<p>A U.S. Navy Sikorsky SH-3D <i>Sea King</i> (BuNo 152711) of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 4 (HS-4) "Sea Knights" hovers over the <i>Apollo 11</i> command module <i>Columbia</i> on 24 July 1969 and retrieves an astronaut (location 13°19′N 169°9′W). HS-4 was assigned to Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Group 59 (CVSG-59) aboard the aircraft carrier USS <i>Hornet</i> (CVS-12) for the recovery of the <i>Apollo 11</i> moon mission from 27 June to 1 August 1969.<br></p>
The SH-3D BuNo 152711, side number "66" was used for several recovery missions. The helicopter's flight number was changed from "66" to "740", as after the <i>Apollo 11</i> recovery the U.S. Navy had switched to a three number squadron designator - but the helicopter was repainted with the number "66" for each recovery thereafter for public relations reasons. The <i>Sea King</i> could not be preserved as it crashed on 4 June 1975 on a training flight out Imperial Beach (California, USA). Although the crew was rescued the pilot died later of his injuries. The wreck sank to a depth of ca. 700 m.
U.S. Navy
U.S. Navy photo <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv12-69apollo/025.htm">[1]</a> from the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv12-69apollo/index_001.htm">USS <i>Hornet</i> (CVS-12) 1969 <i>Apollo 11</i> recovery cruise book</a> available at <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://navysite.de/cruisebooks/index.html">Navysite.de</a>