HSL 164 with RAF Hurricane off Colombo c1943

Crash Rescue Boat is a name used in the United States to describe military high-speed offshore rescue boats, similar in size and performance to motor torpedo boats, used to rescue pilots and aircrews of crashed aircraft. During World War II these rescue boats, armed with light

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

s for self-defense, saw extensive service with the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).

United Kingdom

From its inception in 1918 the RAF had

seaplane tender A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

s, 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) 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 helicopters such as the

Westland Dragonfly The Westland WS-51 Dragonfly helicopter was built by Westland Aircraft and was an Anglicised licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-51. Design and development On 19 January 1947 an agreement was signed between Westland Aircraft and ...

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 boat

in World War II, designed by

Dair N. Long Dair is the Irish language, Irish name of the seventh letter of the Ogham alphabet, ᚇ, meaning "oak". The sga, dair (Early sga, daur) is related to Welsh language, Welsh and to Breton language, Breton . Its Proto-Indo-European language, Pr ...

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, but were superseded by other boats and by PBY Catalina

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

s and other aircraft such as the 1946 purpose-built

Sikorsky S-51 The Sikorsky H-5 (initially designated R-5 and also known as S-48, S-51 and by company designation VS-327Fitzsimons, Bernard, (general editor). ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 20, ...

helicopter, designated as the H-5 by the USAAF and as the H03S by the United States Navy. The

22nd Crash Rescue Boat Squadron The 22nd Crash Rescue Boat Squadron (22nd CRBS) was a U.S. Air Force combat search and rescue unit formed during the Korean War. While its original task was ocean rescue of downed pilots, its speedy and well-armed boats soon became prime vehicles ...

not only rescued pilots during the Korean War, but also conducted covert operations behind enemy lines. Around the 1960s,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Ed Berlin operated ''Claire II'', a re-purposed

Herreshoff Manufacturing Herreshoff may refer to: * Herreshoff (surname), a German surname * Herreshoff (automobile), any of three models of automobile built by the U.S. manufacturer Herreshoff Motor Company, 1909–14 * ''Herreshoff Bull's Eye'' * Herreshoff Castle, an un ...

crash rescue boat, on the Bronx River in the Bronx,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

.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. 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
*http://shipbuildinghistory.com/smallships/armypboats.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Crash Rescue Boat Ships of the United States Navy Military boats

United Kingdom

United States

See also

Notes

References

External links