It underwent evaluation at the Naval Air Test Center in Patuxent River, Maryland, at Sikorsky's own expense as part of its effort to promote the S-62 to the United States Coast Guard (USCG).

The HH-52 was withdrawn from USCG service during 1989 in favor of nonamphibious rotorcraft, such as the Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin, which rely solely on the use of a winch from a low hover to conduct rescue operations.

[2] In concept, the project combined the dynamic elements of the earlier Sikorsky S-55 with a boat hull-shaped fuselage and a single lightweight turboshaft engine.

[3] It was powered by a single General Electric T58-GE-8B turboshaft engine, capable to generating up to 1,250 hp (930 kW); it was a derated version of the T58-GE-10 powerplant used on the larger, twin-engined SH-3.

[7][8] On 21 December of that year, rival operator Los Angeles Airways performed the first scheduled service using an American turbine-powered helicopter via a leased S-62.

[9] By June 1962, three S-62s were reportedly in operation for specialized transportation purposes, such as servicing offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, with Petroleum Helicopters.

[10] Other early civilian operators included Okanagan Helicopters, which used its S-62s to supply remote radar installations, and the Canadian Department of Transport, which had the type fly resupply missions to its lighthouses.

[11] A large fleet of 99 S-62s was purchased by the US Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics on behalf of the USCG, who operated the type primarily for search and rescue missions.

Being designed to be amphibious, the installation of additional flotation gear was not required for over-water flights, and rescues could be conducted by simply landing on the water.