ADIEU TO A GALLANT LADY----Heavy cruiser Helena, which carried President-elect Eisenhower from Guam to Pearl Harbor after his Korean battlefront tour, is being decommissioned, beginning tomorrow. She makes port in San Diego for the last time today.
Official Photo U.S. Navy

Curtain Call Near For Ship USS Helena Slated for Retirement SAN DIEGO, Calif --The heavy cruiser USS Helena will steam into her homeport here today for the last time before retirement. After more than 17 years with the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the Helena will start de- activation here tomorrow. The Helena has been the flagship for Commander, U.S. 1st Fleet since January 1961. Replacing Helena as flagship is the cruiser USS Saint Paul. Saint Paul has been based at San Diego since July 1962. Commissioning of the guided missile cruiser USS Columbus on Dec. 1, 1962 provided numer- ical replacement for the Helena within the Pacific Fleet. Columbus will be homeported at Bremerton, Wash.

DEACTIVATION OF the Helena leaves only two cruisers without missile capability in the Pacific Fleet: USS Saint Paul and USS Los Angles. * * * * * THE PRESENT Helena is the third U.S. Navy ship to bear the name of the capital city of the state of Montana. The Helena was commissioned on Sept. 4, 1945 at Quincy, Mass. Helena joined the Paciific Fleet in 1946 after serving in both the Atlantic and Mediter- ranean. Serving in the Pacific at the outbreak of the Korean conflict, the Helena is credited with being one of the first cruisers to shell Communist forces. IN NOVEMBER 1952, the Helena carried President- elect Dwight D. Eisenhower from Guam to Pearl Harbor upon completion of historic tour of the Korean battlefront.

THE HELENA has won nu- merous efficiency awards. In 1961, for example, she won the engineering efficiency award and eight gunnery efficiency awards. In 1962, the Helena won second-place honors for the Navy's top food crown at sea. The Edward Francis Ney Awards are presented annually to com- mands both asore and afloat selected as serving the best pre- pared food the Navy has to offer. The 17,000-ton Helena carrieda crew of 1100 officers and enlisted men. Capt O. W. Bagby of 756 F Ave., Coronado, is the commanding officer. The newspaper clippings on this page were saved by my father and mailed to me many years later. Ed.