USS Helena - Guide 195
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- Опубликовано: 4 сен 2020
- The USS Helena, a Brooklyn class light cruiser of the United States Navy, is today's subject.
Read more about the Helena here:
www.amazon.co.uk/U-S-Cruisers-Illustrated-Friedman-1984-10-03/dp/B01FGJ2Y8A
www.amazon.co.uk/Neptunes-Inferno-U-S-Navy-Guadalcanal/dp/055380670X
www.amazon.co.uk/Sunk-Kula-Gulf-Incredible-Survivors-ebook/dp/B009NH255E
www.history.navy.mil/research...
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Next on the list:
-Bathurst class
-Aurora
-Imperator Nikolai I
-USS Tennesse
-HMNZS New Zealand
-HMS Queen Mary
-HMS Belfast
-HMS Caroline
-USS Marblehead
-New York class
-L-20e
-Abdiel class
-Panserskib (Armoured ship) Rolf Krake
-HMS Victoria
-HMS Charybdis
-Eidsvold class
-IJN “Special” DD's
-SMS Emden
-Ships of Battle of Campeche
-USS England (DE-635)
-Tashkent
-1934A Class
-HMS Plym (K271)
-Siegfried class
Pinned post for Q&A :)
Hello
If Germany and Britain had gone to war 10 years earlier, so before the groundbreaking arrival of HMS Dreadnought, how you think the 2 navies would have fared? (I can't help it - I love the whimsical world of pre-dreadnoughts.)
Hey Drach, my question would be: What do you feel was the most insignificant contribution to the war effort by one class of warship from any side?
If the Portuguese manage to maintain their empire after the napoleonic wars do you think they can build up a navy large enough to resist the British demands in 1890?
I seem to recall this is far from the first time American ships hesitated at shooting their foes in a night fight. Just how often did blue-on-blue engagements actually happen come WWII? Was this an overabundance of caution or a real danger?
Drachism of the week: "....the naval version of a knife fight fought in a locked closet by two honey badgers who'd been roided up on PCP"
Tshirt with 2 honey badgers facing off with knives?
week, nah... that's a contender for Drachism of the year lol
Sounds like an absolute nightmare to be stuck inside
I hope someone is collecting these.
@@FallenPhoenix86 As there are still several months to go you may want to hold off on that
Not only do you get an education about naval ships and warfare you get an education about the British sense of humour
dry, self-mockery, and dark gallows humor.
only the British master that art to utter perfection.
It's merely a flesh wound!
@@samholdsworth3957 said Nelson
@@obelic71 Only on a diet of strong beer and fish and chip
@@bigblue6917 hear hear and a little bit of picadlly sause
Favorite line: "Large number of unauthorized Japanese aircraft"
Just like the declaration of war the flight plan paperwork was delayed.
I gotta go with honey badgers in a closet...
@@philippeterson7503 high on pcp
😂😂😂👍👌
I knew it!!!! There was no way all those aircraft were authorized for that flight plan. Thanks, Drach, for uncovering The Conspiracy.
_Helena_ was a good example on how long it took some admirals to understand, or at least appreciate, the critical difference radar made to fighting the Japanese. A bit if trivia. Look closely at the 5"/38 turrets on _Helena_ and then compare them to any later ship with the same turrets. The Helena had the first twin 5"/38 turret, and the style was more curved and svelte, in keeping with the rest of the ships's design. However, it served no practical purpose and actually slightly reduced gun crew space. For the remainder of the over 2,700 twin mounts that were produced, cost and speed became the important factors, with aesthetics a distant third.
Thank you for that thought. I've often wondered why our 5" turrets looked so boxy compared to other nations ships. I always wondered why British turrets were pretty than ours.
2700 twin mounts?!? Good lord that’s a lot of guns
@@CorePathway for all ships with twin mount, enclosed 5 inch guns, built during the WWII (aka staring in 1939). That is not even counting the few ships that had open mount 5 / 38 or other caliber of 5 inch guns.
