The Sikorsky S-58 was developed from the Sikorsky's UH-19 Chickasaw. The aircraft first flew on March 8, 1954. It was initially designated HSS-1 Seabat (in its anti-submarine configuration) and HUS-1 Seahorse (in its utility transport configuration) under the US Navy designation system. Under the US Army's system, also used by the fledgling US Air Force, the helicopter was designated H-34. The US Army applied the name Choctaw to the helicopter. In 1962, under the new unified system, the Seabat was redesignated SH-34, the Seahorse as the UH-34, and the Choctaw as the CH-34.

Roles included utility transport, anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, and VIP transport. In it standard configuration transport versions could carry 12 to 16 troops, or eight stretcher cases if utilized in the MedEvac role, while VIP transports carried significantly fewer people in significantly greater comfort.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a US Army Sikorsky CH-34C Choctaw helicopter that was assigned to the 7th Transportation Group, then based at Fort Eustis, VA, in 1966. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Rotor Span: 9 inches

Release Date: January 2008

Historical Account: "The Army's Navy" - The 7th Transportation Group was the "Army's Navy." The 7th Transportation Group was the only Composite Transportation Group within the Active Component of the U.S. Army. The 7th Transportation Group has served around the world in time of conflict since its activation in 1942. The 7th Transportation Group executes such missions like the annual Joint Logistics-Over-the-Shore [JLOTS] operations.

The 7th Transportation Group's mission is to "conduct multi-modal transportation operations in support of the reception, staging, and onward movement of joint and/or combined forces into a theater of operations" and the pictures on this slide highlight the diversity of that mission. While the focus is normally on the group's ability to operate common-user seaports, coastal and inland waterway MSRs, theater rail terminals and local and line haul truck transportation, the group's capabilities extend far beyond these functions. Watercraft are just one tool the 7th Group uses in its multi modal mission to support reception, staging and onward movement.