DURING THE AMERICAN ADVANCE UP THE SLOT (5, June 1943)

 During the American advance up the slot, the Tokyo Express made nightly runs through Blackett Strait and Kula Gulf to supply and reinforce the Japanese troops at Vila.  

Early on the morning of July 5 Ainsworth, embarked in a task force of cruisers and destroyers, intercepted the enemy in Kula Gulf.  

In the subsequent action Japan lost two destroyers sunk; the Navy lost light cruiser Helena.

USS Helena in 1940

 It was a battle of American gunfire versus Japanese torpedoes, two of which struck Helena almost simultaneously.  One who survived the night was Lieutenant C. G. Morris, the warship’s radio officer, who tells of the vessel’s last engagement.  His collaborator is Hugh B. Cave, Saturday Evening Post war correspondent.

From: The United States Navy in World War II
Compiled and edited by: S. E. Smith