You forgot to mention that during her shakedown cruise, Helena made a stopover in Montevideo where her crew paid a visit to the wreck of the Admiral Graf Spee.
Wow,i didn't know that.I knew that the heavy cruiser USS INDIANAPOLIS arrived in Buenos Aires in 1936.
*"SG, lend me your strength!"*
Best radar waifu
"SG, target my position"
Best P2P (Pay 2 Progress) storyline too.
(Her skin show how she progress from skin to skin, culminating in a confident Helena in her Retrofit)
@@teknonaught Cute af, adorable af, stunningly beautiful, did I mention adorable?, and character development... She really is the best waifu.
Whenever she finally gets an oath skin, my heart is going to explode from sheer happiness.
Ever since retrofit, she is in top 3 vanguard ships.
"Naval version of a knifefight by 2 honey badgers on PCP" 🤣🤣🤣
So, Australians then?
My Father, George F. Yellak was on the USS Helena as first ship’s company when it was being built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He was on the Shakedown Cruise to South America, was aboard the Graf Spee after it was scuttled in Montevideo waters. He was on her at Pearl Harbor during the attack. He participated in every engagement she encountered. He was on her at Kula Gulf when the torpedoes blew her bow off. He was in the water till he was picked up by the USS Nicholas. He was on the Helena from the day it was Commissioned to the day it was sunk. He was a Firecontrollman Second class on the aft Six-inch guns. Came home from the war unscathed . My dad was very proud to have served aboard such a Gallant ship. Note :my father met my Mother in Central Park on Liberty when the Helena was being constructed in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. They were married in 1940.
Wonderful. My dad and his brother Bob were also picked up by the USS Nicholas. I was with my dad at the 50 year reunion banquet in Helena, Montana in 1989. It was asked, "Who was picked up by the Nicholas and who was picked up by the Radford?". I saw all these gray haired men raising their hands. The same hands that had reached up to grab a line or the helping hand of a sailor on the destroyers. It was a touching image that I won't soon forget. Many survivors were sent below to lower the center of gravity of the ship. Dad was in an engine room. The deck was hot on their bare feet. The captain ordered the speed to be increased, "one more notch". The reply back to the captain was, "we are already at the last notch". They were headed to Tulagi at full speed!
My grandfather, Arnold Benassu, was also on the Helena from shakedown until July 1943. He was a Gunner's Mate, I believe in one of the 5" turrets. I still remember him telling me his story of Dec 7, 1941 and being in awe that he survived. Let alone another 18 months of fierce fighting in the South Pacific. He made it through the war unscathed, and lived out the rest of his life in New Jersey and Flordia.
What I find kinda weird is that all three light cruisers the U.S. lost in WWII were the Helena CL-50, the Atlanta CL-51, and the Juneau CL-52. That all three ships had been built in succession is one of the more interesting coincidences of the war.
pyronuke476 even more haunting with the Juneau
Sadly Helena was leading the formation Juneau was part of when she was sunk and Capt. Hoover was courtmartialed for ordering the fleet to continue on without stopping for survivors of Juneau
I think they were also lost in reverse order to their hull numbers.
CL-49 didn't sink but took torpedo damage.
Actually cheered when you said most of the crew survived lol. Fantastic ship, cheers for the guide!
The euphemisms about the action in the early hours of November 12, 1942, whether you call it the 1st Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, or whatever, abound. One participant called it "a barroom brawl after the lights had been shot out"... I have yet to read a concise report detailing the action according to chronology, simply because it doesn't exist. Most accounts relate the stories of the individual ships involved.
I highly reccomend the articles here for the action on November 15: www.navweaps.com/index_lundgren/index_lundgren.php
Would be nice if similar summaries existed for the prior battle on November 12.
@@mxaxai9266 ...Richard B. Frank's book "Guadalcanal" contains some interesting details as well
@@Zapranoth-lf8nt James W Grace (Naval Institute Press) "The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal-Night Action 13 November 1942 ia a good recounting with several maps which will test your patience
You want a chronological account?
May I direct you to the twitter account @Guadabattle where I live-tweeted the battle. Mostly from the viewpoint of the USN ships since I didn't have many Japanese accounts.
You'll need to DL the archives (link in pinned tweet) and look at the two sister accounts (also in the archive) since there were so many tweets in such short time-span that twitter blocked me from making more tweets.
About the best I've ever seen is the re-telling in Neptune's Inferno: it goes through the battle in stages. first the leading DDs get in, then the "Base force" of cruisers. then the trailing DDs. and Hornfischer's accounts are so well written I swear you can smell the cordite from the guns.
Hahahah Roided up Honey Badgers on PCP, absolutely brilliant.
I would have that as my ships ensign
@BC Bob it's perfectly possible
Teddy Roosevelt lived during Helena as a ranch owner after his first wife and mother died on the same day. The ranch had a wagon that TR named the "Handbasket" as in "Going to Helena in a handbasket" ("Going to Hell in a handbasket")
Drach,
I believe you slipped in a photograph of CA-75 at the 1:40 mark just to see if we were paying attention ! Good one. CA-75, a Baltimore class, reused the Helena name in 1945.
Was just about to post the same. The single aft turret and center line 5-inch/38 caliber gun gave it away.
Yes. I noticed that too - thought not which class it was.
This one being a heavy cruiser
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Helena_(CA-75)
as opposed to This one which was the light cruiser
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Helena_(CL-50)
.
I also noticed that, though for me it was the date that gave it away in the bottom left corner of the photograph.
Drach had a Jingles moment.
Ah. That makes more sense
Hi. My wife had 2 uncles who served on the Helena and were on it when it went down. One survived and one did not. The surviving uncle lived to 99 and was inurned at Arlington last year.
The Helena's bow was still afloat in the morning, sticking straight up. I recall seeing a plate of this in one of Samuel Eliot Morison's books.
The Helena's captain had aquired through what I was told hook and crook many more battle lanterns than she was supposed to have.
This one thing is thought to be one of the big factors that helped a good portion of the crew being able to escape.
Small error at 1:38 that’s the Baltimore class heavy cruiser Helena, named after the Brooklyn class light cruiser was sunk.
Thank you! I had a feeling something was wrong there.
another small error is that he calls it part of the Brooklyn class instead of the St. louis class
John McCarthy it’s up to debate about if the St. Louis and Helena are their own class or just a subclass of the Brooklyns
@@AlteryxGaming would you like to have that debate? (after I come home from work) The US navy classes them separately.
Good catch!
5:00
That was one heck of a great description of the battle!
I was doing research on Pearl Harbor. Apart of it was looking for the "torpedo" that struck Arizona. The article pointed out the mistakes in the torpedo attack. If memory serves correctly, it has been over 7 years since I read it. The leader of one of the torpedo bombers were to attack the carriers on the north side of Ford. The leader realized that they weren't carriers and didn't drop his torpedo. Several did drop torpedoes on the north side before the remaining pilots looked for other targets. After crossing Ford Island, they lined up on 1010 dock believing it to be a battleship. The leader realized it was a cruiser right after releasing the torpedo.
It was a really interesting article. It was a peer reviewed article so it's a very high chance of being fact. One of the most interesting things in the article was the low hit rate. Being low on the water and a stationary target and few weapons firing at the start. I believe it was around 30 percent. I know it was below 50 percent. I thought it was amazing.
I'm from Helena, Mt and proud to have a cruiser CL 50 named for my town. We also have the anchor and bell from CL 75 by our library.
Thank you Drachinfel for this video. Cheers Mate!
My Dad served on her during her last battle. He was very proud of that ship. He was a true hero in my eyes. I miss him every day.
