Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue),Cutler, Cutler and Wedertz 2005, pp. 36, 384. and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergency water landings and those who have survived the loss of their seagoing vessel. ASR can involve seaplanes, helicopters, submarines, rescue boats and ships. Specialized equipment and techniques have been developed. Both military and civilian units can perform air-sea rescue. Its principles are laid out in the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Manual. The International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue is the legal framework that applies to international air-sea rescue.
Air-sea rescue operations carried out during times of conflict have been credited with saving valuable trained and experienced airmen. The knowledge that such operations are being carried out greatly enhanced the morale of the combat aircrew, faced with the expected hostile reaction of the enemy and the possible danger of aircraft malfunction during long overwater flights. As such, many militaries have opted to develop a capable air-sea rescue component, and ensure that such assets are available during most deployments.
Early air-sea rescue operations were performed by flying boats or floatplanes, with the first dedicated unit operating such aircraft being established near the final months of World War I. While initially restricted to in-shore operations and with limited equipment, capabilities and resources were expanded over the following decades. By the start of World War II, nations were operating capable air-sea rescue units that operated a combination of amphibious and land-based fixed wing aircraft.
Amid World War II, a major innovation was introduced in the form of the helicopter, which provided hover capabilities that were revolutionary for air-sea rescue. The first military helicopter air-sea rescue, by a Sikorsky S-51, occurred in 1946. Over the following decades, more capable rotorcraft, such as the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King and Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin, made longer range operations possible, with parallel advances in equipment improving both the speed and the level of help that air-sea rescue platforms could provide. The 1980s saw the introduction of training programs for the deployment of rescue swimmers, who have proved invaluable for recovering incapacitated personnel from the sea.
Air-sea rescue operations have been prominent in several major conflicts, such as the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Falklands War. By the start of the twenty-first century, numerous civilian organizations have involved themselves in providing air-sea rescue services, in some circumstances taking over this function from military operators.
History Origins
Initial air-sea rescue operations were performed either by flying boats or floatplanes; these were the pioneering approach used to pick up aviators or sailors who were has come into difficulties in the water. Any other aircraft design posed the additional danger of ditching in the water and requiring immediate rescue, while seaplanes could land on the water in an emergency and wait for rescue. Qualities such as their long range, endurance, and the ability to stay on station for long periods of time were commonly viewed as essential naval aviation requirements for rescue aircraft. Robust radio equipment was necessary for contact with land and ocean surface forces.Murphy 2005, pp. 75–76.
Training and weather accidents could require an aircrew to be rescued, and seaplanes were occasionally used for that purpose. The limitation was that if the water's surface were too rough, the aircraft would not be able to land. The most that could be done was to drop emergency supplies to the survivors, or to signal surface ships or rescue boats to guide them to the correct location.
The first attempts at an airplane rescuing a downed flyer at sea took place in August 1911, during the 1911 Chicago International Aviation Meet, when, in separate incidents, aviators St. Croix Johnstone and René Simon crashed into Lake Michigan.Vergara 1995, pp. 80–82. In both cases, pilot Hugh Robinson, in a Curtiss hydroplane, went out to try to rescue them, but in the case of Johnstone it was too late as the flyer had already drowned.
In contrast, Simon's plane had stayed afloat with Simon on top of it; Robinson spotted him and offered to pick him up and fly him back to shore. Simon, who was comfortable and smoking a cigarette, preferred to wait for a boat to come and tow both him and his plane back to dry land, which is what happened. As per one account at the time, this decision "wrestled from Simon and Robinson the distinction of being the first rescued and rescuer in an airship life-saving feat." Nonetheless, Robinson's role has been termed by one book as "the first airplane rescue at sea by another airplane".Kane 1997, p. 37. Other books have implied or stated that Robinson did in fact pick up Simon,For example, Bruno 1992, p. 178. but this does not align with contemporary accounts.
World War I Dedicated air-sea rescue units were not organized by any nation until the end of World War I. Some rescues were performed by individuals and groups acting on their own initiative, such as the United States Navy Reserve pilot Ensign Charles Hammann who, during the Adriatic Campaign, rescued a fellow aviator adrift in the Adriatic Sea by landing on the water in his seaplane.
When the Marine Craft Section of the newly formed RAF, was formed in 1918, it inherited over 200 operational vessels from the RNAS. These boats were regarded primarily as seaplane tenders, being primarily tasked with the movement of cargo, munitions and crew from the land to the seaplane. Although the launches and pinnaces were equipped for rescue purposes, they were hindered in this role by the fact that they were hard pressed to make and were in a bad state of disrepair following their war service. The poor navigation skills of the post-war crews also restricted the scope of operations to a purely inshore one.
