Marine Corps Aircraft that Made a Difference

In 1952, the U.S. Navy ordered an advanced anti-submarine helicopter from Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky designated the new helicopter the S-58, and the Navy called it the HSS-1 Seabat, or just "Hiss." The S-58 proved capable and reliable, so the Army and Marines purchased troop-carrier versions, the Army ordering them as H-34 Choctaws in 1953, and the Marines buying HUS Seahorses in 1954.

The National Air and Space Museum's H-34 entered Marine Corps service in March 1961 as an HUS-1 Seahorse; it was redesignated UH-34D in October. After 3,416 flying hours with domestic USMC squadrons, it was retired in November 1970 and was transferred to NASM in 1974. It has been repainted to represent an aircraft of the highly decorated Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 163 (HMM-163), stationed near Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam, in 1965.