 | Fleet Air Arm |
| Fleet Air Arm |
9 June 2011
Shark 07, one of the Navy's Sea King helicopters, will be preserved at the Fleet Air Arm Museum to mark the the significant role the Sea King has played in naval aviation over
the past 36 years.
The Minister for Defence Materiel, Jason Clare, was at the Museum at Nowra to announce the decision.
"Nowra was chosen to receive the Sea King helicopter because it has been the
home base for the Navy's Sea King operations with 817 Squadron since 1974.
"Shark 07 was chosen because it has the most operational history of
all the Sea King helicopters, having served in the Middle East and East
Timor."
The Sea Kings are known as the workhorse of the Navy, large enough to pick
up loads heavier than a Land Rover. They have flown in excess of 60,000
hours in a range of operations in Australia and abroad.
The permanent display of a Sea King in the Museum will also honour the nine
Defence personnel who died when Sea King Shark 02 crashed on the
Indonesian island of Nias on 2 April 2005. They were in Indonesia to provide
humanitarian assistance to the Indonesian people in the aftermath of the
2005 earthquake.
The naval aviation community was hit hard by the Nias disaster as four of the nine
Defence personnel were members of the 817 Squadron based at Nowra.
"Sea King Shark 07 will be a permanent memorial to the seven young men and
two young women we lost that day. Not only does Australia owe them a great debt, so to do the Indonesian people."
The aircraft has also come to the assistance of many Australians. In 1994 the Sea Kings were involved in one of the largest fire fighting efforts in Australia's history. The aircraft used water buckets to fight fires raging near Grafton, Gosford, Bulahdelah and Sydney's western
suburbs.
The Sea Kings have also been used for rescue operations at sea. In 1998, two of the helicopters were involved in rescuing yacht crews in disastrous weather conditions during the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
One of the Sea Kings' last operations was to South West Queensland to provide response and recovery efforts during the Queensland floods. And as recently as 17 May, they were involved in the dramatic rescue of a climber on Lord Howe Island.
A Sea King helicopter will also be offered for display at the Australian War Memorial in recognition of the Sea King's role in combat operations in Timor and the Middle East.
The helicopters will be withdrawn from service in December 2011. The remaining aircraft and associated support equipment will be offered for sale by tender. Announcements regarding the tender and sale will be made in the coming months.
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