HELENA CL 50

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

St. Louis Class Light Cruiser
Keel Laid December 9 1936 - Launched August 27 1938


1. USS HELENA CL-50
   Commissioned September 18 1939
   SUNK (Torpedoes) Battle of Kula Gulf July 6 1943
   168 of her crew were lost with the ship and remain on duty

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS Helena CL-50 Covers Page 1    (1939-43)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Locy Type FDC 3r "BROOKLYN / N Y"

1939-09-18

First Day in Commission

 

Locy Type FDC 3r "BROOKLYN / N.Y."

1939-09-18

Commissioning, cachet by Frederick Horton
 

Locy Type 3r (AC-BBT)

1941-06-06

NOTES
 

Locy Type 3r (A-BTT)

1941-07-22

NOTES

 

Locy Type 3r (A-BTT)

1941-08-18

Notes:
 

Locy Type 3z (BTB)

1942-05-01

Note:
 

Locy Type F "U.S.S. / HELENA" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. H-23

1940-09-18

1st commissioning anniversary fancy strike
 

Locy Type FAKE USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. CD-3

1941-08-27

Cachet by Sibley's Dept. Store (Hobby Shop)

 

Other Information

HELENA earned 7 Battle Stars (WWII)
* Pearl Harbor December 7 1941 at The Pearl Harbor Navy Yard
* Guadalcanal Operations September 1942
* Battle of Kula Gulf July 1943

First ship to earn Navy Unit Commendation for her actions at Cape Esperance, Guadalcanal, and Kula Gulf

Earned Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal with seven stars

Credited with sinking...
The 9150-ton Japanese Heavy Cruiser FURUTAKA October 12 1942 Battle of Cape Esperance
The 2050-ton Japanese Destroyer FUBUKI October 12 1942 Battle of Cape Esperance

NAMESAKE - Named for the city of Helena, Montana

Five ships of the US Navy have been named HELENA - USS Helena PG-9, USS Helena CL-50, USS Helena CL-113 (Cancelled while under construction 1944), USS Helena CA-75 and USS Helena SSN-725

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