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SH-2F Seasprites took part in Operation Earnest Will during July of 1987 and Operation Praying Mantis in April of 1988. SH-2 Foxtrots took part in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as well. When the Navy began retiring the FF-1052 Knox-class frigates and other older escort ships with smaller flight decks, the SH-2F Seasprites largely retired along with them. Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawks were replacing them aboard carriers and the newer FFG Perry-class frigates with larger flight decks. The US Navy retired the last SH-2Fs from active service in 1994 and their last SH-2Gs in 2001.
The 184 SH-2s built and rebuilt by Kaman deployed more than 600 times flying more than 1.5 million flight hours over the Hooky Took’s 39-year service life.
Seasprite Trivia
Seasprites have appeared in several movies and TV shows over the years. The 1977 Universal film Airport 77 featured SH-2Fs from HSL-31 Arch Angels operating from Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island and the Newport-class Landing Ship Tank (LST) Cayuga (LST-1186) during the rescue scenes near the end of the picture.
UPDATE: According to reader Neal H Lawson, one of those Airport 77 HSL-31 SH-2F Seasprites (BuNo 149036) made a previous appearance in the 1966 Disney film LT Robinson Crusoe USN as a UH-2C. The 1968 MGM blockbuster Ice Station Zebra included a scene with an early-model Seasprite making a personnel delivery to the (fictional) submarine Tigerfish.
Some of the footage from Ice Station Zebra was also used in Episode 1 of the 1980 television series Westworld Destroyed and the 1973 Six Million Dollar Man television movie Wine, Women, and War. The 1967 documentary Loin du Vietnam (Far From Vietnam) and the 2014 documentary Last Days in Vietnam also include some Seasprite footage. And an SH-2G makes a cameo appearance in the 1997 movie Total Force– directed by Steve Kaman. Coincidence?
UPDATE: According to readers Lach Brown and Davin Garth McLaughlin, an SH-2D Seasprite with subdued national markings (read covered with duct tape) was flown out of Quan Loi in III Corps during the Cambodian Incursion. The helo was utilized to find weapons caches with its Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD). Who knew?
The H-2 Tomahawk was an experimental program for the US Army. A single UH-2B was modified to mount a General Electric J85 turbojet on one side of the fuselage, thereby transforming the helo into a compound helicopter capable of speeds up to 224 mile per hour. Later wings were bolted on as well. When the tests were completed the helo was returned to the Navy and reconfigured to the SH-2D configuration.
Several UH-2Bs were evaluated by the US Army for us as fire support platforms. Proposed armament was a four-gun M6 turret system along with and two attachment points for Miniguns and unguided rockets. But rather than pursue the Seasprite gunship the Army decided to purchase additional UH-1 Iroquois gunships. The Army gave the helos back and they were converted to SH-2Ds.
Originally the LAMPS program looked at the Sealite- essentially a UH-2 but with a smaller, lighter fuselage equipped with skids. The lightweight Seasprite was to be powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT-6 turboshaft engines turning a foldable three-bladed main rotor coming in at a max weight slightly more than half that of the SH-2F. Three versions of the Sealite were envisioned- Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW), Cruise Missile Defense (CMD), and General Purpose (GP). The SH-2F was bought instead.