My dad served aboard Her and I proudly served aboard USS Little Rock CLG 4. Sixth Fleet Flagship (1974-1977)
The sentence starting at 5:25 is, by far, the best description of any naval engagement in history.
And the two SG equipped DD's, Fletcher and O'Bannon, were also virtually untouched during the 1st Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, more proof of the effectiveness of the SG radar during night battles.
When I saw the pictures documenting the battle damage, I thought for sure there'd be 40-60% causalities - AMAZING that only just over 100 died.
My Uncle was a plank holder on USS Helena and served on her through Kula Gulf sinking. He was one of the survivors picked up by a destroyer who spotted them clustered around the bow that had broken free during the sinking and resurfaced temporarily.
My dad was on one of those destroyers that plucked to those guys out of the water. Uss radford.
@@jiveturkey9993 I think he was picked up by the Nicholas, he was in the group that clustered around the bow
@@ohblahdeohbladah My dad died when I was real young and he was one of those guys that never mentioned anything about the war. So we have no oral history of it. I'm just going by that i know he was on that boat at the time that event happened.
@@jiveturkey9993 my uncle never really talked about it either, most of what I know of the Helena came from a book, “The Fightenest Ship” written by the comm’s officer during the war and my dad, who related the newspaper articles and contemporary conversations with my uncle during his 30 days leave after being rescued.
@@ohblahdeohbladah Yeah I think there was a large percentage of those guys that were for whatever reason quiet about it.
I've sort of speculated over the years why that was. You know was it heroics,trauma,humulty etc etc?
I never could come up with any answers. It just seems to be the way it was.
This was my grandfathers ship, thank you 🙏🏽 for the excellent content.
My great grandfather was an electricians mate on the Helena, he was in Pearl Harbor and fought with her until she sank in the battle
Of Kula Gulf
Immediate first reaction: Oh God! He pronounced Helena correctly! Thank you Drac!
Just add the words "in a hand basket" and it's easy to pronounce Helena correctly. ;-)
I was happy to hear it pronounced correctly as well. Helena has always been a city mispronounced by people who aren't from there.
“A knife fight in a locked closet between 2 honey badgers the had be rocked up on pcp “
Best description of First Guadalcanal EVER. If you're ever in San Francisco you can see a souvenir of that fight preserved at Lands End -- a shot-up section of the USS San Francisco's superstructure that had been cut off during repairs at Mare Island. BRING YOUR TAPE MEASURE. You can find 5", 6", 8", and 14" holes. The 8" being the most interesting as only the USN had 8" guns in this fight.
That being the case, then USS Portland hit the USS San Francisco, since USS Portland was the only other 8" gun ship present that night. Then again, as I recall, USS San Francisco inadvertently hit the bridge of USS Atlanta that night as well. Given the confusion and the fact the two fleets had intermingled, it's amazing there weren't more incidents of "friendly fire" that night.
@@nicholasconder4703 Yep. Not to mention the collisions and near collisions. Which is why Drach's description was so apt. Everyone was asleep on their feet and the admirals were taken out, so Capt. Tameichi Hara seems to have been the only one with a decent idea of what was going on. Or so he claimed.
Great Video. One of my favorite American cruisers of World War II. I didn't realize she took 3 torpedoes in her last action.
A knife fight in a locked closet between 2 badgers roofed up with pcp. The greatest line I think I’ve ever heard
Helena and Wichita are my favorite cruisers of the era. I also agree that Helena and St. Louis should be considered their own subclass since they were in some ways significantly different than the rest of the Brooklyns.
Beautiful ships, though. 5"/38 twin mounts make any ship look epic.
As always, another great, succinct overview of a ship by Drach, and at the same time there’s so many interesting threads and tangents that run off from this story of a single ship. And now I’m off to dig out my Osprey on the naval battles of the Guadalcanal campaign...
I was born in Helena, Montana! This ship has naturally been my favorite for a long time and I'm so glad you finally did a video on it but you missed a few cool details.
