AH-1Gs

Randy, of the 38 AH-1Gs, five were sent to Ft Stewart, GA for instructing Marine Cobra pilots. These were 68-15037, 68-15038, 68-15039, 68-15045, and 68-15046. Two others (serial #s ??) were set aside for further research and testing. The rest were sent to Vietnam where they were assigned to VMO-2 (Apr 68-Dec 69) and HML-367 (Dec 69-May 71).

68-15072 (HML-367), 68-15073 (HML-367), 68-15080 (VMO-2), 68-15170 (VMO-2), 68-15190 (HML-367), 68-15198 (HML-367), 68-15213 (HML-367), 68-17027 (HML-367), and 68-17045 (HML-367) were losses.

The 22 remaining Gs served with passed through H&MS-16 (Tustin) before going to equip HMA-169 (Camp Pendleton) and HMA-773 (El Toro). We (HMA-169) sent our last G to 773 around April or May 1976, not too long before they relocated to Atlanta.

Hok/huk/h-43

Bureau Numbers for HOK-1/OH-43D:
125528 - 125531 HOK-1 (4)
129800 - 129842 HOK-1 (43)
138098 - 138102 HOK-1 (5)
139971 - 140001 HOK-1 (31)
81 total delivered to Marine Corps

VMO-1 was the first USMC squadron (after HMX-1) to get the HOK-1 (12 Apr 1956). VMO-2 was the last squadron to have any in operation (30 Apr 1965 UH-43C; 31 May 1965 OH-43D). Other squadrons that operated the H-43 were HMX-1, VMO-6, HMR(C)-263 and HMR(C)-363. The Reserve VMO-4 may have had some as well.

The HOK-1/OH-43D was a 2-place observation helicopter. It had a 525 hp Continental R-975 engine. 47 foot rotor diameter.

The HUK-1/UH-43C was similar but had a 50 ft diameter rotor and seating for three passengers. It had a 600 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engine.

Web site for HOK/HUK: HOK/HUK

List of helos through 1962

I was able to get a copy of "Marines and Helicopters, 1946-1962" and put together a list of Marine helicopters operated from 1947-62 and when they were on-hand.

HTK 1952; 1958 (1 Tested in 1958 as drone)
HOK-1 1956-62+ (OH-43D in 1962; Still in VMO-2 to May 65)

H-13D 1955
HTL-1 1950-52 (HMX-1)
HTL-2 1948-51
HTL-3 1950-52
HTL-4 1950-52
HTL-5 1954-55

HRP-1 1948-50 (HMX-1)
HRP-2 1950-53 (HMX-1)
HUP-1&2 1954-55; 1957; 1959 (UH-25B in 1962. Mostly SAR a/c)*

HO3S-1 1948-55
HO4S-1 1951-56
HO5S-1 1952-56
HRS-1 1951-58
HRS-2 1952-56
HRS-3 1953-62+ (CH-19E in 1962; Last one at El Toro 1965)
HR2S-1 1956-62+ (CH-37C in 1962; None on hand after Jun 67)
HUS-1 1957-62+ (UH-34D in 1962; Last active sqn 1969; Last Reserve sqn 1972)
HUS-1Z 1960-62+ (VH-34D in 1962; Replaced by HSS-2/VH-3A in 1970s)
HSS-2Z 1961-62+ (VH-3A in 1962) Book lists this as "HUSS-2"

*According to a chart of USMC Reserve squadrons in 1958 (William T. Larkins, "U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft, 1914-1959") 9 sqns were equipped with the HUP. Since there were only 2 in the entire Marine Corps at the time, this has to be a typo. These were probably HRS and HUS.

I believe that the Marine reserves in Minneapolis (7E) used the HUP. I have a video, copied from film, showing the Marine Reserves in Minneapolis showing the HUP operating at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin in the 50's. The video also has Corsairs, F9F-3's, AD's, and a lot of other Marine stuff from the late 1940's up to about 1965.

Semper Fi
IGOR

IGOR, they mostly did as HMR-768 pit of NAS Twin Cities, then later flew the Ch34D at Twin Cities and Selfridge AFB 70-71, then flying the CH46D until deactivation in the late 70's

VH-60 Presidential Support

The VH-60 has taken the mantle of Marine One although very rarely. Had a previous SNCOIC that was an HMX Crew Chief on 60's. He flew President Bush during his first term. It was on the infamous flight where the crew chief executed a right face towards the president as he walked away after saluting, an honor never rendered to Clinton. It got some airtime and some people tried to make a big deal out of it. The 60 is mostly in a support role though.

Just posted a few new chronology sections on the website that I received from Al Barbour.

