Long Beach, CA

Pictures copied from the 1960 - 1961 USS Helena CA-75 Cruise Book.

The Pike in Long Beach will remain for many a symbol of our first "home."

Traditionally home is where one goes at night to rest and relax, but for HELENAMEN this was not very applicable for about seven months of the year. When the ship went to San Francisco, the homeport remained Long Beach, some 400 miles away. In mid-October our official homeport became San Diego, but we were there for only one week of underway training until after Christmas when we moved there for good. Even then many of us kept our families in Long Beach because of school or other reasons until gradually all of us accepted the change and adopted San Diego as our home. And while we were trying to make these adjustments, we were involved in underway training and preparing the ship for the arrival of First Fleet in mid-January. When we got used to the new city, we discovered that it had a great deal to offer. The weather is remarkably free from fog and smog, Mexico is just twelve miles away, and the pervading atmosphere is one of friendliness. To some it would never replace Long Beach, but many of us were glad to have moved-once the problems were safely in the past.