Tag Archives: MH-60T Jayhawk

Remote Work

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For those with a little chill in the air, how about this breathtaking photo from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater of an MH-60 Jayhawk somewhere in their AOR, likely in the Keys but could be in points further South or West.

Photo by LT Scott Kellerman, USCG

Formed in 1934, CGAS Clearwater currently counts 700 personnel and has 10 MH-60T Jayhawks and four HC-130H Hercules (upgrading to HC-130Js) assigned as well as Port Security Unit 307.

As detailed by base:

We are the largest and busiest Air Station in the Coast Guard. In addition to the local area, our Area of Operations includes the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean basin, and the Bahamas. We constantly maintain deployed H-60s for Operations Bahamas, Turks and Caicos (OPBAT), a joint DEA, Coast Guard, Bahamian Turks and Caicos anti-drug and migrant smuggling operation in the Bahamas. We also have C-130s deployed in support of Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) operations in the Caribbean. This is done while simultaneously maintaining a constant Bravo Zero Search and Rescue response at home in Florida.

NOLA Jayhawk ( Nee Oceanhawk)

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While bopping around the Gulfport harbor as I often do last week, I saw this bad boy spinning down in the public parking lot next to USCG Station Gulfport, the one typically full of boat trailers on the weekend.

Not that typical…

On closer look, it is an MH-60T Jayhawk, the Coast Guard’s big SAR bird. As only 42 are around, they are pretty rare compared to the more commonly encountered MH-65 Dolphin.

Getting closer still, she sports a “New Orleans” assignment banner on her cowling as well as a gold Fleur de Lis and “Alvin Callender Field” homebase on her hatch. Her number is 6047.

Of interest, of the 42 MH-60Ts on the USCG’s inventory, 39 are converted HH-60J Jayhawk rescue birds, and three are former Navy SH-60F Oceanhawks that were given to the Coast Guard to cover attrition.

Speaking of which, the big Sikorsky we see above was SN 70-1804/ Bu.No 164615, an S-70B-4 (SH-60F) built in 1995. She was seen extensively in HS-11 “Dragonslayers” livery (code AB-612) over the years including deployments with USS Enterprise and USS Theodore Rosevelt until she was converted and refreshed in 2016 to a Jayhawk.

As for U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans, which was established in 1955 to help close the gap between Mobile and Houston after the old USCG seaplane base at Biloxi was shut down, they have been an all-Dolphin unit for some 35 years. In fact, they were the first operational HH-65 unit in the Coast Guard, and had as many as five of them assigned, putting in amazing work during Katrina.

U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans sign leaning against a building after hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005. 231117-G-M0101-2001

6047 is the NOLA’s first MH-65 as the air station last year began transitioning from the MH-65D Dolphin to the Jayhawk, “which will improve the Coast Guard’s operational capabilities along the Gulf Coast in support of Search and Rescue (SAR), Catastrophic Incident SAR, Marine Transportation System, and the offshore maritime environment.”