If anybody can add to it (squadron-specific chronology), please send edits to Al Barbour at ahbarbour@earthlink.net

Marines and Helicopters in Korea
https://www.popasmoke.com/korea/chronology.html

Desert Storm Chronology
https://www.popasmoke.com/desert-storm/chronology.html

HUPs, UH/VH-1Ds, and UH-2s

After checking the "Allowances and Location of Navy Aircraft" for 1956-64, posted online by the Naval Historical Center, it looks like The Reserve helo squadrons that operated the HUPs in the late 50's didn't have their own aircraft, but were using station aircraft which were also used by the Navy Reserve squadrons.

As for the UH/VH-1Ds, there is no listing for HMX-1 having them assigned, so they must have been "owned" by Army Executive Flight Detachment, but sometimes operated by HMX-1. The only naval operators listed from 1965-71 are VXE-6, HT-8, and NAVAIRSYSCOM in Corpus Christi.

As Norm Urban said, both Cherry Point and Beaufort used UH-2Bs as SAR a/c. It appears that both received UH-2Bs in Jan 64. Cherry Point's left about May 69 but Beaufort still had 1 in Jun 1970. Both switched to HH-1Ks.

Going back to what IGOR said earlier, NAS Minneapolis did have the HUP, TBF's and F7F,s shared by the Navy and the Marines. I was stationed there in early 1952.

Jack Ubel;19023 wrote: Going back to what IGOR said earlier, NAS Minneapolis did have the HUP, TBF's and F7F,s shared by the Navy and the Marines. I was stationed there in early 1952.

when stationed at NAS NOLA in 65/67 the Marines had to use Navy SH 34,s also shared the A4's and had our own F 8 photo recon aircraft

As for the UH/VH-1Ds, there is no listing for HMX-1 having them assigned, so they must have been "owned" by Army Executive Flight Detachment, but sometimes operated by HMX-1. The only naval operators listed from 1965-71 are VXE-6, HT-8, and NAVAIRSYSCOM in Corpus Christi.

The VH-1Ds aren't listed in the "Allowances and Locations of Naval Aircraft", but I did manage to find them in the "Naval Aeronautical Organization" lists for Jan 70 through Jan 72. There were only two of them.

I flew two VH-1Ds at HMX 1971&72: 015561 and 015334. My last flight was 26 Apr 1972 in 015334, a bit past your Jan '72 date.

Lanny

Lanny, thanks for the new info. The problem with the NAO list is that it was only issued twice a year - 1 January and 1 July- so the Jan 72 cutoff was way too early.

The UH-2's operated by the USMC and units assigned were as follows
150152 UH-2B with MCAS SO&ES Cherry Point, 23Oct64 to 9Dec65
150164 UH-2B with MCAS Beaufort, 22Oct65 to 29Mar66
150166 UH-2B with MCAS SO&ES Cherry Point, 6Jan64 to 17Aug65
150166 UH-2B with MCAS Beaufort, 17Aug65 to 7Jul67
150167 UH-2B with MCAS Beaufort, 22Jan64 to 11Sep64
150167 UH-2B with MCAS SO&ES Cherry Point, 11Sep64 to 21Nov64
150167 UH-2B with MCAS Beaufort, 21Nov64 to 8Aug65
150167 UH-2B with MCAS Cherry Point, 24Jun66 to 31May67
150167 UH-2B with MCAS Beaufort, 31May67 to 3Sep68
150167 UH-2B with MCAS Beaufort, 13Nov68 to 16Jul70
150179 UH-2B with MCAS Yuma, 8Oct64 to 2Dec64
150180 UH-2B with MCAS SO&ES Cherry Point, 13Mar64, suffered damage 15Aug64 and Struck off charge 31Aug64
150181 UH-2B with MCAS Beaufort, 14Mar64 to 5Jun67
151306 UH-2B with MCAS Yuma, 30Jul64 to 19Nov64
151308 UH-2B with MCAS Cherry Point, 8Nov66 to 20Jun67
151308 UH-2B with MCAS Beaufort, 20Jun67 to 18May70
151319 UH-2B with MCAS Cherry Point, 13Dec65 to 9Sep68
151319 UH-2B with MCAS Beaufort, 9Sep68 to 7May69
151319 UH-2B with MCAS Cherry Point, 7May69 to 18Jun69
152189 UH-2B with MCAS SO&ES Cherry Point, 13May65 to 18Jun69

