Shipboard helicopter operations

Landing a helicopter on the flight deck of what is sometimes a small ship in heavy seas presents the pilot with a challenges that include: deck movement, turbulent airflows, and using control systems that were not necessarily designed for the marine environment.

Flight operations of shipboard helicopter operations include preparing the aircraft and crew for the mission, cargo and ordnance handling (for armed helicopters), passenger supervision, aircraft departure, communications with the ship during the mission and recovery.

The first shipboard helicopter operations were attempted by the Wehrmacht during the Second World War in the Baltic Sea.

[citation needed] The British had trialled autogyros with aircraft carriers before the war but joined with the USN in testing the Sikorsky helicopters at sea providing the Empire Mersey and its replacement the SS Daghestan in 1942/43.

The first purpose-built helicopter operation vessels were Liberty ships converted by the US Army in June 1945 into floating repair depots.