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Posted by Jeff Sharp on November 30, 2025, 13:28:41, in reply to "Re: Is there enough here to identify her?"
In the footage, I'm seeing only 4 .50cals on the decks. 2 on each side of turret #4. One of the interesting things about this footage is all the spent shell casings dropping at the feet of the sailors manning the gun. Seems to be a very hazardous duty! Plus, standing out there in the open with zero splinter shield protection doesn't seem to very appealing to me either. 
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Jeff,
I don't believe so, and that is based on this snippet of her After Action Report from 12/7/41
There are certainly more than 4 .50cals on the stern. I also note that these are portable mounts, seen most often in images of ships in port. I am sure this was rigged up as the USN was ramping up AA training in the Summer of 41. It does bring up a question though, on the Brooklyn's the aft quartet of .50cals were arranged on a raised platform around the aft director structure. I can not find any image of the St. Louis or Helena that clearly shows the aft .50cals permanent installation. Perhaps this was their solution? I don't know unfortunately.
Matt
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That's some great detective work Matt! Everything matches up very nicely!
Now I'd like to determine if she still had those Brownings on 12/7/41. Previous Message
I feel the below image gives us the most clues as to being sure it is St Louis
I do not have any concrete proof as I do not have pictures of both Helena and St Louis to directly compare, however the pictures I do have line up with St Louis based on a couple of small details.
This cropped image of St Louis in March of 42 shows this same area
Specifically these marked ones
Now compare to the Mystery Cruiser-
Red- This Cruiser's 5/38 Twin mount exhibits two large rivet details below the hatch. These same details are seen on the 3/42 image of St Louis and the few images of Helena has similar rivets but lower on the face of the turret
Yellow- Not definitive, but unable to locate an image showing same cable reel/fender covered just aft of the 5/38 Twin on Helena
Blue- Locker in exact same location as seen on St Louis. We also see a speaker rigged above in in 1941, with the 1942 image of St Louis in the same spot but stowed. Again, no image of Helena to prove she did not have same set up, but things like lockers are notorious as not being identical across sister ships.
Green- There is conduit on the bulkhead that connects to a panel that is identical to what is seen on St Louis. We also see a Porthole in 1941 image and the porthole has been just plugged in 1942 image. Again, no photo proof that Helena did not have identical setup, but again bulkhead detail is often not identical across sister ships.
Just my $.02 before taxes
Matt
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US Cruiser 1941.
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