Transcript The Helena shakedown cruise ended by March 2, 1940 with a return of the crew to the New York Navy Yard.

The Helena shakedown cruise ended by March 2, 1940 with a return of
the crew to the New York Navy Yard. How convenient for the newly
married couple! The Helena now remained for a while in the Navy yard
correcting problems with the ship that developed during the cruise.
According to his records, Adrian was granted three periods of leave
over the next four months:
Annual leave March 15 - 18, 1940
Emergency leave April 13 - 18, 1940
Annual leave June 5 - 10, 1940
His locations during these leave periods are unknown as is the reason for
the emergency leave in April. With only three to five days, it is unlikely
that Adrian had time to make a trip to Georgia to see his family. In all
likelihood, he was in Brooklyn with Wanda.
Once the repairs were made, it was time for the Helena to officially join
the Atlantic fleet based in Portsmouth, Virginia. This move was made on
July 14, 1940. On their way to Virginia, they made a stop in Boston as you
can see from the picture below.
Wanda talked about being in Virginia with Adrian and living in a trailer
in Elizabeth City, Virginia. Below is the only picture we have from this
time period. The note on the back written by Wanda doesn’t really make
much sense when you look at the clock in the picture.
One story Wanda told Terry was that she and Adrian were married in
Elizabeth City, Virginia. This could not have happened since they were
married November 19, 1939 and the Helena was docked in New York at
the time. We have yet to find a marriage certificate for them!
Wanda never had idle hands!
Though the United States was not involved with the war in Europe yet,
the U.S. Navy was placing ships very carefully. In August of 1940 the
Helena and her sister ship the USS St. Louis were transferred to the Pacific
Fleet. Adrian and Wanda must have been devastated by this news. No
more chances for quickly arranged days together. Now there would be a
continent between them. To make matters even worse, the Navy chose to
station the Pacific Fleet in the Territory of Hawaii, not California.
As the ship prepared to switch oceans, Adrian was given official leave
from August 30 to September 7, 1940. From the dates on pictures from this
time period, Adrian took Wanda to Clarkston, Georgia. From the records,
there does not appear to have been any leave long enough for them to have
made the trip before. Wanda apparently did not meet her in-laws until 9
months after the wedding.
This picture was taken the first week of September, 1940 at
Adrian’s parents’ house on Indian Creek Drive in Clarkston. This
house still stands and looks the same. At the time the picture was
made, Adrian was 21 and Wanda was 19.
Other photographs taken during this visit to Clarkston.
Adrian, Wanda, and Adrian’s
brother, Clyde on the front porch
of the house on Indian Creek.
Clyde (Adrian’s youngest
brother) is 13.
Wanda at Stone Mountain. Notice
that the carving is incomplete.
These two pictures of Adrian were taken at
Stone Mountain.
Wanda in yard on Indian Creek. Clarkston
School can be seen in the background. All six
of Adrian and Wanda’s children attended this
school.
On September 16, 1940, the Helena left Norfolk, Virginia heading to
California by way of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the Panama Canal. The
ship was docked at the naval facility at San Pedro, California by October 2,
1940, evidently making repairs to a turbine that had problems on the way to
the west coast.
Photograph (1940) of San Pedro Ship Yard near Long Beach, just south of Los Angeles,
California. All the ship yards in California stayed very busy performing repair and
upkeep on the ships of the Pacific Fleet.
Why was the Pacific Fleet based in the Territory of Hawaii instead
of California?
As the war became more global, debate began as to an appropriate
location for the ships stationed on the west coast of the United States.
The Pacific naval commander at the time was Admiral J. O. Richardson.
Richardson felt it was dangerous to bunch the fleet up in Pearl Harbor,
so far from the mainland. He and President Roosevelt met to discuss
the issue. Roosevelt wanted them located closer to Japan and the
islands of east Asia. The President gave the order to base them in
Hawaii, and Admiral Richardson was relieved of his command.
Pearl Harbor – First Tour
With repairs completed, the Helena left for Hawaii on October 14,
1940. Over the next 15 months, the Helena, with Adrian aboard, would
move between Hawaii and California two times.
After arriving, the Helena would remain for this first tour in Hawaiian
waters until July 3, 1941. During this time, Adrian’s name appeared on
the Helena muster rolls. Muster rolls were official lists of sailors
onboard a ship and were compiled every three months. These lists
were sent to the Bureau of Navigation; and today, they are public
records. Attached to the muster rolls were reports called “Record of
Changes” which listed events occurring to personnel. This could be
anything from a change of rank, conduct problems, or transfers. Both
these reports were used to document Adrian’s locations as he moved
around the globe, had a change in rank, or a transfer.
