Battle of Kula Gulf and the Sinking of the USS Helena.

The Helena opened fire to port at 0157 hours. About seven minutes after she opened fire at about 0203 hours, the Helena was hit by a torpedo. The first Japanese Type 93 torpedo impacted the Helena on the port side just below number one turret (near frame 32), tearing off the bow of the ship. The following explosions by two more torpedoes that hit under the second stack, port side, (near frame 82 and about frame 85) less than two minutes later at about 0205, caused catastrophic and terminal damage. The forward movement of the ship along with the massive structural frame damage caused the ship to twist and jackknife around the damaged area. The ship, still under momentum, went past the bow of the Helena and began to flood. The center part twisted to 45 degrees port sinking first. It dragged the rear of the ship down until the stern was vertical. About 22 minutes after the ship was first hit the ship sank at about 0225. In the mean time, the crew abandoned ship by going over the side after cutting free all the surviving life rafts into the ocean. Between the forward momentum of the ship the survivors were scattered over several hundred yards, at night, amidst a raging naval battle. Later currents would separate them even more.The bow would finally sink later the next day.

Bodkin, Frank Anderson, MM2c