The Royal Navy Wasp: An Operational & Retirement History

by Larry Jeram-Croft, Terry Martin

Overview

This book tells the story of the first helicopter in the world designed from the outset to be deployed at sea, in Destroyers and Frigates. It is primarily based on the words of those who operated it. Designed from the outset to cope with the restricted space of a warship both for stowage and flight operations it proved an immediate success. Its original role was to act as a weapon carrier to launch torpedoes and depth charges on submarine contacts out of range of the parent ships weapons range. Soon, it also took on a second primary role of air to surface attack using wire guided missiles. The flexibility of the machine was such that it was able to conduct a plethora of secondary roles from visual search to collecting the all-important ships mail. Wherever the Royal Navy was deployed on operations a Wasp was there. The book has accounts of operations around the world particularly during the Cold War of the Seventies and the Falklands War where amongst other things it had the honour of being the first RN platform ever, to fire a guided missile at a surface target.However the story doesnt end there. Although the aircraft went out of service in the Royal Navy in 1988, it continued to operate with other navies around the world. To this day there are still several airworthy examples flying. The second part of the book gives accounts of these machines and brings the story of the Wasp completely up to date.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526721150
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	01/31/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	280
File size:	31 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Larry Jeram-Croft spent thirty years in the Royal Navy. He trained as an Aircraft Engineer and then as a helicopter pilot. He was awarded a Queens Commendation for Search and Rescue duties and flew the Lynx of HMS Andromeda during the Falklands War. Retiring from the RN in 2000 as a Commander, he worked in industry before retiring for a second time. He then bought a yacht and lived in the Caribbean with his wife, Fiona, before returning to the UK to write. He now lives in Somerset where, apart from writing, he continues to fail to hit a golf ball with any skill whatsoever.

Table of Contents

Foreword vi

Authors' Profiles x

Acknowledgements xii

Section 1 Wasps in Royal Navy Operational Service

Chapter 1 The Military Need 1

Chapter 2 The Early Days 4

Chapter 3 The Wasp 21

Chapter 4 Roles and Weapons 38

Chapter 5 Operations - The Early years 47

Chapter 6 The Cod Wars 77

Chapter 7 The Falklands 94

Chapter 8 Personal Accounts 136

Chapter 9 From LJC's Cockpit 159

Section 2 Wasps in Service Overseas and in Retirement

Chapter 10 The Life Cycle of a Wasp - Phase 2: Born to Fight Again 168

Chapter 11 The Final Part of the Wasps' Life Cycle - Phase 3: Gentle Retirement 194

Chapter 12 The Story of One Wasp in Active Retirement 208

Chapter 13 Almost the End for XT787 219

Chapter 14 Civilian Pilots Flying Rotary Warbirds 233

Chapter 15 The End of the Life Cycle - Representing the Glories, Successes and Triumphs of the Past 241

Annex A Glossary of Terms 256

Annex B A Dummies Guide to Flying a Helicopter 260