The USS Helena was the ninth and last built Brooklyn-class light cruiser. She was laid down on 9th December 1936 and commissioned on 18th September 1939. Her main armament was made up of five triple 6 inch/47 Mk.16 cannons supplemented by four twin 5 inch/38 Mk.12 dual-purpose cannons. Anti-aircraft protection was supplied by four quadruple 40 mm Bofors L/60 Mark 2 cannons and twelve 20 mm Oerlikon Mk. II autocannons. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, she was torpedoed and had to be repaired. During the repair, she also underwent refit. She returned to service in 1942 to participate in the Guadalcanal campaign. On the night between 11th and 12th October, during the Battle of Cape Esperance, Helena detected Japanese ships 25 km away. Due to an error in leadership of the US Navy commander in charge of the task force, they closed to 4,500 m before Helena opened fire, followed by Boise, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco. The Japanese heavy cruiser Furutaka was sunk together with destroyer Fubuki. On 13th November 1942, Helena took part in the Third and Fourth Battle of Savo Island during which the US Navy was outnumbered by their Japanese counterpart. Two Atlanta-class light cruisers were lost together with four destroyers. Japan lost a Kongo-class battleship and two destroyers. During the battle, Helena crippled Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze that tried to sneak up on her to launch torpedoes. After Guadalcanal, she participated in the Solomon Islands landings. On 5th July 1943, during the Battle of Kula Gulf, Helena sunk destroyer Niizuki and later was torpedoed by two Japanese destroyers. The damage from the torpedoes proved fatal and Helena sank.
It was introduced in Update 1.93 "Shark Attack" purchasable in-game with Golden Eagles. Helena is quite sturdy ship capable of causing heavy damage due to high amount of barrels and very fast reload of only 6 seconds. The ship itself is fast and manoeuvrable, although not very armoured. Anti-fragmentation armour inside of the ship further decreases shrapnel damage caused to modules and crew.
The USS Helena was available in the store in a premium pack until it was removed after the 9th Anniversary Sale, but was later re-introduced as a regular in-game premium for.
