Direct proof of use
The SH-60B Seahawk is directly documented in the 2003 Iraq War through U.S. Navy squadron history and Navy-released image metadata. Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 48's official command history records that HSL-48 Detachment Six was embarked on USS San Jacinto during the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and that Detachment Eight aboard USS Anzio flew nineteen combat missions supporting coalition ground and naval units as they helped secure the waterways and port of Umm Qasr.
A Navy photo record dated 25 August 2004 separately documents an SH-60B from HSL-42 flying over Kuwait during a training flight while the detachment was embarked aboard USS Vicksburg on a deployment supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sources: HSM-48 Command History, US Navy 040825-N-4374S-005 SH-60B over Kuwait
Timeline
The supported chronology begins with the invasion period. HSM-48's command history places an HSL-48 SH-60B detachment aboard USS San Jacinto during the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, then describes USS Anzio's Detachment Eight flying combat missions for coalition ground and naval units around Umm Qasr after the cruiser worked up with the Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group.
Later Iraq War maritime support is documented in 2004 and 2005-2006. The HSL-42 image record places an SH-60B over Kuwait during USS Vicksburg's Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment in August 2004. HSM-48's history then records HSL-48 detachments aboard USS Leyte Gulf and USS Nicholas supporting Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, including Iraqi oil-infrastructure security operations in the northern Arabian Gulf.
Sources: HSM-48 Command History, US Navy 040825-N-4374S-005 SH-60B over Kuwait
Operational role
The documented SH-60B role was shipboard maritime support rather than land-based assault aviation. NHHC describes the SH-60B as the LAMPS Mk III Seahawk used from cruisers, destroyers, and frigates for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, search and rescue, medical evacuation, logistics support, and communications relay, with sensors and weapons suited to surface-combatant operations.
In the Iraq War record, the direct sources tie that shipboard role to coalition maritime tasks: combat missions supporting the security of Umm Qasr's waterways and port, training and support over Kuwait while embarked on USS Vicksburg, and northern Arabian Gulf security missions around Iraqi oil infrastructure. The public sources do not identify a specific SH-60B weapon release in the 2003 Iraq War.
Sources: SH-60B Seahawk | NHHC, HSM-48 Command History, US Navy 040825-N-4374S-005 SH-60B over Kuwait
