thedrifter
07-18-04, 02:27 PM
Issue Date: July 19, 2004
The Lore of the Corps
Marine helicopters first to fly troops into combat
By Robert F. Dorr
Special to the Times
The Marine Corps recognized the importance of the helicopter early on: It flew Marines into combat using helicopters long before the Army did.
During the Korean War, leathernecks paved the way with a helicopter the Corps called the HRS. Its builder, Sikorsky, called it the S-55; it was known as the H-19 in the Army and Air Force and the HO4S in the Navy.
The Corps eventually acquired 240 of the helicopters, including 60 HRS-1, 91 HRS-2 and 89 HRS-3 models. The 1 and 2 models were powered by a 550-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engine. The HRS-3 used a 700-horsepower Wright R-1300.
A rounded, portly aircraft with a big cargo door and a roomy compartment for people or supplies, the HRS was advanced for its time and reflected the dramatic advances in aviation that followed World War II. The first aircraft in the series took flight Nov. 10, 1949, and the Corps placed its initial order for production of HRS helicopters Aug. 2, 1950.
The Korean War was under way by then, and Marine leaders moved quickly to form units that could operate the new helicopters in combat.
The first HRS models were delivered April 2, 1951, to Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 at Quantico, Va. Almost immediately, the helicopters were crated and shipped to Korea.
In September of that year, helicopters were used for the first time to carry combat troops to an objective. HRS-1s from Marine Helicopter Transport Squadron 161 hauled Marines across a seven-mile contested zone to a Korean hilltop being assaulted by Chinese troops. HRS-1s flew 28 sorties and evacuated 84 casualties.
Operation Ripple in 1952 also relied on the HRS-1. Marines tried a new tactic with their ground rocket launcher, firing barrages at the enemy and moving quickly before it could zero in on their firing positions.
It was not until the following year — January 1953 — that the Army began using its version of the HRS on the Korean battlefield.
By the 1953 cease-fire, HMR-161 had accumulated 16,538 flight hours in the HRS-1 and HRS-2 during 18,607 sorties, even operating on rare occasion from aircraft carriers. The helicopters were credited with more than 60,000 individual troop movements. Marines found the HRS-1 tough and durable but underpowered; it was severely challenged on hot days by Korea’s jagged mountain peaks.
An HRS-2 was the first chopper to use the helicopter pad at the Pentagon on Nov. 2, 1955. Another HRS-2 retrieved the instrument capsule from a Discovery III satellite Aug. 4, 1960.
Altogether, these helicopters served with nine Marine transport squadrons, plus HMX-1, which was then a test unit. When the Pentagon overhauled its system for naming aircraft in 1962, several dozen HRS-3 remaining helicopters were redesignated the CH-19E. With the new name, some were used as recovery craft during the Mercury manned space program.
A Korean War-era HRS-1 and a post-Korea HRS-3 are both part of the Marine Corps’ museum collection in Quantico. The National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Fla., has an HRS-3.
Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. He is the author of numerous books on Air Force topics, including “Air Force One.” His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-3055598.php
Ellie
The Lore of the Corps
Marine helicopters first to fly troops into combat
By Robert F. Dorr
Special to the Times
The Marine Corps recognized the importance of the helicopter early on: It flew Marines into combat using helicopters long before the Army did.
During the Korean War, leathernecks paved the way with a helicopter the Corps called the HRS. Its builder, Sikorsky, called it the S-55; it was known as the H-19 in the Army and Air Force and the HO4S in the Navy.
The Corps eventually acquired 240 of the helicopters, including 60 HRS-1, 91 HRS-2 and 89 HRS-3 models. The 1 and 2 models were powered by a 550-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engine. The HRS-3 used a 700-horsepower Wright R-1300.
A rounded, portly aircraft with a big cargo door and a roomy compartment for people or supplies, the HRS was advanced for its time and reflected the dramatic advances in aviation that followed World War II. The first aircraft in the series took flight Nov. 10, 1949, and the Corps placed its initial order for production of HRS helicopters Aug. 2, 1950.
The Korean War was under way by then, and Marine leaders moved quickly to form units that could operate the new helicopters in combat.
The first HRS models were delivered April 2, 1951, to Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 at Quantico, Va. Almost immediately, the helicopters were crated and shipped to Korea.
In September of that year, helicopters were used for the first time to carry combat troops to an objective. HRS-1s from Marine Helicopter Transport Squadron 161 hauled Marines across a seven-mile contested zone to a Korean hilltop being assaulted by Chinese troops. HRS-1s flew 28 sorties and evacuated 84 casualties.
Operation Ripple in 1952 also relied on the HRS-1. Marines tried a new tactic with their ground rocket launcher, firing barrages at the enemy and moving quickly before it could zero in on their firing positions.
It was not until the following year — January 1953 — that the Army began using its version of the HRS on the Korean battlefield.
By the 1953 cease-fire, HMR-161 had accumulated 16,538 flight hours in the HRS-1 and HRS-2 during 18,607 sorties, even operating on rare occasion from aircraft carriers. The helicopters were credited with more than 60,000 individual troop movements. Marines found the HRS-1 tough and durable but underpowered; it was severely challenged on hot days by Korea’s jagged mountain peaks.
An HRS-2 was the first chopper to use the helicopter pad at the Pentagon on Nov. 2, 1955. Another HRS-2 retrieved the instrument capsule from a Discovery III satellite Aug. 4, 1960.
Altogether, these helicopters served with nine Marine transport squadrons, plus HMX-1, which was then a test unit. When the Pentagon overhauled its system for naming aircraft in 1962, several dozen HRS-3 remaining helicopters were redesignated the CH-19E. With the new name, some were used as recovery craft during the Mercury manned space program.
A Korean War-era HRS-1 and a post-Korea HRS-3 are both part of the Marine Corps’ museum collection in Quantico. The National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Fla., has an HRS-3.
Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. He is the author of numerous books on Air Force topics, including “Air Force One.” His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-3055598.php
Ellie