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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Helena (CA-75), 1945-1974 --
Historical Overview and Ship Portraits from the 1940s.

USS Helena, a 13,600 ton Baltimore class heavy cruiser, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. Commissioned in September 1945, she took part in the Navy Day fleet review off New York City in October of that year. In February 1946, she went to European waters as flagship for the 12th Fleet. In May, she steamed through the Suez Canal to take station in the Far East on the first of her fourteen "WestPac" deployments.

Helena had just completed her third tour in the Western Pacific when the outbreak of the Korean War caused her recall. From July into October 1950 she provided heavy gunfire to counter the North Korean onslaught and, after the Inchon Invasion in mid-September, to support the United Nations forces' offensive. Two more Korean War cruises took place in 1951 and 1952. Helena received minor damage from a hit by enemy coastal artillery in July 1951. In December 1952, at the end of her third combat deployment, she carried President-Elect Eisenhower from Guam to Hawaii after his post-election visit to Korea.

Following the Korean War, Helena continued her visits to Asiatic waters. She supported the Tachen Islands evacuation in 1955, was on hand during the Quemoy crisis in September 1958 and rescued passengers and crew from the stranded merchant ship Hoi Wong in October 1958. The cruiser was refitted in 1960 to become flagship of the U.S. First Fleet and made a final cruise to the Western Pacific in mid-1961. USS Helena decommissioned in June 1963 and, after more than a decade in reserve, was sold for scrapping in October 1974.

This page features ship portrait views of USS Helena (CA-75) taken during the 1940s and provides links to other images of this ship and her activities.

For other images of and relating to this ship, see:

  • USS Helena (CA-75) -- Ship Portraits from the 1950s and 1960s;
  • USS Helena (CA-75) -- Korean War Activities; and
  • USS Helena (CA-75) -- Miscellaneous On Board Views and Ship's Insignia.

    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 95817

    USS Helena (CA-75)


    Underway in Boston Harbor on 3 September 1945, the day before she was placed in commission.

    Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute, James C. Fahey Collection.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 565 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 95818

    USS Helena (CA-75)


    Underway in Quincy Bay, Massachusetts, on 3 September 1945, the day before she was placed in commission.

    Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute, James C. Fahey Collection.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 108KB; 740 x 575 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 95819

    USS Helena (CA-75)


    In Quincy Bay, Massachusetts, on 3 September 1945, the day before she was placed in commission.

    Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute, James C. Fahey Collection.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 145KB; 740 x 620 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 95820

    USS Helena (CA-75)


    Off the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, 22 October 1945.
    Her name has been painted on her side in preparation for the Navy Day Fleet Review at New York City on 27 October.

    Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute, James C. Fahey Collection.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 565 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 67682

    USS Helena (CA-75)


    Probably photographed in the Hudson River, off New York City, during the Navy Day Naval Review, circa 27 October 1945.

    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 77KB; 740 x 465 pixels

     

    For other images of and relating to this ship, see:

  • USS Helena (CA-75) -- Ship Portraits from the 1950s and 1960s;
  • USS Helena (CA-75) -- Korean War Activities; and
  • USS Helena (CA-75) -- Miscellaneous On Board Views and Ship's Insignia.

    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    3 August 1999