UNCLAS 1992

On 6 August USS HELENA (SSN 725), with 14 officers and 117 crewmembers, returned to their homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, following a six-month Western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment. Spending 130 out of 183 days at sea, HELENA successfully participated in a number of exercises including: PACSUBASWEX 92-2JA, a multinational Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) exercise to develop tactics and practice joint operations between submarines, SHAREM 1-92, a multinational operation to develop and practice a wide variety of tactics between U>S> and Japanese submarines and surface ships, a U.S. Maritime Action Group exercise consisting of coordinated operations between submarines, aircraft and surface ships. HELENA also participated in numerous Over The Horizon (OTH) and ASW tracking exercises with aircraft and successfully completed an independent operation.

Between operational commitments, HELENA managed to visit two liberty ports. The ship was in Pattya Beach, Thailand from 28 May to 2 June, only days after violent unrest in Bangkok, Thailand. The officers and crew found both fun and relaxation on the beautiful beaches of southern Thailand. From 16 June until 25 June HELENA arrived at her second liberty port in Chinae, Korea. A number of Korean sailors showed HELENA crewmembers interesting tourist attractions and activities. Shoppers found excellent buys on shoes and leather goods. Travel to Seoul and Pusan was exciting and made easy with help from the local USO office. In addition, HELENA made port calls to the island of Guam, as well as Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan.

While in Yokosuka for an upkeep and maintenance period, Commander submarine Group Seven took advantage of the opportunity to entertain a number of foreign dignitaries aboard a state of the art submarine. HELENA hosted luncheons for high-ranking Japanese Naval Officers, including two pervious Chief of Naval Operations. HELENA also entertained the Naval Attaché from India. In addition, Millicent woods, Under Secretary of Defense, toured HELENA. Each was impressed with HELENA's capabilities and the fact that 130 men could live aboard in such confined quarters. On 17 July, while moored at Polaris Point, Guam Naval station, CDR David H. Thieman relieved CDR David A. Duffie' as commanding Officer. CDR Duffie's next assignment is Perspective Commanding Officer Instructor for the Pacific submarine force. On the last two days of the deployment HELENA conducted an Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination (ORSE) and achieved an overall grade of average.

HELENA traveled over 28,500 nautical miles on only 1500 gallons of diesel fuel. That's 19 miles to the gallon. Actually, as a nuclear powered submarine, HELENA's only use of fossil fuel is for a diesel generator that provides an emergency source of electric power. The diesel got quite a workout during an electrical storm that caused an island wide blackout on Guam. To support a crew of 130, the following provisions were consumed; over 13,000 pounds of beef, chicken, pork and fish; 3,294 institutional sized cans of food; 1,006 pounds of shrimp; and baked goods that were the equivalent of 2,928 loaves of bread.