 Barbero after conversion to guided missile submarine in 1955 |
|
| Career (United States) |  |
|---|---|
| Builder: | General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut[1] |
| Laid down: | 25 March 1943[1] |
| Launched: | 12 December 1943[1] |
| Commissioned: | 29 April 1944[1] |
| Decommissioned: | 30 June 1950[1] |
| Recommissioned: | 28 October 1955[1] |
| Decommissioned: | 30 June 1964[1] |
| Struck: | 1 July 1964[1] |
| Fate: | Sunk as a target off Pearl Harbor on 7 October 1964[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Balao-class diesel-electric submarine[2] |
| Displacement: | 1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced[2], 2,424 tons (2,460 t) submerged[2] |
| Length: | 311 ft 9 in (95.0 m)[2] |
| Beam: | 27 ft 3 in (8.3 m)[2] |
| Draft: | 16 ft 10 in (5.1 m)maximum[2] |
| Propulsion: |
4 × General Motors Model 16-278A V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators[2][3] |
| Speed: | 20.25 kn (37.50 km/h) surfaced[4], 8.75 kn (16.20 km/h) submerged[4] |
| Range: | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) @ 10 kn (19 km/h)[4] |
| Endurance: | 48 hours @ 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged[4], 75 days on patrol |
| Test depth: | 400 ft (120 m)[4] |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[4] |
| Armament: | 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft) 24 torpedoes [4] 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun [4] four machine guns, Later equipped with Regulus missile forward |
USS Barbero (SS/SSA/SSG-317) was a Balao-class submarine of the United States Navy, named for a family of fishes commonly called surgeon fish.
Barbero was laid by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut on 25 March 1943. She was launched on 12 December 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Katherine R. Keating, and commissioned on 29 April 1944, Lieutenant Commander Irvin S. Hartman in command.
Contents |
Service History
World War II
Barbero's war operations span the period from 9 August 1944-2 January 1945, during which she completed two war patrols. She is credited with sinking three Japanese merchant ships totaling 9,126 tons while patrolling in the Java and South China Seas.
On 27 December 1944, en route to Fremantle, Western Australia, Barbero, while at periscope depth, received an aerial bomb close aboard aft. This near miss damaged the port reduction gear and put her out of action for the remainder of the war.
Post-War
In September 1945, she was ordered to Mare Island Naval Shipyard - where she underwent pre-inactivation overhaul - and was placed in commission in reserve on 25 April 1946.
Following conversion to a cargo submarine at Mare Island, Barbero was recommissioned, redesignated SSA-317, and assigned to the Pacific Fleet on 31 March 1948. From October 1948-March 1950, she took part in an experimental program to evaluate her capabilities as a cargo carrier. Experimentation ended in early 1950, and she was decommissioned into the reserve on 30 June 1950.
On 1 February 1955, Barbero entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard for her second conversion, equipping her to launch Regulus nuclear cruise missiles. She was thus redesignated SSG-317 and recommissioned on 28 October 1955. She operated off the coast of California until April 1956, when she transited the Panama Canal and joined the Atlantic Fleet.
Barbero conducted nuclear strategic deterrence patrols in the Atlantic for the next eight years, through the Cuban Missile Crisis and other heightening tensions of the Cold War.
Missile Mail
In 1959 Barbero assisted the United States Post Office Department, predecessor of what in 1971 became today{{'}s United States Postal Service (USPS), in its search for faster, more efficient forms of mail transportation. The USPS tried their first and only delivery of "Missile Mail", though the idea of delivering mail by rocket was not new. Shortly before noon on 8 June 1959, off the northern Florida coast, Barbero fired a Regulus cruise missile towards the Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Mayport, Florida. Twenty-two minutes later the training type missile landed at its target; its training-type warhead having been configured to contain two official USPS mail containers.
The USPS had officially established a branch post office on Barbero and delivered some 3,000 pieces of mail to it before Barbero left Norfolk, Virginia. The mail consisted entirely of commemorative postal covers addressed to President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower, other government officials, the Postmasters General of all members of the Universal Postal Union, and so on. They contained letters from United States Postmaster General Arthur E. Summerfield. Their postage (four cents domestic, eight cents international) had been cancelled "USS Barbero 8 Jun 9.30am 1959" before the boat put to sea. In Mayport, the Regulus was opened and the mail forwarded to the Jacksonville, Florida Post Office for further sorting and routing.
Upon witnessing the missile's landing, Summerfield stated, "This peacetime employment of a guided missile for the important and practical purpose of carrying mail, is the first known official use of missiles by any Post Office Department of any nation." Summerfield proclaimed the event to be "of historic significance to the peoples of the entire world," and predicted that "before man reaches the moon, mail will be delivered within hours from New York to California, to Britain, to India or Australia by guided missiles. We stand on the threshold of rocket mail."
Decommissioning and disposal
Barbero ended her nuclear strategic deterrence patrols and returned to the Pacific for decommissioning on 30 June 1964. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Registry on 1 July 1964, prior to being used as a target and sunk by the submarine Greenfish (SS-351) off Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 October 1964.
Awards
Barbero received two battle stars for her World War II service.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261
- ^ a b c d e f g h i U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
External links
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