The design includes a front-loading ramp with side opening clam shell doors on the nose.

The first prototype, the XHR2S-1 flew in 1953, and production deliveries of the HR2S-1 "Deuce" began in July 1956 to Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1), with a total of sixty aircraft being produced.

Army examples were all upgraded to CH-37B status in the early 1960s, being given Lear auto-stabilization equipment and the ability to load and unload while hovering.

Two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engines were mounted in outboard pods that also contained the retractable landing gear.

Six CH-37C's were deployed to Vietnam in September 1965 to assist in the recovery of downed U.S. aircraft, serving in this role from Marble Mountain Air Facility until May 14, 1967.

[citation needed] They were very successful at this role, recovering over US$7.5 million worth of equipment, some of which was retrieved from behind enemy lines.