The Wreck of USS Helena - Torn Apart By Japanese Torpedoes
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- Опубликовано: 7 май 2024
- Several American cruisers were lost in the Solomon Islands Campaign. One of the most famous, USS Helena, was actually lost fairly late into that campaign. Well after the worst of the Gudalcanal operations. In fact, she wasn't even sunk in Ironbottom Sound.
That being said, Helena's death was a violent one, leaving her wreck in pieces on the seabed in the modern day. Even with that, she is still fairly intact and well-preserved.
Archived Link to Paul Allen's website:
web.archive.org/web/2019020901...
Helena was a great ship with a good crew. She is one of my favorite ships even though her history is short.
👍 Yeah, the Brooklyn/St Louis class are my favorite cruisers. They were built in the mid to late 30s to match the Japanese Mogami class cruisers, once we noticed that Japan were installing 5 triple turrets with 15 main guns on them. Most allied cruisers had 8-9 guns, but ^these had 5 triple turrets with 15 fast firing guns that could put nearly *_3 times_* more 6" shells down range per minute than most standard 9-gun light cruisers!
Plus, they could use "super heavy" 125lb 6" shells, whereas other 6" cruisers typically fired rounds weighing 105-ish pounds. So 1 of the Brooklyn/St Louis ships could fire as many rounds in an allotted amount of time as _THREE_ standard light cruisers!
One of the coolest photos of a Brooklyn class cruiser is the image of one of them bolting from Pearl Harbor in the midst of the Japanese attack, with smoke from burning ships in the background. It was the aptly named USS *_Phoenix_* ..... It survived the war, and went on to be sold to the Argentinian navy, where it was renamed ARA General Belgrano, and was sunk by WW2 era unguided torpedoes fired from a new British submarine during the Falkland Islands war in 1980.
My Dad was on the destroyer O,'Bannon when Helena was sunk. His ship sailed past her bow,standing strait up,a number 50 on her bow,men in the sea all around. The men stripped off their life jackets and threw them to the survivors. Terrible night fighting.
Ah, the Six-Inch Machine Gun cruiser herself. Even in her ruined state, I can still envision Helena's guns blazing like they had done so many decades ago. I look forward to watching your coverage of her brief but brilliant service.
Not sure if you play computer games or not. War thunder is an online game that has this beautiful ship in all her glory in-game. She is a nasty girl and a tough ship in game and in real life.
I met a few sailors from the USS Helena CL 50, at the combined Helena (CL 50, CA 75, SSN 725) Reunion exactly 22 years ago in Las Vegas. One of the displays was a Kula Gulf Swim Club T shirt, a lighthearted reminder of the survivors being picked out of the water after sinking. The next day was the infamous 9/11 terrorist attacks, so I skipped the remainder of the reunion.
We had a ex Helena guy in our legion hall
Served 2 years on the cruiser and then transferred to the Hornet in time of the Doolittle Raid
The Japanese Long Lance was a devastating weapon.
In the book Neptune’s Inferno it gives a good description of Helena doing what she does best ( hell fire) . You don’t want to be on the receiving end of that.
She was a great ship. The UJN called her the machine gun cruiser because of her rate of fire..
To all who perished on USS Helena, thank you.
Those 610mm long lancers were nothing to mess with that’s for sure!
Had the Japanese radars on the ships with those torpedoes they could have caused more appalling casualties to the US NAVY and allies.
The way you analyze all the images is really cool. Especially when its a ship that might not be as well known or popular. All shipwrecks deserve both respect and recognition in some way.
Thank you. I remember constructing a model of the ship in the early 60”s. A very sad fate for a brave ship and crew. 👍🏻🏴🇬🇧🇺🇸
Amen. I remember my models so clearly - their appeal goes deep & wide.
@@vapormissile ❤️
I wish they would have taken more pictures or released more. Seems like a lot of effort ti come back with 10 pictures
I bought a book at a library sale in Nashua, NH in 1974 titled "The Fightenest Ship" The Story of the USS Helena; it was written during the war by a couple of her officers. I do remember them mentioning that the bow actually sank but resurfaced-- they said as if the ship refused to abandon the survivors in the water, her "50" clearly visible. Can't remember how long they said it stayed afloat. That has always stuck with me. I really need to find that book.
My uncle was aboard USS St Louis -- from Pearl Harbor throughout the Pacific.
I had the good fortune of knowing Garth Brown, who was on the Helena when she was sunk. He had previously been on the Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor. He always spoke highly of the Helena.
The Japanese torpedoes- were the infamous "Long Lance" torpedoes- were considered deadly and fearsome when the Japanese had the advantage and were able to use them. Such remained the case until almost the end of the war, the total pathetic tragedy of the USS Indianapolis in July 1945, which everyone knows about- she sank within minutes by Long Lances fired by a Japanese submarine, most of the survivors left to die of shark attacks, the ship's loss not even noted for several days...
