Back Sikorsky H-34 Afrikaans سيكورسكي إتش-34 Arabic Sikorsky H-34 Czech Sikorsky S-58 German Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw Spanish سیکورسکی اچ-۳۴ Persian Sikorsky S-58 Finnish Sikorsky H-34 French סיקורסקי S-58 HE CH–34 Choctaw Hungarian
| Sikorsky H-34 / S-58 | |
|---|---|
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| A United States Army CH-34 | |
| Role | Helicopter |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Sikorsky Aircraft |
| First flight | 8 March 1954 |
| Introduction | 1954 |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users | United States Army United States Navy United States Marine Corps |
| Produced | 1954–1970[1] (Foreign production of derivatives and sub-types continued under license after the Sikorsky production ended.) |
| Number built | 2,340 [2] |
| Developed from | Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw |
| Developed into | Westland Wessex |
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The Sikorsky H-34 (company designation S-58) is an American piston-engined military helicopter originally designed by Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft for the United States Navy. It has seen extended use when adapted to turbine power by the British licensee as the Westland Wessex and Sikorsky as the later S-58T. This type had a variety of names depending on the role and timing, but included the aforementioned Wessex, Seahorse, Seabat, and Choctaw. Most of the H-34 (S-58) used radial aviation engines, though other powerplants were employed, and the Wessex used predominantly twin gas turbines. Individual versions often had unique names, the type including everything from the U.S. Coast Guard HH-34F Seahorse was used for search and rescue, to the commercial Winnebago Heli-Home, to Canada's CH-126 (an H-34B for the military), the USMC it often went by "HUS" after its original designation in that service.
H-34s served, mostly as medium transports, on every continent with the armed forces of 25 countries. It saw combat in Algeria, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and throughout Southeast Asia. Other uses included saving flood victims, recovering astronauts, fighting fires, and carrying presidents. It was the last piston-engined helicopter to be operated by the United States Marine Corps, having been replaced by turbine-powered types such as the UH-1 Huey and CH-46 Sea Knight. A total of 2,340 H-34s were manufactured between 1953 and 1970, including the license productions in the UK and France.[2]
The UK production of the H-34/H-58 of the twin turbo Wessex built on the legacy of earlier license builds of the Westland Whirlwind, which came from the Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw (S-55), itself the starting point for the H-34/S-58. The H-34/S-58 was also license produced in France by Sud Aviation, and they served in the French Air Force. These served in the Algerian rebellion, and not only saw the type entering combat but pioneering air-mobile tactics utilizing rotor craft that be influential to late 20th century military concepts.