The RAF’s big yellow bird that signified help had arrived

WHILE many associate the Sea King with the Westland firm, the design of the UK version of the helicopter that served the RAF for almost 38 years came under licence from the American Sikorsky company, the US Sea King beginning Navy service in 1961, five years before it crossed the Atlantic to form part of the British military.

Many will have first become aware of the military version of the five-bladed aircraft from rescue missions at home televised on the news, or its work during the 1982 Falklands War, and while it was originally designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), it was adapted by the RAF for search and rescue (SAR) duties.

The origins of the Sea King in the US saw it introduced into military service in 1961, one of the first rotorcraft to use turboshaft engines, its aim to counter the growing threat of Soviet submarines, combining the naval ASW ‘hunter’ and ‘killer’ roles, previously requiring separate helicopters.

Sikorsky’s remit was to deliver an all-weather turbine-powered amphibious helicopter, its watertight hull and stabilising floats giving it a limited capability of operating on calm waters – the design predominantly aimed at allowing the aircraft to remain afloat if forced to land on water, and to facilitate its recovery. It was designed to operate from the decks of US aircraft carriers with specifications including dipping sonar, endurance time of at least four hours, a cruising speeds of 129mph (112knots), and the ability to carry an arsenal of around 800lbs.

(A Not Always Yellow RAF Sea King HAR3 over Mount Snowdon in 1989)

With UK defence chiefs well aware of its development, the Westland company’s long-standing licence agreement with Sikorsky was utilised to allow a British version to be built, integrating components from British suppliers into the UK version – the most important of which was the Rolls Royce Gnome turboshaft engine. While the Westland Sea King was visually very similar to the original Sikorsky version, it was seen by experts as a very different aircraft, a far more independent entity to the US helicopter that was very much under the tactical control of the US carrier from which it operated.

The British version was designed to replace the Westland Wessex, an order for 60 SH-3D Sea Kings placed in the summer of 1966, with an initial number shipped by Sikorsky from their Stratford, Connecticut factory to the UK for trials in October of that year. Arriving at the docks at Avonmouth, one was flown to the Westland site at Yeovil, the others transported by road.

As soon as the licence agreement was in place, Westland set about developing the design to integrate systems specific to British requirements, the most significant the addition of British Rolls Royce engines to replace the General Electric turboshafts. Other internal changes saw the inclusion of an automatic flight control system and an extensive search radar unit, equipment to allow the British Sea King to act in a more autonomous manner.

It would be May 7, 1969, that the first Westland-built Sea King flew from the factory at Yeovil, HAS1, entering service with 700 Naval Air Squadron, but it would be a further six years before a RAF order for 15 was placed to improve the range of their Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters.

The RAF variant was the Sea King HAR.3, with improved gnome engines, a Tactical Air Navigation System (TANS) for all-weather and night-time operations, and an increased fuel tank capacity giving it around three times the range of the Wessex. The cabin was enlarged by extending the fuselage next to the door, allowing it to carry up to 17 ‘passengers’ or six stretchers.

(A Sea King of 202 Squadron)

The first RAF Sea King made its maiden flight on September 6, 1977, entering service with 202 Squadron the following year, carrying out SAR missions across the country. Such was the nature of the highly demanding work, operating in all weather conditions at any time of the day or night with little consideration for their own safety, the Sea King crews were amongst the most capable in the military.

There were around a dozen Sea King helicopter units located strategically across Britain, and while they were primarily established to provide assistance to aircrews or other military personnel in treacherous situations, the vast majority of their work was aiding members of the public in difficulty – both the yellow livery of the RAF Sea Kings and the red and grey of their naval counterparts synonymous with rescue missions.

However, perhaps the most visible work of the aircraft to the general public came during the Falklands War in 1982, Sea Kings regularly seen operating in treacherous conditions, rescuing military personnel after Argentinean attacks on British vessels. Whilst the rescue work in the South Atlantic was carried out by naval helicopters, a single RAF Sea King was operated from Ascension Island during the conflict, mainly flying replenishment sorties to ships supporting the task force.

Following the Falklands War, an initial single Westland Sea King of C Flight, 202 Squadron, was deployed to Port Stanley to provide SAR cover for British Forces Falkland Islands (BFFI), soon joined by others and receiving the official title of No. 1564 (Tactical Support) Flight; when the Sea King and Chinook units based on the Falklands were combined on the opening of RAF Mount Pleasant in 1985, they took on the title of 78 Squadron.

(HRH Prince William at the Controls of a Search and Rescue Sea King)

The RAF’s Sea Kings maintained SAR cover in the South Atlantic for four decades, with the late 2000s seeing 14 HAR3s in service – 12 across the UK and two on the Falklands. In 2012, a Flt Lt Wales commenced duties as a SAR co-pilot at RAF Mount Pleasant, the then Duke of Cambridge taking up a six-week deployment.

It was in March 2013 that the Department for Transport announced that the UK’s helicopter Search and Rescue operations would be transferred over to a private company, the Bristow Group, operating Sikorsky S-92s and AgustaWestland AW189s. On September 15, 2015, the final distinctive yellow Sea King departed RAF Valley in Anglesey, bringing to an end nearly 40 years of service with the RAF.