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.
Keel Laid 9 December 1936 - Launched 27 August 1938 SUNK by Torpedoes during the Battle of Kula Gulf 6 July 1943 168 of her crew were lost with the ship and remain on duty. Located in March 2018, resting at 2821 feet below the surface in the New Georgia Sound off the coast of the Solomon Islands by the Research Vessel Petrel. |
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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.
- USS Helena CL-50 Covers Page 1 (1939-1943)
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.
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Postmark Type |
Postmark Date |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
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Locy Type |
1939-09-18 |
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Commissioning, cachet by George Neumann, sponsored by Frederick Horton.
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Locy Type |
1939-09-18 |
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Commissioning. Cachet by George V. Sadworth, sponsored by the USS Brooklyn Crew No. 13, ANCS. From the John Young collection.
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Locy Type |
1941-06-06 |
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Cachet by George V. Sadworth, sponsored by Wayne M. Garrett.
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Locy Type |
1941-08-18 |
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Notes:
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Locy Type |
1942-05-01 |
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Note:
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Locy Type F |
1940-09-18 |
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1st commissioning anniversary fancy strike. Cachet by John C. Von Losberg
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Locy Type F |
1940-09-18 |
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1st commissioning anniversary fancy strike. Cachet by John C. Von Losberg. From the John Young collection.
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Locy Type |
1941-08-27 |
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Cachet by Sibley's Dept. Store (Hobby Shop)
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Ship's Marking |
1940-01-27 |
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Shakedown Cruise Marking. Cachet by John C. Von Losberg. From the John Young collection.
Other Information
USS HELENA earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, the American Defense Service Medal w/ Fleet Clasp, the
American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 7 Battle stars and the World War II Victory Medal during her Naval career.
USS HELENA was at Pearl Harbor December 7 1941 at The Pearl Harbor Navy Yard
NAMESAKE - Named for the city of Helena, Montana
Five ships of the US Navy have borne the name 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
The ships sponsor was Miss Elinor Gudger.
If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.
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