Seventy-five years after being sunk by Japanese torpedoes, researchers have found the USS Helena. The discovery revives stories of the ship’s endurance and the incredible survival story of 165 crewmen.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his team search for sunken World War II ships in the South Pacific. Allen “wants to honor those that have served and are serving” according to a spokeswoman for his company, Vulcan Inc.
The Helena was no stranger to wartime action. The ship survived a torpedo strike during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and sunk Japanese vessels in other battles. Divers found its wreckage about a half mile below the water's surface near the Solomon Islands. The team identified the ship by the number 50 on its side and by comparing the wreck to the USS Helena’s plans.
In all, more than 730 of the Helena’s crew of 900 survived the July 5, 1943, sinking during the Battle of Kula Gulf. Most were rescued out of the water. Another group was picked up nearby the next day. But a third group of 165 spent nearly five days adrift in life rafts. Eventually, the men decided their best option was sheltering on Vella Lavella Island—even though they knew Japanese troops were there.
The shoeless sailors walked across a sharp coral reef to the island. Natives helped get them to safety and provided food. Meanwhile, missionary A.W.E. Silvester and others arranged for a middle-of-the-night rescue 12 days after the Helena sank.
The USS Helena was Vulcan’s third World War II discovery in less than three weeks. The aircraft carrier the USS Lexington was found March 4 and the USS Juneau on March 17.
(AP Photo: A five-inch port side gun turret on the light cruiser USS Helena)
