Gilbert Corwin Hoover was a United States Naval officer from 1916 to 1947. He served in both world wars, was involved in the early stages of the development of the Atomic Bomb, and managed the Atomic Energy Commission's Boulder facility as a civilian contractor. He was awarded the Navy Cross three times.
Gilbert C. Hoover
Flag in St. Michael's with names of Task Force 17 ships
USS Helena was a Brooklyn-class light cruiser built for the United States Navy in the late 1930s, the ninth and final member of the class. The Brooklyns were the first modern light cruisers built by the US Navy under the limitations of the London Naval Treaty, and they were intended to counter the Japanese Mogami class; as such, they carried a battery of fifteen 6-inch (150 mm) guns, the same gun armament carried by the Mogamis. Helena and her sister St. Louis were built to a slightly modified design with a unit system of machinery and an improved anti-aircraft battery. Completed in 1939, Helena spent the first two years of her career in peacetime training that accelerated as tensions between the United States and Japan increased through 1941. She was torpedoed at the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and was repaired and modernized in early 1942.
USS Helena in 1940
Helena at her launching ceremony
Helena in 1940
Helena (center left) at 1010 dock after the attack; Oglala has been towed astern where she capsized. Smoke clouds from the burning destroyers Cassin and Downes rise in the distance beyond Helena, while those from the battleship Nevada are visible to the right. The battleship California is down by the bow but has not yet sunk.