During naval exercises off Key West in April 1956, a US Navy Sikorsky H-34 helicopter, serial number 51, made an emergency landing on the deck if Balao-class submarine USS Corporal (SS-346) because it experienced serious mechanical problems during an anti-submarine warfare exercise in which the Corporal had been serving as the opposing force. After close cooperation by radio and hasty preparations by the submariners, the distressed helicopter managed to touch down safely aft of the submarine’s sail. The incident marked “the first time a helicopter made an emergency landing on a submarine.
The second image shows just how little margin of error there was for the entire scenario, since the Sikorsky was about as wide as Corporal’s deck.
