In the carrier Eagle ,for the Home /Far East/Home commission of 1967-68,we had a whole squadron ,no.820 NAS, of single-engined,Avpin-started Wessex HAS Mk 1. As the name suggests,they were primarily for A/S duties,with their "dipping sonar" and A/S torpedos,but were also used for "planeguard" and "Vertrep" (Vertical Replenishment) duties----all of which is a bit much to ask of a single -engined Helo with known and regularly-occuring gearbox malfunctions ! By the time of the Aden withdrawal,"Vertrepping" all those "Goodies" out of Khormaksar back to the ship, and "Operation Kamaran",the rate of attrition was such that,in order to maintain a creditable and viable "planeguard" prescence,other than using frigates / destroyers, for fixed-wing flying, two Fabulous !!-- Excellent !!-- Wessex Mk 5 twin-engine "Jungly" machines, plus their air & groundcrews,had to be borrowed from HMS Albion.
Sadly,we had to give them back,eventually,and the poor old HAS 1s had their " Un-finest Hour" during NATO Exercise "Silver Tower" in September ,1968,in Arctic waters.By this time,the gearbox situation was so critical that oil-samples were being taken every few hours,and flown ashore to Lossie for analysis ! On one particularly embarrassing occasion,in full view of what appeared to be the whole Soviet "Fishing" Fleet,plus a Kotlin Class Destroyer and,probably, various Soviet submarines,a Wessex gearbox packs up and a Flotation Gear test (successfully) ensues. Jealous of this success, another Wessex,en route to administer aid & succour ,joins in the fun also.Aboard ship,the "Sea Boat's Crew " hurriedly muster (assemble) at their beloved "3-in-1 " whaler,only to find that the engine has thoughtfully been removed.So, Plan B, and they rush off to the other side of the ship, and prepare for deeds of "derring do " in the 25-foot Motor Cutter. In the excitement,however,this boat is released whilst still some height above the water,and there is an ominous "crack!". After travelling for about ten yards,the cutter starts to sink in,under the circumstances,a rather dignified fashion (photo available !) Fortunately,during all this confusion,yet another Wessex is dragged (protesting ?) from the Upper Hangar ; The rotor-blades are spread,the awful,sickly smell of igniting Iso Propyl Nitrate wafts across the flight-deck,and the gearbox remains in one piece,as opposed to thousands,long enough for a whole series of red-faced rescues of Pilots,Observers,Aircrewmen,Divers,Stokers,Seamen et al,to be effected.As far as I know,this was definitely the "end of the line" for the Mk 1 ; But at least it showed that the flotation gear was (but not always !!) highly efficient.Then,in 1969,came the Sea King !! Hooray !!