The best torpedoes of WW2 by far.
Except they had the draw back of exploding when hit or submerged in fire, many Japanese vessel were sunk do to their own torpedos.
NO it was not the Long Lance Type 93 since it is a 24 inch diameter torpedo and that did not fit in Submarine Torpedo Tubes
@@gruntforever7437this is true, the type 91 was a smaller derivative
The Japanese "Long Lance " torpedo was a powerful weapon .
Another great video. Interesting as always. Keep them coming 🙂
The picture at 5:50 is maybe from behind the aftern starboard 5 inch gun platform. Only behind those where the bollards you see on the left side. The Pictur with the main turrets show also the deck is sunken in. The Picture at 12:47 shows, as you say so, the mainmast laying on the starboard forward 5 inch gun platform. Good work and nice video
USS Helena was attacked by mistake at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese pilots were instructed to ignore light cruisers and attack only battleships and aircraft carriers, or heavy cruisers. They mistook Helena and USS Raleigh, who were anchored bow to stern longways to each other, as a single ship and thus battleship size. So six pilots dropped torpedoes on the two ships before they realized their mistake and broke off the attack. Probably the only time in history a group of pilots were reprimanded for sinking two enemy ships.
Excellent video! Thank you!
Excellent, thank you for this share.
I really appreciate your videos. Thank you.
The aft mast (mainmast) was a pole mast, not a tripod.
I agree on the 5-inch guns probably firing star shelves. I think that explains it.
There is also a very good book on this historic ship for those who wish to learn more- The Fightin'est Ship: The Story of the Cruiser Helena by by Lt. C. G. Morris (Author)
thanks for such a great video..i always feel a sense of wonder how these brave sailors fought through fear and trauma..so much respect for them all..and this channel is so overlooked and underrated..
The photo at 6:07 is Starboard Side at the #64 Turret (6" number 4 turret (4th main gun turret back from the Bow)
Thank you for your showing if these wrecks. I love the history of the ships and I think that showing them now is valuable. I wish Paul Allen had found all of the Midway wrecks. And to add a cherry to a great story, the discovery of the two Japanese Wake Island wrecks. Just to see what torpedoes of your own can do if hit as well ss the depth charges. I wonder how deep they are?
The kind of history you are telling here is quite unique. As far as I know, you are the only one covering many of the wrecks that have been located in recent years in as much detail as you can find, which I highly appreciate! I'm looking forward to more videos from you covering more lesser-known wrecks. If I may offer one point of constructive criticism, it's that it seems evident that you're reading from a script in how your voice sounds, but I'm sure that with as much practice you'll be getting, you'll sound more natural as time goes on. Thank you for doing this!
The footage of these Wrecks is always amazing , the details like markings / paint is Awesome for this time ..
I find these deeper wrecks more aw inspiring than surface wrecks. I mean, yeah everyone knows Arizona, Utah, and other wrecks visible from the surface, but hardly anyone knows about these wrecks, unless your ship is named Titanic, Bismarck, Yamato, or Edmond Fitzgerald. Also, the amount of preservation is crazy! Just because you need USS Petrol doesn't mean that the wrecks simply stop existing. Yes, the scrapping of CV-6 was a crime, but CV-5 and CV-8 still exist. Shoot, if I wanted to go the Oceangate route (and in which case, not with some new experimental sub), I could visit Bismarck.
When i dove on the IJN Oite destroyer, i opened a drawer on the bridge and there was still papers with Japanese writing on it.
Well done once again simply awesome can't say it enough about what you do thank you
Three Long Lances on one side of a ship will pretty much sink anything. Maybe not the Essex Class or Iowa Class but pretty much everything else. for a treaty cruiser it was devastating.
Well done brother! Good video! First time I've seen this one!
Keep up the good work and Love the content.
In world of warships these vessels can spit an incredible volume of fire. I’ve taken on much bigger ships in Helena and I’ve come out on top just cause of all the high explosive shells I can mercilessly spam
Can you do a video on the wreck of the USS Thresher or USS Scorpion?
Thank You
I am very surprised that the heartless Chinese and their ghoulish scrappers haven't found her and ripped her apart for the steel.
As far as I know, the guns on five-inch twin mounts could not be independently elevated, yet the ones on the wreck definitely appear to be at different elevations. Battle damage on the far side?
Great
It would be amazing if all the wrecks that they have found if somebody would condense the information and make them into a three-dimensional image for all of them. As a sign of respect for those who sacrificed so much for us all😊😊
Did they manage to find her bow?
Vídeo Maravilhoso 👏 Um Brasileiro Que Aprecia Seus Vídeos 🇧🇷
I’m a huge fan of USN light and heavy and cruisers!!!