Marine Helicopters/Rotorcraft - 1932- 2008+

Bell
HTL-2 HMX-1-- 1st a/c 9 Aug 48
HTL-3 HMX-1, VMO-6
HTL-4 HMX-1, VMO-6

AH-1G “Cobra” 38 loaned from Army. 9 lost in Vietnam. 1 T-53-L-13 engine
AH-1J “SeaCobra”
VMO-1 --1st a/c Sept 70. 2 T-400-CP-400 engines
AH-1T “SeaCobra”
Improved version. T-400-WV-402 TOW capability HMA-169 -- 1st a/c May 78
AH-1W “SuperCobra” T-700-GE- HMLA-169 -- 1st a/c Mar 86
AH-1Z “Viper” Upgrade of AH-1W w/4-blade main rotor

UH-1B “Huey” 20 loaned from Army. Operated by VMO-1 1966-68
VH-1D "Huey" 2 used by HMX-1 1970-72
UH-1E “Huey” T-53-L-11
HH-1K "Huey" SAR version T-53-L-13
UH-1N “Huey” T-400-CP-400
HH-1N “Huey” SAR version
VH-1N VIP version. HMX-1 had 6
UH-1Y “Venom" In service with HMLAT-303 2008

Bell/Boeing
MV-22A “Osprey” HMX-1
MV-22B "Osprey" HMX-1, VMMT-204, VMX-22, VMM-263, VMM-162, VMM-266

Boeing Vertol
HRB-1/CH-46A “Sea Knight”; “Phrog”
CH-46D "Sea Knight"; "Phrog"
CH-46F “Sea Knight”; “Phrog”
CH-46E “Sea Knight”; “Phrog”

Gyrodyne
XRON-1 Portable 1-man rotorcraft. Evaluated by USMC

Hiller
XROE-1 Portable 1-man rotorcraft. Evaluated by USMC

Kaman
HTK-1 Cargo drone - evaluated by Marine Corps

HOK-1 (OH-43D) “Huskie” VMO-1 first sqn 1956; VMO-2 last sqn 1965. 81 delivered
HUK-1 (UH-43C) Kaman "Huskie"
Utility version. VMO-2 had some in 1965

UH-2B Kaman “SeaSprite" [Cherry Point & Beaufort SAR 1964-70]

Lockheed Martin
VH-71 "Kestrel" Variant of Augusta/Westland EH101. Planned replacement (2010) for VH-3D,

Piaseki
HRP-1 "Flying Banana" fabric skin HMX-1 (1st a/c 15 Aug 48)
HRP-2 "Flying Banana" metal skin HMX-1

HUP-2 /UH-25B “Retriever”; Reserve sqns & SAR

Pitcairn
XOP-1 Autogyro serial# A-8976 eval. by VJ-6M in 1932

Sikorsky
HO3S-1
HMX-1 (1st a/c 9 Feb 48) Served in Korea with VMO-6 and MAMS-33.

HO4S-1
observation version of HRS-1 [HMX-1]

HO5S-1 "Flying Tinkertoy"
VMO-1 -- 1st a/c 1 Jul 52. In Korea with VMO-6.

HRS-1 “Chickasaw” In Korea with HMR-161
HRS-2 “Chickasaw” In Korea with HMR-161
HRS-3/CH-19E “Chickasaw” In Korea with HMR-161. MCAS El Toro operated 3 until 1967.

HR2S/CH-37C “Mojave”; "Deuce"
HMR(M)-461 1st a/c 20 Mar 57

HUS-1/UH-34D "Seahorse"; “Dawg”
HMR(L)-363 1st FMF squadron 5 Feb 57
HUS-1A/UH-34E "Seahorse" amphibious version
HUS-1Z/ VH-34D “Marine One” VIP version 4 built HMX-1
SH-34G "Sea Bat" Navy ASW helo. Used by Reserves (shared with USNR sqns)
UH-34J Small number operated by Reserves (shared with USNR sqns) and a few FMF sqns.

HSS-2/SH-3A "Sea King" HMX-1
HSS-2Z/VH-3A “Marine One” HMX-1
VH-3D "Marine One" HMX-1

VH-60N "Blackhawk" HMX-1

CH-53A “Sea Stallion”
CH-53D “Sea Stallion”
RH-53D “Sea Stallion” Operated by Reserve squadrons HMH-769, HMH-772
CH-53E “Super Stallion”, “Shitter”
CH-53K Projected replacement for CH-53E

Newer list?

Tom,
I noticed your later list has some omissions from your previous list (HTL-1 and 5 and HUP-1 for example). Oversights or corrections? Thanks!

For anyone interested, here is a list where trying to cpature all USMC fixed wing and helos:

http://www.zone-five.net/showthread.php?p=65141#post65141

I just forgot them 😮

The Gyrodyne XRON-1 and the Hiller XROE-1 probably shouldn't be included. According to Marines and Helicopters 1946-1962, in 1954 CNO classed them as equipment, not aircraft inventory items.