Helicopter Anti-Submarine Warfare Squadron 12 (HS-12) the Wyverns was a former ASW helicopter Squadron of the U.S. Navy between 1977 and 1994.
History
Early years (1977–1989)
HS-12 was established on 15 July 1977 as part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Being the newest HS squadron at the time, it became the first to fly the TACNAV equipped SH-3H Sea King. That same year, the squadron sent a 2 detachments to the for trials on whether the Spruance Class destroyer could operate the Sea King Helicopter. Their first carrier deployment came in 1979 aboard the USS ''America'' as part of
CVW-11
Carrier Air Wing Eleven (CVW-11) is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier .USS ''Constellation'' (CV-64) and USS ''Kitty Hawk'' (CV-63). A second deployment with the America and CVW-11 in 1981 followed which included the rescue of 15 shipmates at sea.
In 1982, HS-12 became the first ASW helicopter squadron to be assigned on the older Midway Class CarrierUSS ''Coral Sea'' (CV-43) when they moved to
CVW-14
Carrier Air Wing Fourteen (CVW-14), was a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California.
Mission
To conduct carrier air warfare operations and assist in the planning, control, coordination and integ ...
. In 1983, a world cruise from
Alameda
An alameda is a street or path lined with trees () and may refer to:
Places Canada
* Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan
** Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan
Chile
* Alameda (Santi ...
in San Francisco to
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
took place on the Coral Sea with HS-12 joining the ship for the only time ever. This included taking part in FLEETEX 83-1 which was also the largest ASW exercise up to that time since World War II. In November, the squadron was informed they would moving to Japan to join CVW-5 as the first ASW unit to be assigned to the Coral Sea's sister USS ''Midway'' (CV-41). On 15 July 1984 (seven years since being established) they officially joined CVW-5. The first deployment on Midway would later come in late 1984. While Midway underwent modifications in 1986, HS-12 sent three detachments to the USS ''Oldendorf'' (DD-972).
1991 Gulf War
With the
Invasion of Kuwait
The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, codenamed Project 17, began on 2 August 1990 and marked the beginning of the Gulf War. After defeating the Kuwait, State of Kuwait on 4 August 1990, Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq went on to militarily occupy the country fo ...
by Iraq on 2 August 1990, the USS Midway and CVW-5 deployed to the Persian Gulf to relieve the USS ''Independence'' (CV-62) and CVW-14 which had already arrived in the Gulf. Before the deployment, the Midway and CVW-5 were conducting exercises with the
JMSDF
The , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...
which included the tracking of a then-Soviet Navy
Foxtrot Class Submarine
The Foxtrot class was the NATO reporting name of a class of diesel-electric patrol submarines that were built in the Soviet Union. The Soviet designation of this class was Project 641. The Foxtrot class was designed to replace the earlier Zulu-cla ...
for 4.9 hours while it transited the Tsushima Straits. The deployment officially began on 2 October and almost a month later, the ship reached the Strait of Hormuz as part of
. It was during the time in the Persian Gulf that HS-12 conducted exercises which included four of the six helicopters had their ASW equipment removed and replaced by guns.
With the Beginning of
Operation Desert Storm
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
on 17 January 1991, the squadron started conducted operations in support which began with the capture of Jazirat Qaruh on 24 January. This involved the insertion of sixteen Navy
SEALs
Seals may refer to:
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...
by HS-12 on to the former Kuwaiti Island. During the first liberation of Kuwaiti land, 3 Iraqis were killed and 29 Iraqis were captured. This was followed by a few more raids including one on the day before the ceasefire on 27 February 1991. With the liberation of Kuwait finally at hand, HS-12 finally returned to
NAF Atsugi
is a joint Japan-US naval air base located in the cities of Yamato, Kanagawa, Yamato and Ayase, Kanagawa, Ayase in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa, Japan. It is the largest United States Navy (USN) air base in the Pacific Ocean, and once housed ...
1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo
The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines' Luzon Volcanic Arc was the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, behind only the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in Alaska. Eruptive activity began on April 2 as a series of p ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, HS-12 made their last deployment on the ''Midway'' when the carrier sailed from
Yokosuka
is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
, the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...
to
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
to swap with the ''Independence'' and CVW-14. During this, CVW-5 moved to the ''Independence'' while CVW-14 went back to the U.S. with the ''Midway'', while some squadrons swapped aircraft. After completing their last deployment on 29 August 1994 while on board the ''Independence'' as part of CVW-5, the squadron decommissioned three months later on 30 November 1994, ending seventeen years of service, the squadron being replaced by HS-14 Chargers, equipped with the SH-60F Oceanhawk and HH-60H Rescuehawk.{{fact, date=February 2024