You can go to the local library and touch the anchor and prop. Also the Boiler is now used for research iirc. Pretty cool history!
Please stand for the early morning anthem of boats and hangovers
Man, this is crazy. Just last night I became really interested in the Helena just because of her (while short) valiant service life. Then, I wake up and THIS VIDEO appears. Wtf? Nice!
My very first DryDock question, all the way back in episode 31, was about the fantastic gun systems on these cruisers.
Great video as always Drach.
5:28 WHERE DO YOU GET THESE?! Part of why I love this channel
Excellent as usual Drach. I was just reading James Hornfisher's "Neptune's Inferno" which mentioned the Pearl Harbor sinking of the minelayer USS Oglala, which was heavily damaged by a bomb near miss while next to Helena. One of the Oglala's survivors later apparently noted it was the only ship to ever be sunk by fright.
One of the highly better WW2 Naval War books I've read.
What took so long for such to be written?, given the recognized significance of Guadalcanal.
@@its1110 Agreed. It's like "SME" Samuel Elliot Morrison owned it for decades and no one wanted to be compared to him, or something along those lines :)
The Japanese Nick-named it "The Machine Gun Cruiser" because of it enormous rate of fire. A very good idea for a light cruiser as events showed but the 6 inch guns, although lightning quick, just wasn't big enough for the coming Navies.
What is interesting is that according to after-action reports following her sinking, the navy concluded that a large contributing factor in the high rate of survival of crew members was due to the higher than normal number of emergency lighting onboard Helena. (Which from my understanding had been mistakenly given to Helena, but for whatever reason had not either been noticed or changed.) Following her sinking, the navy quickly increased the number of emergency lights in all naval vessels, which most likely saved many lives later on.
Very very often air and sea forces received more equipment than they were supposed to have with the US sort of a US tradition only possible with US production. True error or on purpose error getting extra lamps really helped.
In 1992, I met a Navy vet who had been on the Helena for it's short life in World War II. His recount of the engagement that sank the Helena was shocking to me, an Infantry Sgt at the time. Once they started burning and were well illuminated, he told me that it seemed like everyone in the world were firing at them. In the end, he was grateful to the destroyer that got him out of the water as he was exhausted, coated in oil, and without sufficient strength to climb up the cargo netting to save himself.
GRacias por las fotos y la pequena historia ...
My grandfather "Bin Cochran" (who I am named after) was on this ship when it was sunk. So glad I found this video, and thanks for making it. I am even sipping out of his coffee cup right now that say "Kula Gulf Swim Club" because him and his shipmates were lost at sea after sinking. Clearly they had a weird sense of humor ha!
I saw that name... I am related to the Cochrans thru various families along the historical Sabine frontier.. I am desended from Jesse G. Gore his brother was Asa E Gore buried Dallas Texas. His son, one of two, Willie A. Gore was one of those perished on the Helena, few know of this family as we were told very little ,as to the tragic death of Jesse G Gore ,1881.. ( Jesse G. Gore, Lake Charles La newpaper article as how I found the truth as how he died)..After his wife died, we suppose he move to Dallas, she is buried at Bivens Cemetary Merryville La.. Salena Slaydon Gore... Non of his daughters ever made it back to Merryville. I am 30 mi away in Starks,La.. One daughter the lastest died in 1995. She was married to the named Roscoe Frederick White.. Dallas Texas. .Her grandson of fame is Trey White ii, WhiteHoldings, Dallas Texas. I await to meet him and make contact to talk about his grandfather and his uncle as well my grandfather and my cousins. (cousins of my grandmother)..
I don’t know where I read it, but apparently the Helena has gotten a bunch of those emergency lanterns by mistake, so they had double the amount. They put them up, and that was credited with saving a lot of lives when the ship went down
I am sure you knew this by the way you worded it.
