During the first Cold War years, one of the archenemies of the Soviet submarines lurking
in the oceans was the SH-3 Sea King. Perhaps, the fact that the Third World War did not
break out prevented it from becoming a legend in its main mission, the anti-submarine warfare,
shortly ASW. But, the Sea King became the pioneer of the modern naval helicopter, in
terms of design and concept. Now, we are investigating the SH-3, a true naval helicopter legend.
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The SH-3 was a helicopter that symbolized significant changes even during the early
stage of the project. Let's first take a brief look at the conditions
which paved the way for the Sea King. In the first half of the 1950s, the helicopter
was still in its infancy. The military planners did not know how to use the rotorcraft effectively.
Technology capabilities did not allow designing an efficient helicopter.
In the second half of the 1950s, most of these problems were solved.
Thanks to the HSS-1, the US Navy had a chance to determine the concepts about using helicopters
effectively in the ASW missions. Many helicopters developed since the 1940s
allowed more data to be collected in the field of aerodynamics.
Besides, turboshaft engines had reached maturity. Thanks to these developments, it was now possible
to develop an efficient helicopter. Still, technological capability alone was
not enough. For a product to be feasible, there had to be a demand.
In those years, the USSR was trying to balance the Western countries' advantage of having
a mighty surface fleet with a huge submarine fleet.
For this reason, the US Navy's need for an ASW helicopter became a priority.
The piston-engined HSS-1s had a low payload. For this reason, while one helicopter was
carrying detection systems in the hunter mission, the other was carrying weapons in the killer
mission. The US Navy decided to solve this problem
with a new rotorcraft with the turboshaft engine. The new helicopter could perform both
as a hunter and as a killer thanks to its increased payload.
So, in 1957, the US Navy awarded Sikorsky with a contract to develop and produce the
new helicopter. Also, the company was responsible not only
for the flying platform, but all major onboard systems, such as the sonar, navigational equipment,
electronic devices, and support equipment. This was a new procurement model. So, the
rotorcraft, designated by the company as S-61, was also the first helicopter to be procured
by the US Navy under this model. On March 11, 1959, the S-61 conducted its
first flight. After trials, the helicopter designated by
the US Navy as HSS-2 Sea King, became operational in June 1961. But the same year, the US Navy
changed the designation system and gave it the name SH-3A.
In terms of design criteria or production model, the Sea King was the pioneer of the
modern naval helicopter. However, the US Navy was not using it as it
is today. In those years, the US Navy's surface combatants
did not have aviation facilities suitable for big and heavy helicopters such as the
SH-3. These ships were operating with the light-weighted
SH-2 Seasprite. Due to its low weight, this helicopter was able to carry less mission
equipment and had a shorter range. The SH-3 was deployed on anti-submarine carriers
which were the converted Essex-class aircraft carriers.
They were working in coordination with the radar-equipped S-2 Trackers.
For this reason, the SH-3s had no radar installed. From this point of view, one last step had
to be taken for the Sea King to become the ancestor of the modern naval helicopter.
The real transformation took place in the Royal Navy.
Westland Helicopters of the UK had gained licence production right of SH-3 from Sikorsky
in 1959. The British version of the helicopter called Westland Sea King differed considerably
from the original version. First of all, it had Rolls-Royce Gnome engines derived from
the US General Electric T58. Yet, the real change was the result of the
Royal Navy having a different operational doctrine from the US Navy.
The US Sea Kings were operating under the tactical control of the anti-submarine carrier.
Whereas the Royal Navy wanted its ASW helicopters to be much more autonomous, capable of operating
alone as well as with other aircraft or ships. So, during the design phase, Westland Helicopters
changed the crew arrangement of the Sea King, with operations being controlled by an observer
rather than the pilot. Also, the British version had a search radar,
locally developed ASW systems, and a fully computerised flight control system.
Only the shape of the airframe and rotorhead of the SH-3 remained unchanged.
The Westland Sea King could operate independently on the surface combatants with its full capability.
So, it became the actual ancestor of the modern naval helicopter.
The SH-3 has the all-metal semi-monocoque boat-type hull.
In theory, it is fully amphibious, but it is not quite true. Depending on the time the
helicopter spends on the water, the risk of damaging some of the equipment on the hull
increases. For this reason, in general use, the SH-3
is only allowed to land on the water in an emergency. Even then, the boat-type hull being
guaranteed watertight for nearly 15 minutes. The helicopter has all-metal main and tail
rotors. For storage on board ships, there are fully
automated folding systems for main rotor blades and the tail section.
During the flight and sea landing, the twin-wheel main units of the landing gear are hydraulically
retracted rearward into stabilising floats. These units have oleo-pneumatic shock-absorbers.
The tailwheel is non-retractable. Even if one of the two engines failed, the
Sea King could continue to fly. Beside Westland Helicopters of the UK, Agusta
of Italy and Mitsubishi of Japan produced the SH-3 under licence.
Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Peru, and Qatar are still using the helicopter.
Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the USA are the former users of
the Sea King. The SH-3 has a four-man crew consist of the
pilot, co-pilot, and two mission system operators. It can also carry up to 22 passengers. The
helicopter is 16.67 metres long and 5.8 metres high. Its rotor diameter is 18.9 metres. The
maximum take-off weight of the Sea King is 9,320 kilograms while its empty weight is
6,590 kilograms. Two 1059 kiloWatt General Electric T-58-GE-8F/-100 turboshaft engines
provide the maximum speed of 222 kilometres per hour. The maximum range of the helicopter
is 740 kilometres. The SH-3 can climb the altitude of 3,048 metres. Its hover ceiling
is 2,500 metres. The endurance of the helicopter is 3 hours 30 minutes.
The SH-3 can carry a wide variety of weapons weighing 3,630 kilograms.
One interesting example of them is the B57 nuclear bomb.
During the First Cold War, every aircraft carrier group of the US Navy had a fearsome
tail; a Soviet nuclear attack submarine. This submarine had nuclear torpedoes and missiles.
Had the Third World War started, the US aircraft carrier task force would have had to deal
with a salvo of these nuclear torpedoes and missiles from the very first moment.
So, an SH-3 with the B57 was generally waiting for first attack opportunity on the possible
area of the Soviet submarine. Argentina, Brazil, Pakistan, Peru, and Qatar
provided their Sea Kings with the ability to launch the Exocet missiles.
Similarly, India has integrated the Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles into its helicopters.
The sensors carried by the SH-3s were constantly updated. Besides, different users equipped
these helicopters with different systems. For this reason, different Sea King users
preferred various types of dipping sonar, sonobuoy, magnetic anomaly detector, and/or
surface search radars on their helicopters. Sikorsky also produced models of the SH-3
with more powerful engines. The T58-GE-8B turboshaft engine in A model
was replaced by the T58-GE-10 in D and H models. The SH-3, a pioneering naval helicopter, also
played a role in developing some other significant innovations.
In the early 1960s, the landing of helicopters on the flight deck of small surface combatants
in heavy weather and sea conditions was still a big problem.
The Royal Canadian Navy developed a system called Beartrap for its Sea Kings whose designation
was CH-124 in this country. The system was using a winch for haul-down landing and securing
the helicopter. Many navies around the world prefer the Beartrap
due to its success, while some countries locally developed a similar system.
Beside the ASW operations, the Sea King also performed various other missions such as search-and-rescue,
transport, plane guard, minesweeping, and airborne early warning.
The VH-3 model of the S-61 had been the helicopter of the US Presidents for many years.
The US Navy did not have the opportunity to use the SH-3s for ASW mission in a real battle.
During the Vietnam War, the Sea Kings mostly performed their search-and-rescue missions
because North Vietnam did not have a submarine. The SH-3 was the primary helicopter for retrieving
manned space capsules of the US space programme. During the 1982 Falklands War, both sides
used the helicopter. In the early stage of the war, the Argentine
Second Air Naval Helicopter Squadron with three SH-3Ds were deployed on the aircraft
carrier ARA 25 de Mayo for ASW missions. But, after the HMS Conqueror sink ARA General
Belgrano, the Argentine Navy was unable to risk operating near the Falklands.
So, for the rest of the time, the SH-3s performed only transport and search-and-rescue missions.
On the other hand, the British Sea Kings had the opportunity to fight against a submarine,
ARA San Luis. On May 1, 1982, the Royal Navy frigates HMS
Brilliant and HMS Yarmouth were searching for the ARA San Luis.
But, the submarine detected them first and sent a torpedo. The torpedo missed its target.
The sonar operators of HMS Brilliant detected the sound of the torpedo.
The Sea Kings, took-off from HMS Hermes, joined the frigates to hunt down ARA San Luis. After
20-hour depth charge, mortar, and torpedo attacks, they were failed. The submarine managed
to survive. ARA San Luis could not sink or damage any
ship of the Royal Navy, but its presence was enough.
Because the threat posed by the submarine, the Royal Navy had to suspend the rescue efforts
of two Sea Kings who ditched at sea on 12 May and 18 May. So, both Sea Kings were scuttled
by naval gunfire. The British Sea Kings also performed troop
transport, reconnaissance, medevac, replenishment, and the insertion of special forces operations,
during the war. They protected the fleet against the Exocet missiles as the flying decoy launchers.
In the same year, the three Sea Kings deployed on JS Shirane destroyer of the Japan Maritime
Self-Defense Force, who participated in the RIMPAC exercise, flew 144 hours in total in
13 days and successfully detected the opposite attack force.
However, the SH-3s with a true record of combat success belong to the Iranian Navy. Some sources
claim that in 1986, Iranian Sea Kings sunk at least three civilian oil tankers and damage
another one by using the AGM-65 Maverick missiles. The Sea King, once a king of seas, lives on
a borrowed time. Many of its users retired the helicopter. Others are going to change
it with a new generation rotorcraft. The SH-3 hasn't had enough chance to prove itself in
real combat. Yet, it changed the naval helicopter design, concepts, and related technologies.
Thus, the Sea King undoubtedly deserve to call as a true legend.
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