Editing USS Barbero

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Barbero.jpg
|Ship caption=''Barbero'' after conversion to guided missile submarine in 1955
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1964}}
|Ship name=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[General Dynamics Electric Boat]], [[Groton, Connecticut]]<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates">{{Cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History|publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]]|year=1995|location=Annapolis, Maryland|pages=285–304|isbn=1-55750-263-3}}</ref>
|Ship laid down=25 March 1943<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship launched=12 December 1943<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=29 April 1944<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=30 June 1950<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=28 October 1955<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=30 June 1964<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=1 July 1964<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Sunk as a target off [[Pearl Harbor]] on 7 October 1964<ref name="Register">{{Cite book|last=Bauer|first=K. Jack|author2=Roberts, Stephen S. |title=Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=1991|location=Westport, Connecticut|pages=275–280|isbn=0-313-26202-0}}</ref>
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Balao|submarine|0}} [[Diesel-electric transmission|diesel-electric]] [[submarine]]<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship displacement=1,526 [[long ton|ton]]s (1,550 [[tonne|t]]) surfaced,<ref name="Register"/> 2,424 tons (2,460 t) submerged<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship length={{convert|311|ft|9|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship beam={{convert|27|ft|3|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship draft={{convert|16|ft|10|in|abbr=on}}maximum<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship propulsion={{Fleet-boat-propulsion-late-GM-4-GE}}
|Ship speed={{convert|20.25|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} surfaced,<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs">''U.S. Submarines Through 1945'' pp. 305–311</ref> {{convert|8.75|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship range={{convert|11000|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship endurance=48 hours at {{convert|2|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} submerged,<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/> 75 days on patrol
|Ship test depth={{convert|400|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship complement=10 officers, 70–71 enlisted<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*As built:
{{Fleet-boat-armament-5-inch}}
*As Regulus missile submarine 1955-64:
*1 × Regulus missile hangar and launcher
*2 × [[Regulus missile|Regulus]] I missiles
*6 × [[American 21-inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s (forward)
*14 torpedoes<ref>Gardiner, Robert "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995", London: Conway Maritime Press, 1995, pg. 611.</ref>
}}
|}

'''USS ''Barbero'' (SS/SSA/SSG-317)''' was a {{sclass|Balao|submarine}} of the [[United States Navy]], named for a family of fishes commonly called [[surgeon fish]].

==Construction and commissioning==
''Barbero'' was [[Keel-laying|laid down]] by the [[Electric Boat]] Company of [[Groton, Connecticut]] on 25 March 1943. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 12 December 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Katherine R. Keating, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 29 April 1944.

==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.

''Barbero'' embarked on her first war patrol from [[Naval Base Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] on 9 August 1944.  She reached her patrol area, located east of the central [[Philippines]] off San Bernardino Strait, on 24 August. Though she had been stationed there to report and to interdict any attempt by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Japanese]] to use the strait to contest the [[Palau Islands campaign|Allied invasion of the Palau Islands]], they tried no such move. Moreover, during the 31 days that she spent in the area, she encountered no large target. The high point of the patrol came when ''Barbero'' lobbed 25 rounds at a radar station on [[Batag Island Lighthouse|Batag Island]] with her [[5"/25 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}]] [[deck gun]]. Though she obtained no definite results, her failure to detect radar activity the following night prompted her claim to have neutralized the station. The submarine cleared the area on 24 September 1944 and headed for [[western Australia]], concluding a disappointing 56-day patrol at [[Fremantle]] on 4 October.

After refit and a brief training period, ''Barbero'' departed Fremantle on her second war patrol on 26 October. On this patrol, Comdr. Hartman also assumed command of a coordinated attack group (nicknamed a [[wolfpack (naval tactic)|wolfpack]]) consisting of ''Barbero'', {{USS|Haddo|SS-255|2}}, and {{USS|Redfin|SS-272|2}}. The first phase of this two-part patrol lasted from 26 October until 15 November. It was conducted in the [[Makassar Strait]] and in the area west of [[Mindoro]]. On 2 November, after a lively passage of [[Lombok Strait]] during which picket boats and [[shore batteries]] fired on her, ''Barbero'' sank her first ship, a 2,700-ton [[Troopship|troop transport]]. On 8 November, she sent a 7,500-ton [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]] to the bottom during a coordinated attack on a small convoy (consisting of submarine chasers {{ship|Japanese submarine chaser|CH-7|1938|2}} and ''CH-8'' escorting oilers ''Shimotsu Maru'' and ''Nichinan Maru No. 2'') carried out in cooperation with ''Redfin''. ''Redfin'' received credit for sinking the other tanker in the convoy.

