Posts: 1259
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 04-01-2013 07:26 PM               

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I thought I read somewhere there had been an attempt to photograph and/or raise the wreck of the Sea King Number 66 which was involved in the majority of the Apollo recovery operations? Did this ever in fact happen? Or was there ever any attempt to photograph the wreck?

Editor's note: Threads merged.

Posts: 3559
From: Ontario, Canada
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Posts: 69
From: England
Registered: Jan 2005

posted 04-14-2013 10:25 PM            

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Same type of helicopter, a Sea King but apart from the 66 marking, not the same as that used in the Apollo recoveries.

Helo 66 belonged to the navy's Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Four (HS-4). The number 66 was painted on purely for the Apollo missions for public relations reasons, the usual code being 740.

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From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
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Posts: 762
From: South Carolina
Registered: Jul 2006

posted 04-15-2013 03:34 PM               

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The three-digit modex (side number) came in sometime between Apollo 11 and Apollo 12. HS-4 still had the two-digit numbers on Apollo 11, but on the Apollo 12 deployment HS-4 aircraft carried a 300-range modex (this from the Apollo 12 recovery report), and a 400-range modex on Apollo 13. 152711 had the "66" painted over the new modex for PR purposes - on Apollo 12 it's easy to see where the side of the helo was painted white so the (smaller) "66" could be applied, while for Apollo 13 the white parts of the fuselage appear to have been repainted (somewhat crudely, with non-standard stencils), and the "66" on Apollo 13 looks distinctly different.

I've found a handful of pictures of 152711 after Apollo 13. HS-4 subsequently deployed about USS Ticonderoga (in 1971, IIRC), and 152711 carried the modex 401. When HS-4 was assigned to USS Kitty Hawk 152711 wore the numbers 040 (there's a picture of this on the gonavy.jp website) and 740 (there's a picture of this in the Squadron/Signal "H-3 Sea King In Action" book). At some point the helicopter was fitted with the extended sponsons (with smoke marker tubes and MAD bird housing) and longer horizontal stabilizer with the brace. And, according to the pictures I've seen, 152711 apparently wore five little Apollo spacecraft markings on either side of the forward fuselage until the end.

Posts: 1259
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
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Posts: 466
From: Herndon, VA, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 04-18-2013 04:29 PM               

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The David Weeks piece focuses on the Apollo 9 recovery, and not the entire program - just to clarify.

The merged thread carries some the the history (including an attempt by Curt Newport to interest the Navy in a possible location op for Old 66), but it short: no. The wreck site has not been definitely located or documented.

The grassroots effort you probably came across is/was this.

Like many such projects, the effort has stalled from to lack of organization and funding. But, with the recent success of the Apollo F-1 engines and the improved economy, perhaps the interests and funds may be out there now...

Posts: 1259
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
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From: Herndon, VA, USA
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Posts: 2484
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009

posted 03-14-2014 10:44 AM               

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A Michael Caine "not many people know that".

The helicopter used to represent #66 in the film 'Apollo 13' had been used in the recovery of Gemini 4. This is the one that I believe is currently on display at the USS Hornet Museum painted as #66.

Posts: 1728
From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011

posted 03-14-2014 04:18 PM               

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The Navy is notorious for its view of, "We don't want it, but you can't have it either." Unlike the USAF and Army, the Navy lays claim to all their abandoned aircraft, wherever they are, for all eternity. Salvage laws mean nothing in this regard.

So, this historic eggbeater sits in Davy Jones' locker, and if someone tries to pull it out of the water, the Navy will show up and say, "Hey, thanks for pulling our chopper out of the water, see ya later," and drive off with their property in tow. Seriously, it's happened exactly like that many times before.

That said, maybe they'd do something with it if someone pulled it out of the water for them, but I doubt many people would pay the money to recover anything for someone else for free...

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From: Herndon, VA, USA
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Posts: 762
From: South Carolina
Registered: Jul 2006

posted 08-16-2021 11:31 AM               

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Tommy Thomason (for whom I serve as his go-to person on the SH-3) has been keeping me in the loop on his correspondence with these folks. Tommy and I are of the belief this is probably an SH-3A (BuNo 152114) involved in a 1968 accident.

Be that as it may, the photogrammetry model of the wreck of the likely 152114 makes me believe if 152711 *is* ever found, it's probably going to be fairly mangled and perhaps beyond restoration.

Posts: 1
From: Newport Coast, CA, USA
Registered: Aug 2021

posted 08-17-2021 01:46 PM               

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I'm one of the divers that identified the wreck and the author of the article. It has been an interesting journey and I remember reading this specific thread about Helo 66 when we did our initial research and I quoted parts of it.

We know that there are at least 2-3 more SH-3 wrecks in that same vicinity and probably at similar depths which is probably where the rumors got started from.

There is also another interesting coincidence on the Helo 66 crash but I'll leave that for another blog post in the future.

We have hopes of locating and identifying some of the other SH-3 helicopters but they are not easy to find. — Brett