Honoring the USS Helena

The USS Helena (CL-50) was a St. Louis-class light cruiser of the United States Navy. Completed shortly before World War II, she was damaged in the attack on Pearl Harbor and was at the center of three significant battles during the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific War. She was sunk by three surface-fired torpedoes at the battle of Kula Gulf in 1943. She was one of three U.S. light cruisers to be sunk during the war. In March 1945, for actions in October and November 1942, and in her final engagement on July 5, 1943, Helena became the first US Navy ship to be awarded the Navy Unit Commendation Medal. On April 11, 2018, her wreck was discovered in the Solomon Islands by Paul Allen's research ship RV Petrel.