Transcript Goodbye to the USS Helena Adrian developed strong ties to the men on the Helena.

Goodbye to the USS Helena
Adrian developed strong ties to the men on the
Helena. Many of the documents and memoirs
mention how close the crew was.
Several of his friends were killed or wounded when
Pearl Harbor was attacked and though he left the
Helena soon after, he had many friends that
remained on board. In honor of those friends, a
summary of what occurred to the Helena after Adrian
left will follow.
While Adrian was visiting family in Clarkston, the USS Helena was at Mare Island
outside San Francisco getting repairs made from the attack at Pearl Harbor. Due
to the damage to the equipment in the engine room, the Navy decided to replace
the whole area along with upgrading other parts to make the Helena a completely
modernized warship. Some of the changes included new gun mounts,
replacement of the experimental radar with totally new equipment, and a rework
of many of the electrical areas.
Department of the Navy notes
about this picture:
View of the starboard side
amidships, taken at the Mare
Island Navy Yard, California,
27 June 1942, following
repair of combat damage and
an overhaul.
Note the ship's redesigned
forward superstructure,
including an open bridge and
reduced lower bridge wings.
Mark 34 main battery gun
director, with antenna for an
FC gunfire control radar, is
immediately in front of the
foremast. The other director,
just behind the open bridge,
is a Mark 33, with antenna for
an FD radar mounted on its
front.
On July 21, 1942, the Helena left
California to return to Pacifc Fleet
duty. Below is a very brief
summary of the Helena’s actions.
Thankfully, Adrian was not on
board.
October 11-12, 1942. Participated in the Battle of Cape Esperance and was credited with
sinking or helping to sink 4 enemy ships.
November 4, 1942. Bombarded Japanese forces on Guadalcanal.
November 12, 1942. Repelled mass assault by Japanese torpedo planes, and shot down 4.
November 12-13, 1942. Participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal and destroyed or helped
destroy 5 enemy ships. Lead crippled San Francisco to safety.
January 4, 1943. Bombarded Munda. Repelled dive bombing attack by Japanese planes.
January 23, 1943. Bombarded enemy installations in Kula Gulf area. Repelled enemy
torpedo plane attack.
May 13, 1943. Bombarded Kolombangara, Enogai Inlet, Bairoko Harbor. Repelled air
attack.
July 5, 1943. Convoyed troops to Rice Anchorage. Bombarded enemy installations in
Kula Gulf and covered landing operations.
July 6-7. 1943. Participated in Battle of Kula Gulf and was sunk by enemy torpedoes
after destroying or helping to destroy 4 enemy ships. The men that survived the
sinking and were pulled from the water were covered in oil. Thus ended the USS
Helena CL 50.
Back to Adrian’s story
Depart
Arrive
Part of Adrian’s log book
After leaving the family gathering in Clarkston, Georgia on February 26, 1942,
Adrian had to return to the USS Helena in California and Wanda returned to
Brooklyn, New York. After arriving in Vallejo, California on March 1, he must have
been told that the Helena would not be ready for a while. Many sailors had
requested that their families join them in California. Why not have Wanda travel
to California to join him? Thus begins the story of the travels of Adrian and
Wanda between his time with the USS Helena and his next ship assignment.
In her cross country hop to be with Adrian in California, Wanda once again settled in for a
long bus ride. Instead of going the southern route as she did when traveling to Los Angeles
in 1941, this time it was toward the north. The photos she took show four places along the
way in Ohio, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Utah.
Above left: Stopped to see Lake Erie
somewhere in Ohio.
Above right: Drove through
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On back
of picture, Wanda wrote “taken from
bus window.”
Right: Downtown Cheyenne,
Wyoming.
Wanda’s note about this picture
says “Devil’s Slide – Freak Rock
Formation 300 Feet High in Echo
Canyon, Utah.”
The rock formation is not
actually in Echo Canyon but
several miles west along the
road the bus would have taken
through Utah. On the right is
Devil’s slide today – Weber
Canyon near Croydon, Utah
Once Wanda arrived in San Francisco,
they moved into 434 Leavenworth Street a
few blocks from downtown. The
apartment house was built in 1911 but the
area hasn’t changed much in 70 years.
Above left: Old photo from the internet
showing a view down Leavenworth Street
toward town.
Above right: View today using Google Earth.
Right: 434 Leavenworth Street today using
Google Earth.
There are two copies of this picture.
It appears that Wanda is sewing on
one of Adrian’s jackets.
On the back of the one kept by Wanda
was written “434 Leavenworth St San
Francisco Cal April 1942.”
The back of the one kept by Adrian
can be seen below.
The Cliff House
and Seal Rocks
– San Francisco,
California
The only “tourist” activity we have a record of was a visit
to the Cliff House in San Francisco. Wanda took quite a
few pictures of a rock formation just off shore called “Seal
Rocks.” Tucked under the above picture was a very old
leaf she evidently picked while visiting there in 1942. It
must have been a plant that impressed her!
This postcard photo from the internet was taken a few years before Wanda
and Adrian visited but shows how big the place was. It is now part of the
Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Though they did not take any pictures of the Cliff House itself, Adrian took
this picture of Wanda while there. On the back, Wanda wrote “San Francisco
Cal 1942 Cliff House.”
As can be seen on the April 30,
1942 report of changes for
personnel, Adrian officially left the
USS Helena. (Note: Adrian’s data
appears on line 6 at the top and
bottom.) With the complexity of
the new fire control systems, the
Navy quickly began to provide
more training. Due to advances in
technology, shooting at the enemy
from a ship was requiring more
understanding of trigonometry and
early data processing machines
(early computers).
