USS Helena (CL-50)

USS Helena (CL-50): Lost in the Kula Gulf

Commissioned on 18 September 1939, USS Helena was a Brooklyn-class light cruiser that survived the attack on Pearl Harbor only to be lost twenty months later in a night surface engagement in the upper Solomons. She earned seven battle stars in one of the most sustained combat records of any American light cruiser, fighting in the Pacific from 7 December 1941 until a spread of Japanese Long Lance torpedoes ended her fight on 6 July 1943.

Helena was moored at Pearl Harbor's Navy Yard on 7 December 1941 when the Japanese attacked. An aerial torpedo struck her below the waterline, flooding her engine rooms and causing serious damage, but she survived. Her crew fought the flooding and she was repaired and returned to service by January 1942, faster than almost any other Pearl Harbor survivor. That rapid return set the pattern for her entire wartime career: fight hard, get hurt, come back.

Through 1942, Helena became one of the most heavily engaged cruisers in the South Pacific. She fought at the Battle of Cape Esperance in October 1942, helping intercept a Japanese reinforcement convoy. She was at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November, the same night surface action that killed Admirals Callaghan and Scott, and survived the chaotic melee. She was at every major Guadalcanal naval engagement, building a reputation for aggressive action and skilled gunfire.

The end came at the Battle of Kula Gulf on 5–6 July 1943. An American cruiser-destroyer force engaged Japanese ships running the "Tokyo Express" supply route to Kolombangara. Japanese Long Lance torpedoes struck Helena three times in rapid succession. The explosions broke her back. She sank in approximately 22 minutes, taking 168 of her crew with her. Of the approximately 900 survivors who went into the water, some were rescued immediately, but 165 survivors drifted for days before being picked up by American submarines and New Georgians who paddled outriggers through Japanese-patrolled waters.

Seven battle stars and a crew that fought at every hard moment of the Guadalcanal campaign. Helena's people never quit. Tactically Acquired's USS Helena (CL-50) collection honors the 168 men lost at Kula Gulf and every sailor who served aboard her throughout her hard war.