On November 16, 1940, Adrian’s rank was upgraded from Sea1c
(Seaman 1st Class) to FC3c (Fire Controlman 3rd class). Back in
February of the same year, he qualified as a gun director pointer. Due to
the advanced technical nature of naval artillery, the Navy established
this rank separate from gunner’s mate to identify those sailors that had
the advanced training to aim the guns. Under the new ranking system,
the gunner’s mates maintained the guns, including handling and storing
ammunition. The fire controlmen were responsible for understanding
how to use the early computer systems used to take into account all the
motions of the ship in order to hit a moving target from a moving ship on
a moving ocean.
After becoming a fire controlman, Adrian spent about 8 months
in Hawaii. During this time, the Pacific Fleet was divided into two
groups. One group would remain in port for liberty and
maintenance and the other group would be at sea practicing
maneuvers and gunnery exercises. The pattern remained the
same for months. A group would leave on a Monday, staying out
for 12 days, and returning on Friday. That meant that every other
weekend the entire Pacific fleet would be in port. Due to the fact
that there were Japanese spies on Oahu sending observations
back to Japan, they were aware of this pattern and would take
advantage of it on Sunday, December 7, 1941.
January 7th was a Tuesday, so half the fleet is out on maneuvers.
This picture was taken while Adrian was stationed at Pearl Harbor.
What did Adrian actually do during the gunnery exercises?
This is a picture taken of Charlie
and Jim McClelland, both stationed
on the Helena. Like Adrian, Jim
was a fire controlman. Several
years ago, Barbara located a
website of people and
remembrances connected to all the
Naval ships called Helena. She
contacted Jim McClelland and he
sent a letter back to her and an
except of that letter is below. This
picture was taken in Honolulu,
Hawaii on March 10, 1941. Jim
was nicknamed “Little Mac” and is
on the right.
From Letter to Barbara (Adrian's daughter) from James "Mac"
McClelland: "I am enclosing a copy (picture taken at rail of Helena
during shakedown cruise) and I hope you too will have some pleasant
recollections as well. Adrian and I did quite a number of things together.
We lived in the same compartment and had the same Battle Station, we
also made a few liberties that I will remember for a long time. Our Battle
Station was in the Main Battery Control Director Forward. "Slim" placed
the horizontal cross hair of his telescope on the target and sitting next to
him I placed the vertical cross hair of my telescope on the target. When
we were both on together Adrian would squeeze two warning flashes
with his right hand and then squeezing both triggers with both hands
would fire fifteen six inch guns in a broadside that rocked the ship. I will
remember him for all the fun we had and especially for the high regard
that I had for him."
Christmas 1940 – Pearl Harbor
Jim McClelland saved many items from his military years. Below and on
the next two slides are images of the 1940 Christmas menu on board the
Helena. The entire list of men is not shown here because it contains
everyone on board. The Helena was manned by about 1,100 sailors.
Below and on the next page is a cruise album kept by Jim
McClelland. He and his family have shared these photographs of
the album on the Helena website. Only the page relevant to Adrian
appears.
This picture appeared in a previous post but is another look at F division.
This division was composed of the fire controlman, gunner’s mates, and
seamen assigned to help them. Each division became a family of sorts with
members usually hanging out with each other.
In the next post, you will meet some of Adrian’s friends during this
time in Hawaii. While on shore leave, he and a fellow firecontrolman
took a hike on a nearby mountain. Because so many pictures were
taken of that trip, I wanted to make it a separate entry.
Navy Wife Blues
by Wanda Fortenberry
Good bye my love your ship is sailing tomorrow,
We must forget these moments we had to borrow,
The stars above will still be here tomorrow,
But I may love, I dread the thought of tomorrow.
Again, my love, I’ll know all the heartbreak and sorrow,
And the laughter tonight is hiding the tears of tomorrow,
Our love, my dear, will not vanish with this night,
Like the moon way up above it will be forever bright.
Come back, my love, come back to your place in my arms,
Tell me, my dear, that the sea can’t claim all your charms.
To how many distant lands will you roam,
Before that happy day when you will sail for home?
Good bye my love, fare well my love, we must part.
Come back before the tears break my heart.