The Helena reported that he was
transferred, as of April 27, 1942 to
the Navy yard in Washington, D.C.
for advanced fire control school
course of instruction (at the
Washington, D.C. Naval Ordnance
School) authorized by the
Commander of Cruisers, Pacific
Fleet.
Due to his transfer back to the
east coast, it was time for
Wanda to leave California
too. In his Navy file was
found a request by Adrian
to have the Navy cover the
cost of Wanda’s trip back
east. Several things can be
discerned from this
document:
1. Wanda traveled on her own
expense from May 6 until
May 10, 1942.
2. The Navy would reimburse
based on commercial first
class rail accommodations.
3. Adrian’s new duty was to be
over 5 months and
considered permanent duty.
(It really was for 12 weeks.)
There are no
aerial pictures
taken of the Navy
Yard during the
war, probably for
security reasons.
This one is
interesting
because it was
taken in 1936
during a flood.
Adrian was
stationed there
six years later.
Navy Yard – Washington, D.C.
By World War II, the Yard had become the world's largest naval ordnance plant. This
facility housed the Naval Gun Factory, including Naval Ordnance Laboratory, Naval Radio
Station, Marine Barracks and Receiving Station, Naval Ordnance Schools, and Diving
School. As many as 25,000 naval personnel were using the facility at any given time.
This manual did not belong to Adrian but was
purchased on E Bay and would have been the same
as the one he used. Only the first of four volumes
has been found. As you can see from the cover, this
book was used for training sailors to qualify for the
rank of Fire controlman second class.
Below is the table of contents from the first manual.
Since it is interesting to see what and how the information was covered, some random pages
from the manual have been added. Though the book started out chatty and low key, it quickly
moved into complex information.
Part of a chapter about adjusting for wind.
Below is a copy of the information found in Adrian’s personnel records
related to this firecontrol school session.
What this says:
Firecontrol School Washington, D.C.
12 weeks
Completed course, Rangekeeper Mark 1
Completed Mark 33 director Mark 6 stable element
A few definitions relative to World War 2 fire control are in order:
A rangekeeper was an analog computer that provided data for tracking targets,
predicting where the target would be next, and making gunfire corrections due to
variables such as gun elevation, wind speed and direction, air resistance, gravity,
latitude, gun/sight parallax, barrel wear, powder load, and projectile type.
A gun director was the housing high on the ship’s superstructure containing the
equipment necessary to make readings (including the rangekeeper).
The stable element included a special type of gyroscope and computer components
that would adjust the aim based on roll and pitch of the ship as well as the earth’s
rotational speed.
During this 12 week course,
Adrian covered all parts of the
typical fire control system.
(Note: Sable vertical is the
same as stable element.)
Adrian’s rating was FC (M) 2c.
The M indicates that he was a
qualified mechanic able to
troubleshoot, disassemble, and
repair the equipment. This was
valuable information that would
actually keep him off a “fighting
ship.” The knowledge he
acquired would become more
important to keeping the fire
control systems working rather
than aiming the guns himself.
While attending firecontrol school, Adrian recieved an update to his
tetanus in June of 1942 and was issued a new ID tag. He had blood
type A.
Free time in Washington, D.C.
There is no indication
that Wanda ever lived
in Washington, D.C.
while Adrian was
there. We do know
from pictures taken at
the capitol that she
did visit with him at
least once.
According to Adrian’s
Navy records (life
insurance beneficiary
documents), during
this time, Wanda was
living at 152 North 9th
Street in Brooklyn,
N.Y.
The couple evidently enjoyed visiting the area around the capitol, especially these
fountains shown here. In the pictures, Wanda has on three different outfits but it is
not known if she made multiple trips down to see Adrian or if the pictures are from
one visit.
This picture was
taken on the same
day as the previous
one. On the back,
written years later,
Adrian wrote
“Adrian, Wanda,
and friend.” It must
have been a windy
day since Adrian’s
tie is being blown
around in both
pictures.
Wanda in front
of the capitol.
This picture
has amazing
clarity and
required very
little help.
Though not
taken at the
same time as
the previous
pictures, the
location with
the fountains
can be seen in
the
background.
Duet of pictures taken at the Washington Monument.
This record shows that Adrian
reported to fire control school at the
Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. on
May 1, 1942 from the USS Helena.
He was transferred from Washington,
D.C. on August 17, 1942 to report to
the receiving station in Norfolk,
Virginia for assignment to a new
ship. As can be seen from the
description, Adrian’s new ship would
be part of the Atlantic Fleet. At least
this would be the same ocean that
lapped the shores of Brooklyn, New
York!
Before reporting to Norfolk for
his new assignment, he was
given five days leave as shown
here.
Looking at his log entries,
Adrian went from Washington,
D.C. to New York (to see
Wanda) to Norfolk, Virginia and
back to New York to meet up
with his next ship.
Since his log indicates that he was in New
York during his leave time, he would surely
have been with the Werbicki family. Due to
the fact that Wanda’s upbringing was
Polish Catholic and Adrian’s was Southern
Baptist, it probably took quite a while for
the cultural differences to smooth out.
Before marrying Adrian, Wanda’s mother
(according to family stories) had already
chosen a Polish butcher for Wanda to
marry. Imagine her shock to find out she
had a slow talking Southern Baptist son-inlaw. Though they later learned to respect
and love each other, it was probably a
somewhat uncomfortable family gathering
in the early years of their marriage.
This picture was dated many years later as
1942. Bachie, Grandpa, Wanda, and her
brother Felix are in the picture. Aunt
Reggie probably took the picture while they
were visiting either McCarren Park or
Prospect Park.
When Adrian joined his new ship in August of 1942, it would be several months before
they would see each other again.