment of Navy helicopters had opened.

  Between the establishment of the force at Wonsan and the end of active hostilities, twenty-two successful helicopter rescues were conducted. Such high-risk missions were not, however, without a cost. In July 1951, Lieutenant (jg) John Koelsch and his observer, Aviation Radioman George Neal, launched in an effort to recover a Marine aviator down near Wonsan. Successfully locating Captain James Wilkins, their helicopter was hit by ground fire and crashed while attempting to hoist him aboard. Successfully evading the enemy for nine days, Neal and Koelsch carried the injured Marine to the coast before being captured. Koelsch did not survive captivity, but in 1955 was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, becoming the first helicopter pilot so honored.33 He would not be the last. CPO Duane Thorin, the model for the helicopter pilot in James Michener’s novel The Bridges at Toko-ri, Lieutenant (jg) John Thornton, Lieutenant Edward Moore, and their crews all faced capture or death rescuing fellow aviators during the conflict.34 The tales of heroism by helicopter crews would fill an entire volume.

  DESIGN WITH A PURPOSE

  The year 1960 saw the transformation of rotary-wing aviation. The Sikorsky S-58 had been designed to meet U.S. Navy requirements, but with an eye toward meeting the requirements of other Services and commercial markets. In 1957 Sikorsky Aircraft began design efforts to meet a U.S. Navy circular of requirements for the next generation anti-submarine helicopter. The resulting aircraft, tested and accepted by the Navy in 1959, would become the H-3 series helicopters. The Sea King would remain the backbone of aircraft carrier–based, rotary-wing aviation for over thirty years. In a search and rescue capacity, they would serve into the twenty-first century and in Marine colors as of 2010 they still fly the president of the United States. While Sikorsky developed this large, turbine-engine helicopter, Vertol and Kaman married the increased power of the “jet” engines to design concepts for other Navy requirements. The engine in question, powering all three designs, would be the General Electric T-58. The H-2 Sea Sprite and the H-46 Sea Knight, in conjunction with the Sea King, would lay the foundation for successful naval operations into the next century. They were also the first helicopters point-designed to meet the Navy’s requirements. It is not surprising that these platforms proved so enduring.

  SH-3A (HSS-2) flown publicly for first time, 24 March 1959.

  The turbine era would see the rise of a submarine-centric Soviet navy, war in Southeast Asia, and support to a range of humanitarian, scientific, and space missions. These three models would bear the brunt of these efforts.

  Countering the expanding Soviet submarine threat proved to be the principal challenge. The development of nuclear-powered submarines added complexity to an already difficult problem. The need to track these adversaries using passive acoustics, prosecute them with active sonar, and, if necessary, attack them with rapidity would dictate the need for larger, more capable helicopters. The Sea King was the first to meet the requirement. Operationally capable of carrying two torpedoes, a dozen expendable sonobuoys, and equipped with a dipping sonar, this was the platform of choice for holding contact with the submarines deployed by an adversary. The small number of sonobuoys carried rendered it less effective as an open-ocean search platform, but once integrated into an anti-submarine team, the precision with which the sonar could locate a submarine and rapid rate at which that sensor could be repositioned made it difficult for a submarine to break contact.35

  Another approach to improving this capability resulted in a program that was innovative, if perhaps ahead of its time. There were persistent efforts, culminating in 1960, to develop an unmanned platform for weapons delivery combined with improved, longer-range ship-mounted sonars. The Drone Antisubmarine Helicopter (DASH) program continued throughout the decade with mixed results. Simulated attacks using exercise torpedoes were demonstrated over 19,000 yards from the controlling sh
ip, but anti-submarine rocket (ASROC) launchers could obtain greater ranges; the greatest difficulty continued to be the initial acquisition of contact and the difficulty of recovery aboard a DD. The requirement for a sensor deployment platform would be met with a rotary-wing aircraft, one that was originally designed as a utility aircraft.36

  The Kaman H-2 Sea Sprite was not built as an ASW platform. As requirements evolved, so did the weapon system. The initial configuration involved a single engine, but by 1970 virtually all models had been converted to a twin-engine configuration. Many of these aircraft were also converted to the interim Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) configuration. These SH-2D aircraft were the forerunner of the SH-2F, a fully integrated anti-submarine warfare platform. The problem of initial submarine detection would be answered by delivering sensors across a broader area and linking them back to the ship. The Sea Sprite would also possess some capability to monitor these sensors internally and was equipped with a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD). By 1973 most H-2 Sea Sprites had been converted to the LAMPS configuration.37 A small number of utility versions were retained for specialized missions. Sea Sprite detachments supported oceanographic research vessels and some search and rescue missions, but the end of the Vietnam War had relieved them of the missions that perhaps garnered the most fame. H-2 and H-3 aircraft had figured prominently in the air war over Vietnam; these would be the recovery vehicles for combat search and rescue, retrieving downed aviators under fire.

