A plane guard is a warship (commonly a
destroyer or
frigate) or
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 ...
tasked to recover the aircrew of planes or helicopters which
ditch or crash in the water during
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
flight operations.
Ships
For ships, the plane guard is positioned at 500 to 2000 yards behind the carrier and either directly behind the carrier, or at a point 15 degrees off to starboard, intersecting the final approach line to angled deck carriers. The plane guard ship's position provides an additional point of reference to approaching aircraft. One of the ship's boats is prepared for launch and swung over the side, but not placed in the water. If an aircraft ditches or crashes, either while approaching the carrier to land or following a failed landing, the ship proceeds to the approximate position of the aircraft, and the prepared boat is deployed to rescue the aircrew.
The plane guard role is dangerous for ships, as aircraft carriers must often change speed and direction to preserve optimum take-off and landing conditions for their aircraft, and a lack of awareness or any incorrect manoeuvres on the part of either ship can place a plane guard ship under the bows of a carrier travelling at full speed. The
USS ''Hobson'' was lost while incorrectly manoeuvering during plane guard duties which resulted in a collision with the aircraft carrier
USS ''Wasp'' (
in 1952).
Both
HMAS ''Voyager'' (
in 1964) and
USS ''Frank E. Evans'' (
in 1969) were lost under similar circumstances in collisions with the Australian aircraft carrier
HMAS ''Melbourne''.
Helicopters
After World War II, plane guard duties and search-and-rescue roles were sometimes carried out by
amphibious aircraft
An amphibious aircraft, or amphibian, is an aircraft that can Takeoff, take off and Landing, land on both solid ground and water. These aircraft are typically Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing, though Amphibious helicopter, amphibious helicopte ...
. However, prior to 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 ...
helicopters were discovered to be more efficient and effective in both roles.
As helicopters came into more common usage, they supplemented and sometimes replaced plane guard ships, as they could retrieve crashed aircrew faster and more safely than ships.
[ p. 67] However, night operations still required a ship in the plane guard position.
[
]
See also
* Index of aviation articles
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Articles related to aviation include:
A
Aviation accidents and incidents
– Above Mean Sea Level (AMSL)
– ADF
– Acces ...
* Lists of aviation topics
* List of established military terms
This is a list of established military terms which have been in use for at least 50 years. Since technology and doctrine have changed over time, not all of them are in current use, or they may have been superseded by more modern terms. However, th ...
References
External links
* - Lesson 07 (Formations - Microsoft PowerPoint document) contains information on the duties and manoeuvering rules for modern plane guard ships (Slides 64 to 71)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plane Guard
Naval aviation
Naval warfare tactics