AW2 John Robert Anthony
HS-11  SH-3A
BUNO: Unknown
6/27/69
Hometown: Birmingham, MI
Shipmates Comments:
AW2 Bob Armbrust:
I was an AW from 1968 - 1972 and one of the first AW's out of "A" school in Millington, TN. I was then at Fleet Sonar School in Key West, Florida with orders to go to HS-11 when Anthony was lost. Our instructor at the time reported the incident to us 6 students as follows:

Anthony was on a routine night mission just off the coast of Rhode Island when the SH-3 suffered a single engine failure in a hover. The helo set down in the water and subsequently rolled over. The two pilots and one of the crewman egressed the craft but they could here Anthony still inside trying desparately to get out. He was unstrapped and presumably disoriented. Other members of the crew tried frantically to get him to opening but the craft sank with him in it. A very dismaying loss. His family and fiancee were at Quonset visiting him at the time, however, he never came back from this "routine" flight.

Media Articles:
Providence Journal (June 29, 1969):
Three Crewmen Rescued
Search Fails to Find Copter Crash Victim

A Coast Guard search for one of four crewmen aboard a Navy SH-3A "Sea King" helicopter that crashed into the Atlantic 70 miles south of Quonset Point Naval Air Station yesterday has turned up only an empty life raft and small debris.

The three other crewmen of the twin jet helicopter that went down during an antisubmarine warfare training mission at 3:10 a.m. were rescued shortly after the crash.

Rescue craft search throughout the day for Petty Officer 2C John R. Anthony, 23, of Birmingham, Mich. Coast Guard headquarters in New York City coordinating the search reported last night that it had not yet determined whether search operations would resume today.

Nine Navy and Coast Guard aircraft and two Coast Guard cutters participated in the search yesterday. The helicopter, returning to Quonset after the training mission, dropped from the sky, split in two on impact, and sank.

A second helicopter, also on antisubmarine maneuvers, rescued the other three crewmen and took them to Quonset Point. The survivors are Lt. Paul F. Erny, 23 of 229 Shore Acres Ave., North Kingston--the pilot, Lt (j.g.) Edward F. Slornba Jr., 25 of Slocum, the co-pilot, and Petty Officer 3C Robert F. White, 23 of William Henry Road, North Scituate, a crewman.

Lieutenant Erny was treated at the Quonset Point Naval Hospital for minor back injuries. The other two men were under observation at the hospital but were apparently not injured.

A squadron investigation board met at 9 a.m. and adjourned late yesterday afternoon. The investigation of the crash is expected to continue at least for several days, a Navy spokesman said last night.

The craft, carrying complex electronic equipment, was valued at $1,000,000. A spokesman said the craft was about 60 feet above the water when it went down.