Interwar development
Britain In 1929, T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, joined the RAF, working at the flying boat station, Mount Batten in Plymouth Sound. He witnessed first-hand the deficiencies in the rescue system when a seaplane tender, despatched to save the survivors of an airplane crash in the Solent, arrived too late to save them before they drowned. He immediately began to press his commanding officer for the introduction of fast motorboat launches as rescue boats. Lawrence had experience using this type of vessel, having assisted with the 1929 Schneider Trophy race while at the helm of a Biscayne Baby, a fast boat when the temperamental engines were running.
Meanwhile, Hubert Scott-Paine, the designer of the record breaking Miss Britain III and Miss England boats and founder of the British Power Boat Company (BPBC), made a similar offer of his expertise to the RAF and he soon began to collaborate with Lawrence in the development of long high-speed launches, purpose-built for sea rescue. The result, built by the BPBC, was the 200-Class Seaplane tender; powered by two 100 HP engines it had a top speed of over 36 knots.
Testing on the launch continued from 1931–32 to ensure that the engines could run at sustained high speeds. The ship was an operational success and was followed up with the MkI and MkIA tenders, powered with Perkins Engines. These formed the mainstay of the Marine Section's rescue launches all the way to the Second World War.
Nine of these boats were ordered for use by the RAF Marine service by 1932. In 1935, larger boats were also ordered. These were fitted with Wireless systems that allowed the launch to communicate with the Station and the search aircraft, allowing for an efficient system of contact to be maintained.
The Type Two 63 ft HSL was designed in 1937 by Hubert Scott-Paine; 63 foot long and known as the Whaleback from the distinctive curve to its deck. This was the main high speed launch class ship used during the Second World War and was instrumental in the rescue of Allied aircrew from the sea after they were shot down.
The failure of the Marine Craft Section during the Battle of Britain led to the creation of the Air Sea Rescue Services, which with the motto 'the sea shall not have them', was created to coordinate at sea rescue with its own air sea rescue squadrons, Marine Branch and Royal Navy vessels, and Coastal Command flying boats.
Germany
In the 1930s, the principles of coordinating small surface boat rescue efforts with direction and assistance from air units were developed in Germany. In 1935, Lieutenant Colonel Konrad Goltz of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), a supply officer based at the port of Kiel, was given the task of organizing the Seenotdienst (Sea Rescue Service), an air-sea rescue organization focusing on the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Goltz coordinated with aircraft units of the Kriegsmarine and civilian lifeboat societies.
Early in 1939, with the growing probability of war against Great Britain, the Luftwaffe carried out large-scale rescue exercises over water. Land-based German bombers used for search duties proved inadequate in terms of range, thus new bomber air bases were constructed along the coast to facilitate an air net over the Baltic and North seas.
Following this, the Luftwaffe determined to procure a purpose-built air-sea rescue seaplane, choosing the Heinkel He 59, a twin-engine biplane with pontoons. 14 He 59s were fitted with first aid equipment, electrically heated sleeping bags, artificial respiration equipment, a floor hatch with a telescoping ladder to reach the water, a hoist, signaling devices, and lockers to hold all the gear.
United States The United States Coast Guard acquired its first seaplanes in 1925 at Air Station Gloucester, and used them for coastal patrol as well as single, uncoordinated air rescue units. The air complement grew in the 1930s with the establishment of Air Station Salem and in the 1940s with the first formation of a dedicated U.S. domestic air-sea rescue service on the East Coast in 1944 at Salem.
World War II
Germany The first multiple air-sea rescue operation occurred on 18 December 1939. A group of 24 British Vickers Wellington medium bombers were frustrated by low clouds and fog in their mission to bomb Wilhelmshaven, and they turned for home. The formation attracted the energetic attention of Luftwaffe pilots flying Bf 109 fighter aircraft as well as Bf 110 heavy fighters, and more than half of the Wellingtons went down in the North Sea. German Seenotdienst rescue boats based at Hörnum worked with He 59s to save some twenty British airmen from the icy water.
In 1940, the Seenotdienst added bases in Denmark, the Netherlands and France. The Heinkel He 59s were painted white in June, with red crosses to indicate emergency services.LePage 2009, p. 315. A few French seaplanes were modified for rescue and attached to the organization. In response to the heavy toll of German air action against Great Britain, Adolf Galland recommended that German pilots in trouble over the ocean make an emergency water landing in their aircraft instead of bailing out and parachuting down. The aircraft each carried an inflatable rubber raft which would help the airmen avoid hypothermia from continued immersion in the cold water, and increase the time available for rescue. British fighters such the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane did not carry inflatable rafts, only lifejackets which were little help against the cold.