Following a three-day stop at [[Mios Woendi]] to rearm with [[torpedo]]es and perform minor upkeep, ''Barbero'' embarked on the second portion of the patrol. This longer phase lasted from 18 November 1944 to 2 January 1945 and was conducted in the [[South China Sea]] northeast of [[Borneo]]. On 24 December in an attack on an escorted four-ship [[convoy]], a 7,500-ton gasoline tanker was sunk and a second tanker grossing about 5,000 tons was damaged. On Christmas Day, the submarine sank a 4,000-ton Japanese cargo ship. On 27 December, while she attempted the perilous repassage of Lombok Strait, fragments from an aerial bomb that narrowly missed ''Barbero'' close aboard aft damaged her port [[reduction gear]]. The damage forced her to cover the distance remaining to Fremantle on a single screw, and put her out of action for the remainder of the war. In 68 days away from Fremantle, Barbero returned having sunk four ships totalling 21,700 tons and claiming damage to a fifth of 5,000 tons.

===Post-war cargo and Regulus missile conversions===
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 '''[[hull classification symbol|SSA]]-317''', and assigned to the [[United States Pacific Fleet|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 a conversion under project [[Ship Characteristics Board|SCB 118]],<ref name="Friedman since 1945, p. 178">Friedman since 1945, p. 178</ref> equipping her to launch the [[Regulus missile|Regulus I]] nuclear cruise missile. She was thus redesignated '''SSG-317''' and recommissioned on 28 October 1955 under Lt. Cmdr. Samuel T. Bussey as the second submarine equipped with the Regulus missile, {{USS|Tunny|SSG-282|2}} having been converted in 1953. In this role, ''Barbero'' was equipped with a hangar housing two missiles and a launcher on the after deck.  One of the limitations of Regulus was that the firing submarine had to surface, the missile then being rolled out onto the launcher and fired. Regulus I also required guidance from submarines or other platforms after firing. She operated off the coast of California, firing her first test missile near [[San Clemente Island]] on 14 March 1956, until April 1956, when she transited the [[Panama Canal]] and joined the [[United States Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]], based at [[Naval Station Norfolk|Norfolk]], Virginia. From there, she served as an integral part in the nation's defense against nuclear war by carrying out early versions of the [[deterrence theory|deterrent]] patrols that later became a regular feature of the submarine force after the introduction of the [[SSBN|fleet ballistic missile submarine]]. She conducted patrols in the Atlantic for the next three years, under a policy of having one Regulus boat in each ocean.<ref name="Friedman since 1945, p. 183">Friedman since 1945, p. 183</ref>

On 1 July 1959, ''Barbero'' was reassigned to the Pacific Fleet's Submarine Squadron 1, based at Pearl Harbor to conduct deterrent patrols in the Pacific due to a shift in policy placing all deployed Regulus assets there. She usually patrolled with ''Tunny'' to provide four missiles on station.<ref name="Friedman since 1945, p. 183"/> In January 1962, ''Barbero'' entered the [[Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard]] for an extensive five-month overhaul. During that time, members of her crew pursued various fields of training and education at service schools in Hawaii and on the [[United States West Coast]]. After concluding the overhaul in June 1962, ''Barbero'' carried out local operations and conducted refresher training. She then completed a single deterrent patrol in the latter half of 1962. ''Barbero'' conducted another two deterrent patrols in 1963, making liberty calls in [[East Asia]]n ports at the conclusion of each.

====Missile Mail====
{{Main|Rocket mail}}
<div style="float: right; margin-left: 1em">[[File:missilemail.jpg|500px]]</div>
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 Post Office tried its 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 under command of her new skipper Robert H. Blount, ''Barbero'' fired a Regulus cruise missile towards the Naval Auxiliary Air Station, [[Naval Station Mayport|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.<ref name="English2003"/>

The Post Office 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 [[Cover (philately)|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 June 9.30&nbsp;am 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.<ref name="English2003"/>

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."<ref name="English2003">{{cite book|last=English|first=Dave|title=The air up there: more great quotations on flight|url=https://archive.org/details/airupthere00dave|url-access=registration|access-date=7 June 2011|date=2003-01-24|publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional|isbn=978-0-07-141036-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/airupthere00dave/page/41 41]}}</ref>

==Decommissioning and disposal==
Regulus was superseded by the [[Polaris missile]] in 1964. ''Barbero'' ended her nuclear strategic deterrent patrols and was decommissioned 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 {{USS|Swordfish|SSN-579|6}} off [[Naval Station Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]], [[Hawaii]], on 7 October 1964.

==Awards==
*[[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] with two [[battle star]]s
*[[World War II Victory Medal]]
*[[National Defense Service Medal]]

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last=Friedman|first=Norman |title=U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] |year=1995|location=[[Annapolis, Maryland]] |isbn=1-55750-263-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Friedman|first=Norman |title=U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] |year=1994|location=[[Annapolis, Maryland]] |isbn=1-55750-260-9}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b2/barbero-i.htm}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Barbero (SS-317)}}
*[http://pigboats.com/ww2/barbero.html Kill record: USS ''Barbero''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105220728/http://pigboats.com/ww2/barbero.html |date=5 January 2009 }}

{{Balao_class_submarine}}
{{Regulus submarines}}
{{1964 shipwrecks}}

{{coord missing|Pacific Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbero (Ss-317)}}
[[Category:Balao-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Groton, Connecticut]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1964]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Hawaii]]