HSL 164 with RAF Hurricane off Colombo c1943

Crash Rescue Boat is a name used in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to describe

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

high-speed offshore rescue boats, similar in size and performance to motor torpedo boats, used to rescue pilots and aircrews of crashed

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

these rescue boats, armed with light anti-aircraft guns for self-defense, saw extensive service with the British

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) and

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF).

United Kingdom

From its inception in 1918 the RAF had seaplane tenders, which as part of Marine Craft Section were used for rescue, but these were really only designed for refueling and rearming the seaplanes in service with the RAF. Development of a purpose-built boat for rescue began in 1932 with the 200-class seaplane tenders, followed by the 100-class ASR (

Air-Sea Rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...

) boats which entered service in 1940. Perhaps the best-known 100-class boat was the 36-knot (67 km/h) British Power Boat Company Type Two 63 ft HSL, also known as the 'Whaleback' after its distinctive design. Even after the introduction of rescue

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

s such as the Westland Dragonfly in 1953 the RAF continued to operate a fleet of Rescue/Target Towing Launches, the last of which was not retired until 1986.

United States

The USAAF used 140 crash rescue boats

long, in World War II, designed by Dair N. Long in 1944. The last of these boats has been restored by the AAF/USAF Crash Rescue Boat Association, a non-profit organization with the goal of preserving it for future generations. It is now owned by the Louisville Naval Museum Inc as-of September 2020. These boats were also used during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, but were superseded by other boats and by PBY Catalina flying boats and other aircraft such as the 1946 purpose-built Sikorsky S-51 helicopter, designated as the H-5 by the USAAF and as the H03S by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. The 22nd Crash Rescue Boat Squadron not only rescued pilots during the Korean War, but also conducted covert operations behind enemy lines. A few 63-foot boats were built post World War II, noted as Mark 2, 3, and 3 models. Around the 1960s, Captain Ed Berlin operated ''Claire II'', a re-purposed Herreshoff Manufacturing crash rescue boat, on the Bronx River in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York.DeVillo, Stephen Paul, ''The Bronx River in History & Folklore''. For the 1962 movie '' PT-109'', several USAF crash rescue boats were converted to resemble 80-foot PT Elcos when the few surviving PT boats were found to need too much work to make them seaworthy for use during the film.Axmaster, Sean
"PT 109"
on TCM.com The US operated many crash rescue boats during World War 2.

Notes

References

* Haas, Michael E. (2002). ''Apollo's Warriors: US Air Force Special Operations During the Cold War'' University Press of the Pacific. ISBNs 1410200094, 978-1410200099.

External links

AAF/USAF Crash Rescue Boat AssociationUS Crash Boats OrganizationPhotos of restored 85' crash rescue boatUS Crash Boats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crash Rescue Boat Ships of the United States Navy Military boats

United Kingdom

United States

See also

Notes

References

External links