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Continental R-975-34, the S-53 was a development of the
S-51 designed for use on aircraft carriers. The tail rotor was raised above head-height to give more clearance and the landing gear was made stronger to enable operations from a moving deck. Other enhancements were a folding main rotor and the option for amphibious landing gear. Two prototypes were ordered by the United States Navy as the
XHJS-1 and the first flew on 22 September 1947. The type was evaluated against the
Piasecki XHJP-1. With the Piasecki design being ordered as the HUP-1 by the Navy, the S-53 was not developed further. ==Variants==