Helena (CA 75) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 8 text:

vT - • rr - m Commanding Officer y The ship practically holds her breath when she hears the preamble, This is the Captain speaking, over the PA system to congratulate her for a job well done or to announce future movements. Captain Harry Smith assumed command last July. At 47, he is the youngest commanding officer of a Pacific Fleet cruiser. The Captain was graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, Class of ' 30, and went right aboard the battleship USS Maryland, where he became Signal Officer. During World War II, he was in the Coral Sea, Midway, Aleutian, Guadalcanal and Okinawa engagements. He commanded the destroyers Kimberly and the Frank E. Evans, and also was an aide to a carrier task force commander. After the war, Captain Smith was Naval Attache to the Union of South Africa, and he commanded the attack transport USS George Clymer. Before taking command of the Helena, the Captain attended the National War College in Washington, D.C. The Skipper, whose home town is Springfield, Illinois, married a girl from Seattle, Washington. Captain and Mrs. Smith and their two sons Harry and Tom now live in the ship ' s home port.

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Commander Seventh Fleet While in the Far East, the ship served as the flagship of Vice Admiral Stuart H. Ingersoll, Commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet and Commander of the Taiwan Defense Command. Admiral Ingersoll is a native of Springfield, Mass. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1917. During a midshipman cruise in the summer of 1918 aboard the battleship USS Missouri, the Admiral got his first taste of duty under wartime conditions. In 1926, Admiral Ingersoll became a qualified naval aviator, and he served with aircraft squadrons until 1940. During World War II, while commanding the aircraft carrier USS Monterey during action against enemy forces in the Pacific, Admiral Ingersoll was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism. Before taking command of the Seventh Fleet, Admiral Ingersoll was Chief of Staff and Aide to the Commander in Chief of the U. S. Atlantic Fleet.

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Executive Officer The man who administers the ship is Commander William J. Carey Jr., the Executive Officer. Cdr. Carey was born in St. Louis, Mo., May 21, 1916. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy and was graduated with the Class of ' 39. His first naval assignment was the battleship USS Mississippi. The Executive Officer participated in World War II and the Korean War. He ' s skip- pered four destroyer escorts and was the Executive Officer of the U.S. Naval Base, Annapolis, Md. Cdr. Carey married his wife Elizabeth, who is from Elmira, N.Y., in Honolulu, T. H., in 1943. They have four children, William Jr., Maurien, Christopher Michael and James. Their permanent home is Elmira.