Created 1 Jul 1946 following intense Navy interest in the investigation and development work previously undertaken by the US Coast Guard. It was established to study and evaluate the operation and adaptability of Navy helicopters for Fleet and Land-based use.
It moved to NAS Lakehurst in Sep 1948. As embarked activity intensified, it was clear that the unit was more involved in operations than in development and the opportunity to create two dedicated units to continue that work was put in train. It was split into HU-1 and
HU-2 on 1 Jul 1948.