  As with the air war in Korea, some consideration had been given before the war to the use of helicopters for the recovery of downed airmen. In the Navy, this consideration stopped well short of an integrated concept of operations. Upon the commencement of punitive strikes after the Tonkin Gulf incident, utility helicopters already on station on the aircraft carriers were pressed into service. In addition, the helicopter anti-submarine squadrons also answered the call. Three squadrons were pressed into service in succession: HS-2, HS-6, and HS-4. During 1966, the Black Knights of HS-4 would establish a record that still stands. The squadron would conduct twenty-four combat rescues, earning special recognition. The color guard of HS-4 is attired in black berets in recognition of this remarkable deployment.38 The other squadrons that participated in this rotation also conducted dramatic rescues under duress, but this was not without a heavy cost. The toll taken would lead the Navy to re-evaluate procedures for combat rescues and would give birth to a new squadron and new procedures to increase the survivability of the rescuers going in harm’s way.

  Author James Michener, serving as a war correspondent on board an aircraft carrier in Korea, was a second-hand witness to several dramatic rescue attempts. On one occasion the price of a failed attempt to rescue one pilot included the loss of five additional escort airplanes and the loss of the rescue helicopter and crew. Operations in Vietnam would lead to similar heroics and to similar losses. Serious efforts were made to learn lessons from both the successes and from the failures. New syllabi were developed to give pilots bound for duty in the combat zone the skills necessary for survival. This effort was strengthened by the establishment of a new squadron to conduct search and rescue efforts in the Vietnam Theater.

  In 1965, HU-1 was re-designated Helicopter Combat Support Squadron ONE (HC-1). With detachments supporting aircraft carriers and logistic support ships, conducting combat search and rescue, minesweeping, and helicopter gunship operations, it rapidly became obvious that the diverse platforms and missions could best be served by splitting off unique missions as separate squadrons. The parent squadron retained the search and rescue detachments on board the aircraft carriers, but the specialized detachments supporting overland search and rescue and minesweeping elements that were stationed at Cubi Point in the Philippines and Atsugi, Japan, became Helicopter Combat Support Squadron SEVEN (HC-7), a unit that would be awarded medals for valor out of proportion to its size and brief history. In an article in the aviation journal Foundation, former HC-7 detachment Officer in Charge Robert Jones made a persuasive argument that it was the most decorated Navy squadron in the Vietnam War.39

  The detachments that consolidated to form HC-7 drew on the experiences of the anti-submarine squadrons and HC-1 detachments that had been pressed into service earlier. Between the establishment of the squadron in September 1967 and its final mission in 1975, 156 individuals were rescued. These missions included routine missions and medical evacuations, but at least 58 of those rescued were recovered during combat missions.40 During the war, the squadron transitioned from single-engine UH-2A helicopters to a mix of HH-2C and HH-3A aircraft, the latter two better armed and armored to withstand the rigors of the combat mission. The combination of more capable aircraft, dedicated crews, and an inherently heroic mission produced a Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses as well as a host of other awards for valor.

  Lieutenant (jg) Clyde Lassen became the second Navy helicopter pilot to be awarded the nation’s highest medal following a pre-dawn mission to recover the crew of an F-4 Phantom, making multiple approaches under fire in the UH-2A.41 The level of bravery would not slacken, even in the face of more determined opposition as the war progressed. During the bombing halt ordered by President Lyndon Johnson, the squadron’s exploits were limited to “routine” rescues, but following the resumption of strikes against North Vietnam combat rescues also resumed. In the squadron’s brief history, 1972 would prove the busiest year, with fifty-nine personnel rescued. Perhaps the most dramatic recovery belonged to Lieutenant Harry Zinser’s crew, with both pilots awarded the Navy Cross after a harrowing series of flights during which they plucked a downed pilot from under the field of fire of a 37-mm antiaircraft gun.42 All this came from a squadron once described as the “Orphans of the 7th Fleet.”43 The search and rescue detachments would be deployed on over 2,100 consecutive days in support of combat operations in Southeast Asia.

