USS Helena (CL-50)
Service
- as Helena18 September 1939 — 6 July 19431,387 days of the war
- Name
- USS Helena
- Pennant / hull number
- CL-50
- Namesake
- City of Helena, Montana
- Builder
- New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, New York
- Laid down
- 9 December 1936
- Launched
- 28 August 1938
- Commissioned
- 18 September 1939
- Fate
- Sunk, Battle of Kula Gulf, 6 July 1943 (1943)
- Status
- Wreck
Specifications — As built
- Displacement, standard
- 10,000 long tons (10,160 t)
- Displacement, full load
- 13,327 long tons (13,541 t)
- Length
- 185.32 m (608 ft)
- Beam
- 18.59 m (61 ft)
- Draught
- 5.79 m (19 ft)
- Speed
- 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h, 37.4 mph)
- Complement
- 888
- Main gun
- 152 mm (6 in)
In following the direction of Resolution VII, signed 3 March 1819 during the second session of the Fifteenth Congress of the United States, which stated that U.S. Navy ships of the "third class" be named "after the principle cities and towns," the gunboat and two cruisers were each named for Helena, capital city of Montana .
The second Helena (CL-50), was launched 27 August 1939 by the New York Navy Yard; sponsored by Miss Elinor Carlyle Gudger, granddaughter of Senator Thomas J. Welch of Montana; and commissioned 18 September 1939, Captain Max B. Demott in command.
Helena, assigned to the Pacific Fleet, was at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 , when the Japanese attacked. She was moored at 1010 Dock Navy Yard on the east side of the harbor; outboard was mine layer Oglala (CM-4)By chance Helena was in the berth normally assigned to Pennsylvania; and this became a prime target for the Japanese planes.
Continue to the full service history About 1,587 words
From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Helena II (CL-50)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.
Armament and machinery
This vessel is recorded in 2 configurations. Wartime refits changed armament and complement substantially, so each is kept separately rather than averaged into one set of figures. The figures above are as built.
As built
- Propulsion
- 4 × geared turbines
- 4 × screws
- Power
- 8 × Steam boilers
- 100000 shp
- Armament
- 15 × 6 in/47 caliber Mark 16 guns
- 8 × 5 in/38 caliber dual-purpose guns
- 8 × caliber 0.50 in machine guns
- Armour
- Belt: 3+1/4 - 5 in
- Deck: 2 in
- Barbettes: 6 in
- Turrets: 1+1/4 - 6 in
- Conning Tower: 2+1/4 - 5 in
- Aircraft
- 4 × SOC Seagull floatplanes
1942 refit
- Main gun
- 40 mm (1.6 in)
- Armament
- 15 × 6-inch/47 caliber Mark 16 guns
- 8 × 5-inch/38 caliber anti-aircraft (AA) guns
- 16 × 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns
- 12 × 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannon
Sister ships
Sources
- Facts harvested from USS Helena (CL-50) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Service history reproduced verbatim from Helena II (CL-50) , Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships — public domain, a work of the United States Government.
- Photograph: Unidentified USN photographer — history.navy.mil — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons