USS Helena (CL-50)
_at_a_South_Pacific_base,_circa_in_1943_(NH_95814).jpg) The USS Helena |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Shipyard |
New York Navy Yard |
| Keel laying | December 9, 1936 |
| Launch | August 27, 1939 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | September 18, 1939 |
| Whereabouts | Sunk by torpedoes on July 6, 1943 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
Construction: 10,000 t |
| length |
185.4 m |
| width |
18.8 m |
| Draft |
6.0 m |
| crew |
888 officers and men |
| speed |
32.5 knots |
| Armament |
15 × 152 mm cannon in 5 turrets |
| Armor |
Armored belt: 127 mm. |
The USS Helena (CL-50) was an American light cruiser of the Brooklyn class . It was damaged in the attack on Pearl Harbor , then was active in the Pacific War and was sunk in the Battle of the Kula Gulf .
history
Construction and commissioning
The Helena was the second ship to be named after the city of Helena in Montana . The cruiser was laid down at the New York Navy Yard on December 8, 1936 . She was launched on August 27, 1939, and entered service on September 18, 1939 under the command of Captain Max B. Demott.
Outbreak of war
She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet and was in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attacked . Located in a place alongside the 1010 dock of the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard , normally reserved for the battleship USS Pennsylvania , which was a major target for Japanese aircraft, it was subjected to heavy air strikes during the raid.
Within three minutes of the first bomb falling on Ford Island , a single torpedo plane dropped a torpedo that passed under the Oglala , a minesweeper lying next to her, and hit the Helena amidships on the starboard side as the crew made their way to their stations ran An engine room and a boiler room were full of water. The electrical lines to the main guns and the 127 mm guns were damaged. However, the crew was able to put the forward diesel generators into operation within two minutes and supply all the guns with power again. The sinking of the ship was prevented by immediately closing the bulkheads .
After a preliminary overhaul at Pearl Harbor, the Helena ran to the Mare Island Navy Yard for full repairs. She was back in service in 1942, accompanying a division of Seabees and an aircraft carrier carrying planes to the South Pacific. She made two quick trips from Espiritu Santo to Guadalcanal , where the long battle for Guadalcanal was just beginning, and was then assigned to the task force of the USS Wasp .
Guadalcanal
This task force covered six vans carrying troops to Guadalcanal. On September 15, the Wasp was hit and sunk by three torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-19 . The Helena was able to save about 400 men of the crew and bring them to Espiritu Santo.
The next mission was near the island of Rennell to cover a transport to Guadalcanal. The air strikes from Henderson airfield had delayed the Tokyo Express by a few days, which forced the Japanese to throw everything at the airfield on October 11th in order to stop the air strikes and to bring troops to Guadalcanal during the night. The Japanese fleet was less than 150 km from Savo Island at 6:10 p.m. The Helena , which was equipped with a good radar, discovered the fleet and opened fire at 11:46 p.m. In the following battle of Cape Esperance , the Helena was able to sink the heavy cruiser Furutaka and the destroyer Fubuki .
On October 20, the Helena was attacked while patrolling between Espiritu Santo and San Cristobal. Several torpedoes exploded near her, but she was not hit.
The Helena accompanied on September 11, a replenishment transport of Espiritu Santo to Guadalcanal and brought him there safely. On the afternoon of November 12, a coastal observer reported "enemy aircraft approaching". Unloading was stopped immediately and the ships formed a defensive formation. The first wave of attacks was successfully repulsed, but the second damaged two ships. The Helena was not damaged in the process, and eight Japanese aircraft were shot down by the task group in the eight-minute battle.
As unloading continued, reports came that Japanese forces had been sighted. The Helena , which continued to drive with Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan's supply group, led them away from Guadalcanal and then ran back. On the night of November 13, she spotted the Japanese with her radar. In the subsequent naval battle of Guadalcanal , she suffered only minor damage.
In January 1943 they shelled Japanese positions on New Georgia at Munda Point and Vila . She then patrolled Guadalcanal, and one of her aircraft was involved in the sinking of the Japanese submarine RO-102 on February 11th.
Downfall
_firing_during_the_Battle_of_Kula_Gulf,_6_July_1943_(80-G-54553).jpg)
After an overhaul in Sydney , Australia , she ran to New Georgia to take part in the preparatory shelling for the invasion. On the evening of July 4th, she accompanied the first landing troops into the Kula Gulf. When the troops were brought ashore, the news came that another Tokyo Express was on its way. At midnight, the Helena task group encountered ten Japanese destroyers. In the following battle in the Kula Gulf, Helena , which was illuminated by artillery fire and was therefore easily recognizable as a target for the Japanese, was hit by three torpedoes. She began to break apart, keeping the bow afloat and the rest of the ship quickly sinking. Half an hour later, two destroyers came to pick up the survivors.
At daybreak, the destroyers USS Nicholas and USS Radford had to abandon their rescue operation as the Japanese were back within range. In anticipation of an air strike, they ran to Tulagi to bring all but 275 survivors there. They left four boats with which Captain CP Cecil, in command of the Helena , could bring 88 men to a small island near Rice Anchorage. This group was rescued the next morning by the USS Woodworth and USS Gwin .
For the remaining almost 200 men, the bow of the Helena , which was slowly sinking, was the lifeboat. A B-24 Liberator aircraft dropped life jackets and life rafts, which the crew could use to save themselves to the island of Vella Lavella . There they were looked after by coastal observers and locals and hidden from the Japanese in the jungle.
The Helena was the first ship to receive the Navy Unit Commendation . She received seven Battle Stars for her service in the Pacific War .
The wreck was discovered on March 24, 2018 by the research vessel Petrel in NewGeorgia Sound at a depth of 869 meters.
literature
- Norman Friedman, Robert F. Sumrall: USS Helena CL50. Leeward Battle Damage Report No.1. Annapolis 1979 (The only monograph on the ship and its last use in the Battle of the Kula Gulf)
Web links
- History of Helena in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)
- USS Helena at navsource.org (Eng.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ USS Helena (CL-50). RV Petrel, accessed October 29, 2019 .