  Four other detachments from HC-1 formed yet another squadron that engaged in dramatic operations in Vietnam. These units were re-designated as Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron THREE (HAL-3). Equipped with former Army UH-1B gunships, these crews performed critical missions in support of the riverine patrols of Operation Game Warden, the interdiction of Viet Cong supplies along Vietnam’s inland waterways. This mission was essential to pacification efforts in the Mekong Delta and in attempts to preserve the Saigon government. Armed with pilot-operated mini-guns, rockets, and crew-served .50-caliber machine guns, these were formidable weapons against enemy concentrations that sought to interfere with the operations of the patrol boats of the “brown water navy” that they supported.

  At the same time that HC-7 was engaged in dramatic, high-risk missions, the squadron also participated in groundbreaking work in other mission areas. These tasks, while more mundane, are perhaps even more critical to the success of naval operations. Specially modified H-3 Sea Kings would be configured for airborne minesweeping and would see service off the Vietnamese coast. The squadron would also begin experiments with the UH-46A Sea Knights originally inherited from HC-1. Similar experiments were conducted in the Atlantic by Helicopter Combat Support Squadron FOUR (HC-4), and eventually the Pacific Fleet mission would be transferred to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron THREE (HC-3) in San Diego. The speed and efficiency with which pairs of “phrogs” (as the H-46 was nicknamed due to resemblance to a frog when viewed from the front) could transfer cargo between ships was truly remarkable. Over time this vertical replenishment mission would become so critical to Battle Group operations that five squadrons would eventually be established supporting this mission. The ubiquitous “phrog” would symbolize the Navy’s ability to sustain extended operations at sea, yielding only when these aging aircraft gave way to a successor after over a quarter of a century.

  BACK TO THE FUTURE?

  The decade following the end of the conflict in Vietnam would see a continued high operational tempo for the Navy. This tempo was necessary to meet an increasingly aggressive Soviet presence throughout the world. A significant
element of this threat was composed of an ever-quieter, ever-more sophisticated submarine force. Among the weapons employed by these vessels, mines proved particularly problematic. An integrated approach was required to counter the many capabilities of this potentially hostile force.

  First and foremost, individual ships and Battle Groups would be required to spend longer periods at sea. To maintain the level of operations necessary to monitor Soviet activity, rapid re-supply of ships at sea was essential. Vertical replenishment was the only effective answer.

  Beyond critical logistic support, better detection and tracking of submarines was required. The original helicopter-based solution to this problem, DASH, had proved unsatisfactory due to the inability to deploy sensors, among other technical problems. The first solution was the LAMPS-configured SH-2D aircraft. While providing a dramatic improvement over ship-based sensors, this aircraft and the successor SH-2F proved to have limitations. All acoustic data were data-linked back to the ship and evaluated there with an inherent time delay in transmitting critical tactical data to the helicopter crew. On board the helicopter, the aircrew could listen to the sonar signals aurally and had real-time data from the MAD and radar, but relied heavily on communications with the destroyer or cruiser on which they were embarked. In addition to the time lag, the communications between the ship and the helicopter also served to make the ship more vulnerable by pinpointing its location.

  The foundations of the Navy helicopter community rest on adaptation of aircraft developed for other purposes and other Services. The Navy would seem to have returned to this method in developing the next generation of shipboard helicopter. When the decision was made to replace the H-2 with a larger airframe, capable of supporting on-board acoustic processing, it did not simply adapt the Army UH-60 Blackhawk to Navy purposes. The entire airframe was completely redesigned, shifting the main structural supports to accommodate the stresses of shipboard landings and the low-mounted hard points necessary for torpedoes and external fuel tanks. The SH-60B Seahawk, also called LAMPS-III, proved a remarkably reliable and robust platform. More than an airborne adjunct to the ship, the Seahawk was capable of independent prosecution of submarines while maintaining contact with the ship through a discreet, directional data link that did not give away the ship’s position. It proved so reliable that when the time came for a replacement for the venerable H-3 on the carriers, another version of the H-60 would be chosen.