End nears for German Navy Sea Kings

The Marineflieger (German Naval Air Arm) Marinefliegergeschwader 5 (MFG-5; Naval Air Wing 5) at Nordholz Air Base in northern Germany will formally bid farewell to its 17 remaining Sea King Mk 41 search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopters on August 31. Delivered between April 1973 and September 1974, 23 Sea King Mk 41s have formed the backbone of the Marineflieger’s SAR activities for more than 50 years, during which the type has flown about 180,000 flying hours in support of 17,200 SAR missions