A tradition of both land and Sea forces of acquiring way more equipment than the rules said they were supposed to have. Drove the Germans on land nuts how US units kept having more stuff than expected especially when infantry units had tanks on occasions. All other combatants would never have all the equipment they were listed on paper to have. At Sea any surface that could mount a gun normally got one way past those that were supposed to be on the ship I have read.
A previous poster made mention that the captain "by hook or by crook" obtained them. It wouldn't have surprised me. That kind of stuff happened a lot during the war. 🤷♂
I'm so happy you dropped the robot voice for your fantastic narration. If you ever write a book I will be buying it. The humor and information is top notch.
As a Helena native, I have to say that I appreciate you pronouncing the name correctly. And thank you for covering the history of one of my favorite ships to serve during WWII. While this particular ship was lost, the anchor of the next one to take her name is still around on display in a local park in downtown Helena. Not a whole lot to it, aside from the size of the thing, but it's still neat to visit.
Your metaphors and adjectives are GOLD.
Thank you Helena is capital city of Montana where I live and was raised. So I was looking forward to this one.
Looks like there's a lot of us here!
That is good news to me. Old salts are few and far between up here.
What a coincidence, I just unlocked Helena in WoWS like 40 minutes ago :O
It's good at starting fires but the New Orleans is better at DPS. I wholeheartedly HATE the Atlanta and Wichita with a passion, except when I'm in my Atlanta B.
@@joeclaridy True, well I play all ship types and most coutries so I am not so picky because I enjoy different playstyles :) That being said, USN CAs are my favorite out of the bunch just because they can bow tank many enemies and heavily punish broadsiding cruisers
ay, i've been waiting for a review on helena, since i really like her alot lately, her history, and in games, it was really nice to learn more of my favorite
"I say again l, fall back helena"...
My great grandfather was on the boat as it sunk. It took them 11 days to be found and they was covered in oil.. I have the original declassified letter sent to him "apologizing for putting them in danger " he was the strongest man I've met still to this day.. he was on 4 ships. I forget a few of them but the wasp was one of the others.
I’d love to see a video of the survival and rescue of the crew members who made it to the islands. My great grandfather was an officer on the Helena and part of that survival and rescue.
Minelayer that was moored alongside the Helena at Pearl and sank because her seams were opened by the blast from the torpedo striking the later was the USS Oglala. Which has gone down in US Navy lore as "The ship that died of fright"
So capable of huge naval victory at Guadalcanal except admiral put his flag in big old technology ship rather than Helena which had latest radar gun control and was put at middle to behind older technology.
hindsight is always 20/20 ;) you have to understand radar at that time was brand new a unproven/untested technology in the eyes of the USN a bit like the Wright brothers plane in 1903....
The shall remain un-named guy in charge placed his flag on San Fran which he commanded in the past and the crew was very fond of him. Unfortunately, he was more of a staff officer than a tactical combat commander. Scott (on Atlanta) was experienced, CAPT Gil Hoover of Helena knew how to exploit radar, but un-named came out of a desk job, was in-experienced with new technology, commanding a task force in combat yet he was the senior officer. IMO, Scott would have done better (after learning from experience) and Hoover would have mopped the slot that night.
@@AtomicBabel Admiral Scott made the exact same errors that Admiral Callahan made. At Adm Scott’s first battle, he too commanded from a non-radar equipped ship. If he “learned his lesson”, he again flew his flag at the battle from USS Atlanta, NOT Helena. Would any US Officer have “mopped the Slot” that night? Highly unlikely. The results using the radar equipped ships might have been marginally better. However the Japanese battle line with two hybrid battleship/battlecruisers, yield vessels that no US she’ll could penetrate. Would they still most likely have retreated? I’ll agree there. Would we have sunk more Japanese ships? That is questionable. Eleven destroyers are nimble and even with radar proved difficult to hit.
@@AtomicBabel Unfortunately, Scott was not in command because Callahan was (very slightly) senior to him.
