Evening star., 1943-07-12
Rescued Skipper Says
Cruiser Helena Broke
Battle Fire Record
Bx TOM YARBRouGH.

Associated Press War Correspondent.
SOUTH PACIFIC HEADQUAR-
TIERS, July 12-Capt. Charles p
Cecil of Flat Rock, N. c., skipper OF
the light cruiser Helena, said today
his ship was keyed up" for her
final battle In Kula Gulf early on
the morning of July and broke
her own remarkable record for con-
tinuous rapid-fire in helping to sink
five enemy warships, two Of which
were believed to have been cruisers.
1--WE were working on another" p"
Capt. Cecil said, when torpedoes
sent the Helena herself to the bot
tom. The 9,700-ton cruiser was the
only American vessel lost in the
Kula Gulf engagement.
Official reports said at least nine
Japanese warships were destroyed.
(This dispatch reveals for the
first time that Capt. Cecil was
savedD
The blue-eyed, deep-voiced officer
told correspondents his gun crews
seemed to sense it was the Helena S
last fight and outdid themselves,
concentrating the main batteries on
cruisers and the secondary guns on
destroyers.
Watching through oil filled eyes
after staying with his ship nearly
too long" Capt. Cecil saw her go
down on an even keel with great
crunching of metal and lot of
sparks"
Veteran of Pacific.
The Helena had been in this area
about year and had participated
in nearly every surface action in
addition to joining in several
bombardment missions.
Capt. Cecil had commanded the
Helena since November. The de-
stroyer Porter was shot out from
under him in the battle of Santa
Cruz last october and he reflected
today:
THE Japs seem to have my num-
ber."
1t was clear he was deeply proud
of what the Helena had done before
the torpedoes ended her.
In Capt. Cecils own estimate, the
Helena sank three destroyers, two
ships he believed to be cruisers and
was laying salvos into third when
she was hit fatally. Other American
warships also played gallant roles in
The action, but naturally they cam
not be named.
First Target Hit.
"We approached Kula Gulf from
the east" Capt. Cecil recounted,
travelling at high speed to meet a
japanese surface force. Prior to 2
m. on the 9Th, we established con-
tact and in a very few minutes our
attack plan was announced and
executed.
"On the initial salvos, all our
ships guns went off Immediately
as if key had been pressed. My
ship was confident it hit the range
on the very first salvo and in a
rllort space of time our first target,
believed to have been cruiser. dis
appeared from the surface of the
ocean.
I'VE checked fire briefly, found
another target and it, too, soon dis
appeared. We checked fire again,
switched to the third big one and
mad fired several salvos when we
IAN into enemy torpedoes which
successfully knocked us out.
1T was dark, and the fire from
the guns was binding. There was
no chance of seeing any of the tor
,edo wakes-and that's where the
Helena ended.
Continuous Flow of Fire.
"In the meantime our antl-alr-
craft batteries, aiding another
american cruiser, had been work
.ng on a group of japanese destroy
crs. We could see the shells en-
-oute to the targets and there was
:uch a continuous flow, it was hard
30 tell who hit what.
The main batteries were not sup
~,osed to fire as many rounds as the
secondary but they seemed to me
10 be pouring out two to one over
the secondary"
The captain said there was no flre
or explosion on the Helena and she
went down quietly He said the
men were quiet and efficient
There was no commotion and
there was some unusual courage,
lie continued. "One seaman made
,yhat I called curiosity cruise over
the ship after we were hit, just to
:: oe what damage had been done and
e took his time about abandoning
chip.
Paddle Like He'll
"Once in the water we got gal
'ons of fuel oil in our eyes. l
shouted paddle like hell straight
away from the ship. japanese sal
vos fell all around the RATS and
boats and it took about five hours
to get them rendezvoused."
Capt. Cecil didn't mention it, but
another survivor told how because
the RATS we're overcrowded the
captain refused to take his turn or
Getting in boat and insisted or
:;taying in the water and hanging
on to rope.
Fifteen hours after the ship sank
his group made shore and set ur
camp. The Filipino cook promptly
Skinned up a coconut tree and got
some green drinks" because every
body was extremely thirsty.