Last Royal Navy Sea Kings retire

Grey Havoc

Grey Havoc

ACCESS: USAP
Senior Member
Joined
9 October 2009
Messages
21,979
Reaction score
13,647
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/sea-king-helicopters-ends-49-years-of-service/

Two Sea King helicopters from 849 Naval Air Squadron flew as far east as Teignmouth, over Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, the northern Cornish resorts of Padstow, Newquay and St Ives, before a final sight of Land’s End, Penzance, Mounts Bay and back to Culdrose.

Their flight marks the end of 49 years of active military operations by the Sea King in various roles and guises. The first of more than 140 Sea Kings built for the Royal Navy arrived at Culdrose, just three weeks after the first moon landing, say the Royal Navy in a release. According to the release:

“Since then, the helicopter has been used for anti-submarine warfare, search-and-rescue missions, general duties, carrying Royal Marines Commandos into action (which it did in the Falklands, Iraq (twice), the Balkans, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan), and provided airborne early warning and intelligence to the Fleet and ground forces. It’s in that last role – the Sea King Mk7 airborne surveillance and control – that an aircraft designed in the late 1950s flew its final mission.

It earned the ‘bagger’ tag after the Falklands conflict in 1982 when the airborne early warning variant was hurriedly introduced; the large black sack sticking out of the fuselage houses a powerful radar which scans the skies for potential threats. Those original baggers had one major flaw – they couldn’t track hostile aircraft over land, a problem rectified when the much-improved Mk7 entered service in 2001.

It proved to be a revelation. Crews found that they could not only detect aerial threats, but they could also track vehicle movements on the ground. The Mk7 proved indispensible in helping Allied forces to evade and ultimately destroy Saddam Hussein’s army around Basra and the Al Faw peninsula in 2003… and helped ground troops and police in Afghanistan arrest insurgents and seize masses of weapons and bomb-making equipment.”

Their airborne surveillance and control role will be taken over by the new Merlin Crowsnest which arrives at Culdrose next year and will operate from new carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales from 2020 onwards.
Click to expand...
 
This should probably be moved to aerospace. Unless there’s a specific topic on Sea Kings UK usage, but I couldn’t find one.
 
Difficult question indeed.
The Sikorsky/Westland Sea King definitely isn't a project anymore, so it fits into the aerospace section.
But it still is well alive around the world, it's just retired by the naval arm of the British armed forces and
that's a theme rather for the military section, I think. ;)
 
Sad to see the Sea Kings retire, Hopefully we will get to see them in aviation museums at some point in the future.
 
There's already an HAR.3 at the RAF museum and an HAS.6 at Duxford. And an HC.4 going to the Fleet Air Arm Museum. I'm sure there are others around as well. I do wonder if one of the AEW birds is preserved.
 
Not so retired any more. I’ve always liked the Sea King and says much for it that it can still be of use even now.

The UK will be sending three Sea King helicopters to Ukraine with the first already in country.

www.theguardian.com

UK sending helicopters to Ukraine for first time, says Ben Wallace

Defence secretary says extra 10,000 artillery rounds also being sent to help secure retaken territory
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
Last edited:
Flyaway said:
Not so retired any more. I’ve always liked the Sea King and says much for it that it can still be of use even now.

The UK will be sending three Sea King helicopters to Ukraine with the first already in country.

www.theguardian.com

UK sending helicopters to Ukraine for first time, says Ben Wallace

Defence secretary says extra 10,000 artillery rounds also being sent to help secure retaken territory
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
Click to expand...
Flyaway said:
Not so retired any more. I’ve always liked the Sea King and says much for it that it can still be of use even now.

The UK will be sending three Sea King helicopters to Ukraine with the first already in country.

www.theguardian.com

UK sending helicopters to Ukraine for first time, says Ben Wallace

Defence secretary says extra 10,000 artillery rounds also being sent to help secure retaken territory
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
Click to expand...

And first glimpses of the UKr SK (used to be with HeliOperations)

theaviationist.com

Here's Our First Look At A British Supplied Sea King Helicopter In Ukrainian Service

First British Sea King helicopter has been delivered and received Ukrainian markings. The Ukrainian Navy has received the first WS-61 Sea King helicopter
theaviationist.com theaviationist.com

764832F0-F914-4968-84B5-C67BD01D6A1B.jpeg
 
Another answer to the question about the aircraft's age can be found, perhaps, at a base in southern England, where a third Sea King, which will be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks, is being prepared. We cannot say where the base is for security reasons, but we spoke to two Ukrainian engineers who have been there for seven months, training to repair and maintain the helicopter.
Click to expand...

The 40-year-old British helicopter flying in Ukraine https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65242823
 
On its delivery flight to Ukraine, Westland Sea King HU5 with serial UR-H034 was seen at Antwerp Airport (Belgium) on 13 May 2023.

The helicopter, former Royal Navy ZA134 (c/n WA895), is the final example of a trio that was donated by the British to the Viys’ kovo-povitryany sily (VPS or Ukrainian Air Force). UR-H034, however was the first one to carry full Ukrainian markings.
Click to expand...
www.scramble.nl

Sea King in Ukrainian colours!

Sea King in Ukrainian colours! On its delivery flight to Ukraine, Westland Sea King HU5 with serial UR-H034 was seen at Antwerp Airport (Belgium) on 13 May 2023. The helicopter, fo...
www.scramble.nl www.scramble.nl
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom