Battle of Rennell Island
On 25 January, "Helena" and the rest of the squadron arrived back in Espiritu Santo. "Helena" continued to operate with TF 67, patrolling for Japanese vessels and escorting convoys to Guadalcanal as that campaign ground on into February. She was present as part of the distant support for the convoy operation that resulted in the Battle of Rennell Island on 29–30 January, but TF 64 was too far south to come to the aid of TF 18 during the action. On 11 February, the submarine attempted to torpedo "Helena" while cruising off Espiritu Santo, but the cruiser's escorting destroyers, "Fletcher" and "O'Bannon", sank the submarine with assistance from one of "Helena"s Seagull floatplanes. "Helena" thereafter went to Sydney, Australia, on 28 February, arriving there on 6 March for an overhaul. She was taken to the Sutherland Dock in the Cockatoo Island Dockyard on 15 March for repair work that lasted two days. She then got underway on 26 March to return north to Espiritu Santo to resume bombardment operations against New Georgia as part of what was now designated TF 68.