@@johnbelli6384 yes, Scott fought his first battle on San Francisco (with no SG) radar and was first to make the mistakes repeated at the NBoG. He did realise that he ignored Helena's reports and was studying up on the system when he was reassigned to TF 62.4 upon Callahan's arrival to command TF 67.4. TF 62.4 comprised of 4xDD, 3 attack transports and the flagship Atlanta. Thus, Scott flew his flag from her and did so when Atlanta and 2x DD joined up with TF67.4. Helena was on TF 67.4 thus not under Scott's command.
The inaction (holding when several ships had firing solutions) and then bad decisions (famous odd/port even/starboard command) are what forfeited the advantage and turned the night into a melee. Were 11 IJN DD hard to dispatch? Yes again, and there were enough USN DD and CLAA to turn them. Could the 2 "big ones" be disabled by the smaller guns and torps of TF67.4? Hiei would attest to that. Yes, advantage does not guarantee victory, one could easily point to Tassaforanga. Finally, thank you for the opportunity to dig out some old reads.
I have been looking forward to this video for a long time it was well worth the wait! Also great job with the pronunciation many people don’t pronounce Helena the way Montanans do. You nailed it though!
Great video. I am going to put in another vote for USS Wolverine and Sable. Just a couple if unique ships in a time of war.
I'm pretty sure there's a reason Helena was practically the only ship in the formation to not suffer damage of some sort: She and her sisters were called "Machine gun cruisers" for a reason after all. not even Kirishima and Hiei wanted anything to do with her. hell, she showered Hiei with over 200 shells (not all hits obviously) in about three or so minutes as I recall.
“...two honey badgers loaded up on PCP“ - LOL.. delivered in droll English..
Thank you for pronouncing Helena correctly. I can't tell you how many people I've heard pronounce it "Huh-Layna".
Wow, that is a ship that seems like it could feed a few more stories - even if only on the crew's exploits afterward.
SG Radar activated!
Ding dong the Wicked lad has uploaded
I think what makes watching his videos so good is his witty jokes. Hard to beat witty brit humor! 'Large flight of unauthorized Japanese aircraft' keep it coming Drach!
My hometown ship. Thank you Drach!
Mine too!
So well said.
The Japanese really had some fine torpedo attacks during WW2. The first torpedo blew Helena's bow off. The two that hit her amidships were perfectly aimed to negate the compartmentalizing of her boilers and engines and quickly broke her in two. Those three torpedoes were all it took to take down a cruiser in no time flat. I'm thinking that if the Japanese had not put so much effort into behemoths like Yamato and instead just built a crapload of destroyers loaded with torpedoes they would have fared better (destroyers also being much harder to hit by aircraft.)
Or if the Japanese actually put the Yamato into the battle along with more of their battleships. The Japanese ships lost at the Philippines needed to be risked here to have any serious effect and maybe even drive the US back by risking day actions especially when the carriers were out. Of course just more aggressive after the first Japanese win the Japanese destroy the US transport fleet and hold the island for sure. The very reserved Japanese naval actions till way to late a major contrast to their fighting spirt.
In contest the US was seriously outnumbered and super aggressive in 42 and early 43.
Of course there was nothing Japan could do to prevent the US from crushing them totally in 44 and 45 even if they took Hawaii and the rest of the Pacific Islands they would have just stretched the war into 46 and maybe 47.
But for attrition fighting you are correct if you were not going for a decisive win just use the destroyers and a few light cruisers and PT boats that is the mix the US switched to handle the Tokyo Express. No point in building the big boys if your not willing to risk them.
@@RedRocket4000 Yeah, I think the attrition strategy would have had a lot better chance of eventually bringing the US to the bargaining table, which as I understand it was the Japanese goal from the beginning. But Drach has recently gone into the reasons for the Kantai Kessen philosophy elsewhere for those interested.
Probably so many torpedos flying around might be bad luck then aimed fire.
