The following letter which was included with each 1959 - 1960 cruise book was provided by Harold F. Zimmerman,
USS Helena CA-75 0I Division, RD2, 1959-1960

CRUISE BOOK INFORMATION

Your HELENA 59-60 is something which we hope you will enjoy for many years to come. It is THE most elaborate cruise book ever produced by a Navy ship, and we have prepared this background information so that you may know a bit more about it.

First of all, you will be infinitely more satisfied if you will leave the protective plastic cover ON the book. Colors will otherwise tend to rub off after months or years of wear.

As told briefly on a beginning page, the cover is the FIRST to ever be done by hand. Designed and executed by Jim Roark, YN2, each one was painted individually with the various sunset colors by air brush, then over-printed in black. Notice, too, that the cover material is reflective silk, and it will change colors according to the colors surrounding it. This refers to the back only, though the sunset will change shades of color as the cover is moved in direct light.

The inside covers show pictures in full color of the overseas ports we've visited in the time which the book covers. . . .June 1959 to June 1960. The pictures are arranged in the relative positions in which you'd find them on a map of the world. The yellow vertical line represents the point at which we entered the “Domain of the Golden Dragon,” while the red line, of course, is the Equator. This theme is continued throughout the book in several sections, as you will note.

The title page features a “Cinemascope”-effect name and a picture of the ship taken at full speed. Notice the massive wake aft the fantail.

About 20% of our pages feature some kind of color printing, either four-color (from slides) or offset (from art work). Notable among these are pictures of Fujiyama taken by John Wilkenson and Hong Kong by Bob Byrne. Other slide contributors are LTJG Richard McCampbell, Tony Gomez, Leon Wilburn, Arnold Smith, and your editor.

A section original with our book is “Captions Outrageous,” and it, along with every other word and picture used, was published without narrowing censorship. It's all in fun, and we hope you get a few laughs from it.

Prince David, shown in the Hawaii section, is an extremely intelligent man who prefers a simple life. He is a direct descendant of Kamehameha and has a son who graduated from Harvard University in 1958.

Pictures of the Equator crossing and of Australia were rushed to Tokyo by air mail for quick layout and printing so as to be included in the book.

That's about the extent of the formalities. Don't forget that next year's cruise book editor will need your support, too, and if you have ideas for improvements or changes you'd like to see, please don't hesitate in giving them to him. And if you have any comments at all, whether they be favorable or not, your editor would like very much to have them. Why not take a few moments to pen a note telling whether or not you liked the book. It would be much appreciated.

D. P. SWANSON