Type: anti-submarine and plane guard shipboard helicopter
Bureau Number: 149932
Powerplant: two 1044-kW (1400-hp) General Electric T58-GE-10 turboshafts
Maximum speed: 267 km/h (166 mph)
Cruising speed: 219 km/h (136 mph)
Initial climb rate: 670 m/min (2200 fpm)
Range: 1005 km (623 miles)
Service ceiling: 4480 m (14,700 ft)
Weights: empty 4428 kg (9742 lb); loaded 9525 kg (20,995 lb)
Accommodations: two pilots and two systems operators
Dimensions:
Rotor diameter: 18.90 m (62 ft)
Length: 22.15 m (72 ft 8 in)
Height: 5.13 (16 ft 10 in)
Rotor disc area: 280.47 m2 (3018 sq ft)
The original H-3 Sea King was a Navy workhorse for more than 40 years. The last two operational H-3's officially retired in early 2006, although an updated Sea King model is still in use by the Navy Reserves as an anti-submarine warfare helicopter.
Because of an amphibious hull Sea King models had the ability to land on water and remain watertight for a short period of time. For this very reason, the Coast Guard used the HH-3F model until it was phased out of service in the 1990s.
Spanning NASA's Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs Sea King was a fixture at missions end recovering astronauts and their capsules from the ocean.
Later versions of the Sea King have carried the designation Marine One transporting the President of the United States from the White House lawn to various locations.
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Within one hour, USS Laffey was hit by five Japanese Kamikazes and three enemy bombs.
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