Thanks for making this video! She was named after my home town of Helena, Montana, so this really means a lot to me. I hope you can do a video on the heavy cruiser Helena that served in Korea and Vietnam wars soon.
The 3rd battle of Savo Island sounds like a WOWS CO-OP battle.
Best guide yet. Well done! Excellent videos always perfectly narrated. Can't thank you enough. 🙂👍
I'd love to see a doc about the uss nevada. Just stumbled across your channel and really liking it so far.
Looking forward to part two.... want to hear about the rescue efforts after the sinking of the U.S.S. Helena. SOON!!! thx.
Btw
The RV Petrel found Helena's wreck some years ago.
My father served aboard the St. Louis, CL49. The 2 ships are St. Louis class.
Once again we get confused, after the Helena light cruiser was lost a Baltimore heavy cruiser was christened in her honor. Obviously when looking for a photo of the Helena you are bound to get a pic of the Baltimore class Helena at 1:38. I don't think any other Navy followed this naming scheme, it not only honored lost vessels but confused the hell out of the Japanese navy. The beginning of WW2 also weaned out admirals who weren't up to speed on the advantages of radar or the abilities of the Japanese navy, especially in their ability to launch torpedoes from long range or attack at night. To say it was a learning experience is an understatement!
Thank you so much for pronouncing the name correctly!
Perfect this video just helped me identify a photo I have from WW2 it's the St Louis. Thanks Drach
Thank you so much for pronouncing it correctly! “Hell-ena,” not “Hel-ay-na,” is the captiol of Montana.
These always make my day.
Finally, my great grandfathers ship when he was in pearl.
Seems like an excellent little fighting ship.....
Favorite ship.
I had to watch this again for the Honey Badgers!
my most played tier 7ship in w.o.t
Just that image USS Helena TORPEDO DAMAGE, might warrant its own video. It looks to have a lot of detail for a ship that was lost in the engagement.
I bet that the bow broke off the wreck.
LG COC The Lagging Offencoch her bow did indeed break off and remained afloat for a good while - as related in the wartime account “ The Fightingest Ship”
Thank you for pronouncing Helena correctly!
Damn!!! Videos like this make me *proud* of America's past. Yes, we made mistakes. But boy did we shine! BTW, *knife fight in a locked closet with two honey badgers 'roided' up on PCP* is a colorful description.
I died at your honey badger quote. Best thing I heard all night
Please do a video on the US Fast attack destroyer transports. My uncle, C. H. McWhinnie, was XO on the USS Waters, which picked up survivors of the USS Helena.
This abbreviated story obviously needs more "fleshing out."
Sounds like quite a vessel and crew.
Love these vids keep it up
It's like Blackadder discovered the navy.
Love it! :D
I have read how the conditions at Scapa Flow in WW1 were bleak with little comforts for the men of RN ships and the various Captains and Admirals went to great length to provide sporting and entertainment for their crews. This contrasted sharply with German senior officers who did little for the crews at their base.
How true is this?
Been Interested in this cruiser for a time now
I get why do to Game Balance but it seem very odd that Helena dosn't have Radar in World of Warships. Given she so well know for her Radar. Even in Azur Lane she so good because of her Radar Ability.
Balance purposes. The game also shows the Arizona to have a radar antenna, but in actuality, she was never fitted with radar.
It's possible you might find footage of USS Boise in her original form on the internet. She used to have radar during testing and she is (for all intents and purposes of World of Warships) near-identical with Helena. It was not rare to dev-strike a DD with sheer high explosive damage, meaning one salvo has to have scored more than half the target's health in damage. A radar on Helena or compatriots would be too strong.
And the Russian cruisers all have radar, when they IRL bothered less with it than the Japanese did...
Yes where's my radar? But to be honest, I love this ship and with Radar it would be OP.
@@derekaarts4997 This exact reasoning is why I play a different game. If it's realistic, it's not OP.
Because she's not Russian.
More Drach..... hurrah!
Guadalcanal was the definition of attrition