Interesting to note: the Helena was identified and targeted specifically due to the flash from her guns she carried 15 6-in rifles as her primary compliment she had been using flashless powder earlier during the daytime shelling, but unfortunately flashless powder was limited at that time in the war and as such almost half of her powder charges were the pre-war flash powder which she was using were it not for this there's a good chance that the Helena could have survived this engagement my grandfather worked in the naval yards at Mare Island as a master welder and help to bring the Helena back to fighting strength after her initial patch repair at Pearl Harbor he passed down to me a scrapbook with the complimentary notices from all the various ships he had repaired at his time at both Mare Island and at the Puget Sound Naval Yard
Thanks for this and for pronouncing her name properly. For some reason, others move the accent in the title of her name. For those who may want to learn more of this great ship, here is an interview of one of the sailors who served on here from Pearl Harbor until her sinking- very interesting. ruclips.net/video/Ndk1NUbZbq4/видео.html
The lattice structure between the funnels is a searchlight platform.
Deck has collapsed around the rear turrets.
God bless
at 1252 you were talking that youre not sure what part of the ship that is im pretty sure thats just aft of the 3rd turret at the deck level or just under the aft 5inch mount the plate that is right near the hull edge gives it away but i cant find a large photo of the Brooklyn's to say exactly which of the two spots its at.
The picture with the seaorganism is right behind and under the aft 5" gun on starboard.
Not sure if it was the Helena, but I remember reading an account of a US cruiser being lost in one of these post-Guadalcanal night battles - supposedly the cruiser ran out of flashless powder charges for the main guns, and had to resort to standard powder charges - the resulting muzzle flash enabled the Japanese to get a firing solution on the cruiser and manage to sink it.
Would be cool to show the camos that each of these ships went down in
American paint is superior paint.
American 🇺🇸 bombs are superior too.
I love this ship i use it on all battleship games
Are you going to be watching the Nautilus stream of the dive on the Akagi tonight?
There were no tri-pod mast on this class of ships. Pole-masts.
These ships are war graves and the final tomb of many brave sailors. Leave them be.
I thought I saw a Coke bottle below that sea cucumber on the right. Precuriously hanging on to the edge of the ship. Anybody else see that?
Põe O Minuto Que Vc Viu , Aí A Gente Compara , Se For Pra Procurar Essa Cena No Vídeo Todo Aí Vc Força O Nosso Tempo Né Parceiro 🤷
It could very well be one
the fighting Lady
My great uncle died on that ship on Pearl Harbor my family now has the original famous pictures of the ship and the famous flag from the ship my great uncles name was Allen Arthur davis
Hey man why dont you investigate the submarine that is in mexico???
Are you talking about the Nazi sub in the Gulf Of Mexico? About 100 miles south of Biloxi?
@@tinypoolmodelshipyard nop there's a myth that in the golf of california it's a submarine that was sunk near a beach. So I think if you google it you might find what I'm talking about.
6"/47s❤
I dont care to see images of sea sponges either....show me the ship!
Why did the Japanese love War so much⁉️
It's complicated. The military ran the government not the other way around. They also determined the budget for all the other gov't departments. They were not signers of the Geneva Convention. The West were overwhelmingly Christian who believe that the soul left the body after death. Japanese believed that the soul left the body when they surrendered in battle or after they acted with cowardice. That's why they preferred death surrender. The Army invaded China without informing the government but their success was so overwhelming and popular that the government couldn't stop them. Their invasion caused the Dutch East Indies, Britian and the U.S. to impose an oil and scrap metal embargo on them. Since they had no natural resources they invaded The East Indies for their badly needed oil and Indo-China for rubber. Knowing that they had no chance to defeat the U.S. they planned to remove the U.S. fleet from the Pacific then sue for peace in exchange for the Western Powers allowing Japan to occupy Asian nations in the East under a government called The East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Fortunately none of the U.S. carriers were at Pearl Harbor on the day of the attack which caused Japan to cancel the 3rd wave which would've destroyed the U.S. Navy's fuel stores and repair facilities. They feared the carriers would find and surprise them so they retreated. Had they launched the 3rd wave the U.S. Fleet would have had to retreat from the Pacific for a year or so. That would've given Japan a chance, in their opinion to negotiate a peace agreement. Six months after Pearl Harbor the U.S. succeeded in gutting the Japanese Carrier Fleet along with most of their most experienced fliers thus forcing Japan onto the defensive for the remainder of the war.
Japan is an honorable nation. Too bad it took a war to come the peace we share today. I do not believe others will ever be as honorable.
Send an ROV to document a wreck, and spend more time documenting sea growth and creatures, than the wreck itself. This was poorly done by Petrel.
The bow broke off and drifted away, not sinking for a day or two, quite a way from the rest of the ship. (Several miles northwest?)
The rest of the hull jacknifed as it sank. No views of the overall sidescan image of the sight?
Not that I was able to find. I have to assume it exists *somewhere*, but they don’t seem to have uploaded it online.