Culdrose bids farewell to SAR Sea Kings
Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose has waved good-bye to its search and rescue Sea King helicopters for the last time.
Image: Bob Sharples Photography
On 11 April, Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in the UK waved good-bye to its search and rescue Sea King helicopters for the last time. During the late morning, the final three aircraft flew from the base to HMS Sultan, the Navy’s engineering training establishment in Gosport. The aircraft have flown from RNAS Culdrose since 1988, saving thousands of lives in hazardous conditions.
771 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) was formally decommissioned at the end of March after 42 years of rescue operations from RNAS Culdrose, conducting over 9,000 mission and saving over 15,000 lives. At 15 minutes’ notice by day and 45 minutes by night, the Squadron provided a lifesaving service within a 200-nautical-mile radius of RNAS Culdrose. Its crews have carried out over 200 rescues every year, ranging from plucking sailors from sinking ships, to airlifting casualties of road traffic accidents to hospital and assisting the police in carrying out aerial searches for missing people. Their assistance to mariners in distress has gained them numerous awards and bravery medals, for rescues including the Fastnet race of 1979, the Boscastle Floods of 2004, the MSC Napoli in January 2007 and more recently aiding the crews of the stricken ‘Panamera’ and ‘La Sillon’.
Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose will continue to train crews in search and rescue, which is regarded as an essential skill for aviation at sea. The base will continue to provide aviators and helicopters for front line operations within the Royal Navy.