Rescues.

An MH-60S helicopter from HC-8 Det 4, deployed aboard Seattle (AOE 3), assisted in the rescue of 12 Iraqi mariners from their sinking boat, Edha II, in the southern Arabian Gulf on 9 August 2004. After receiving a distress call, Seattle set emergency flight quarters and launched Bayraider 52. With the assistance of night vision devices, the helicopter crew found the vessel, and AE1 James Hopkins was lowered to the deck to prepare the survivors for hoisting. AD2 Joseph Broderick operated the hoist and secured the victims on board the helicopter. The helicopter remained airborne as the remaining eight survivors, already in a life raft, were brought aboard Seattle by boat. All survivors were treated by Seattle's medical department and transported back to Iraq.

On 25 January, two MH-60S helicopters attached to HC-6 and HC-8 stationed at NAS Norfolk, Va., rescued all crewmembers from an MH-53 of HM-14 that crashed thirty miles off the coast of NAS Oceana. After hearing the call for a rescue on Guard, the two MH-60Ss immediately flew to the scene, effecting the rescue while a Coast Guard C-130 monitored overhead. Both rescue aircraft deployed their swimmers in thirty-six degree water to assist the survivors. After being hoisted aboard the two aircraft, the crew members were taken to Portsmouth Naval Hospital for treatment.

A 36-foot sailing vessel lost power and its navigational equipment 200 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., on 15 January. Despite storm conditions, the Coast Guard sent two C-130s to maintain contact with the three-man crew until help arrived. Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) responded to the distress call by deploying an SH-60F Seahawk and an HH-60H Seahawk from HS-3 and an E2-C Hawkeye from VAW-124. Both helicopters had a four-man crew including rescue swimmers. In spite of 20-foot swells, the helicopters maintained a constant hover 50 feet over the water while the swimmers began rescue operations. All three men were successfully hoisted into the helicopters and taken back to Theodore Roosevelt where they were given medical evaluations, clothes, and food.

On 13 January, Bunker Hill (CG 52) responded to a distress call from Apollo Sun, a Japanese-owned tanker steaming from Chiba, Japan, to the United Arab Emirates. One of the ship's crew members was unconscious and suffering from a life threatening illness. An HSL-49 Det 2 SH-60B Seahawk took off from Bunker Hill and approached the tanker to coordinate the rescue. The Japanese mariner was brought to the small flight pad on Apollo Sun, secured into the rescue litter, and hoisted into the Seahawk. The helo crew proceeded to Seeb International Airport, near Muscat, Oman, and an ambulance took the mariner to a medical facility.

On 29 January, two rescue swimmers from HS-14 rescued two VFA-102 Naval Aviators who ejected from their F/A-18F Super Hornet during an arrested landing aboard Kitty Hawk (CV 63). AW2 (NAC) Jerard Cook rescued pilot Ltjg. Jon Vanbragt, and AW2 (NAC) Bennie Romiti rescued weapons systems officer LCdr. Markus Gudmundsson.

Edited by JO3 Brandy Lewis