RAN Sea King over HMAS Melbourne

The S-61 ‘Sea King’ was delivered to the U.S Navy in 1961 and is a direct descendant of the famous R4, shown below. It demonstrates how far helicopter technology had advanced in twenty years since the first flight of the original prototype VS-300.

The ‘Sea King’ is a very sophisticated all-weather amphibious helicopter for anti-submarine warfare and can also be used in a search and rescue role. The S-61 has a boat-like hull with two small pods to give additional stability and allow it to alight on water.

The Sikorsky R-4, 1944

The American Sea King was powered by two G.E Turboshaft 1500hp engines which in later versions gave it a range of over 600 miles at a cruising speed of 140 knots. In Vietnam, the S-61R ‘Jolly Green Giant’ version performed many dangerous and demanding long-range rescues of downed airmen. The President of the United States is often seen alighting on the lawn at the White House in a Sea King, courtesy of the Executive Flight Detachment in Washington.

Typical of the tasks imposed on the Sea King was the remarkable flight by Lt Peter Nelson of the Australian Navy; he was awarded the Air Force Cross by the British Royal Air Force for his astonishing feat of airmanship. He flew a Sikorsky S-61 of the British Commandos and made an amazing long-distance rescue while serving in the 1991 Gulf War. After a gruelling flight, low down, through a sandstorm most of the way, in zero visibility, at night, he landed in the middle of a tank battle to rescue two wounded soldiers.

Above: Lt Peter Nelson’s Sea King arriving in the middle of a tank battle to retrieve wounded personnel during the Gulf War, 1991. Lt Nelson AFC briefed David on this painting. It now hangs in the RAN Fleet Air Arm Museum in Nowra, NSW.

The Royal Australian Navy took delivery of its Sea Kings in 1974. They were basically S-61B models, manufactured by Westland Aircraft Ltd in England and were powered by two Rolls-Royce Gnome 1500 hp H1400 turboshaft engines which gave them a speed of about 120 knots with a range of 1,230km. 817 Squadron RAN operated the aircraft from HMAS Albatross at Nowra, NSW. They were deployed in an anti-submarine role as well as search and rescue operations. They were equipped with sophisticated electronics and they could carry torpedoes or bombs. In the final years of the carrier, Sea Kings operated from the flight deck of HMAS Melbourne along with Douglas Skyhawks and Grumman Trackers.

In December 2011, after 60,000 combined operational hours in Australia and abroad, the Sea King was withdrawn from service and 817 Squadron RAN was decommissioned soon after. Initially replaced by the NHIndustries MRH90 Taipan multi-role helicopter in 2013, these helicopters were plagued with reliability issues and it was announced in 2022 that the entire RAN Taipan fleet is to be replaced by Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawks.

Grumman Trackers of the RAN shared HMAS Melbourne's flight deck with the Sea King.