Hitperson wrote:yes hence the boat hull and flotation bags on th sea king and the floatation bags on the merlin also this-->
the ch53 can too.
That's actually a photo of an old USAF (paint scheme makes it recognizable) HH-3 "Jolly Green Giant," an offshoot of the Sea King, which could make water landings (the Coast Guard used it for a long time, too, as the "Pelican"). The slightly downward turned tailboom was distinctive of the HH-3. The H-53s are bigger and the H-53Es are ginormous.
The
unprepared (i.e., without buoyancy bags or similar) floatation capability of the Navy and Marine Corps Sea Stallion (H-53D) and Super Stallion/Sea Dragon (H-53E) I'm unsure of. Have not seen a highly authoritative source that confirms them for sure. An active duty Pave Low flight engineer confirmed to me that the USAF MH-53J/M (which is based on the older H-53D airframe) cannot make a non-emergency water landing due to the increased weight of the PAVE systems package.
As for the floatation / water landing capabilities of the Merlin, I have not seen information or photographs showing it.