History of the USS Barbel (SS-580)

USS Barbel (SS-580): History, Patrols, Crews

Commissioning

The USS Barbel was the lead member of her class of submarines. She was the second U.S. Navy submarine named after the barbell, which is more commonly called a minnow or carp. The first USS Barbel, SS-316, was lost in combat in the Pacific on Feb. 4, 1945.

The contract to build the Barbel was awarded to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, on Aug. 24, 1955. Her keel was laid down on May 18, 1956; she was launched on July 19, 1958. She was commissioned on Jan. 17, 1959, with Lt. Commander Ord Kimzey Jr. in command.

Underway

Originally designed with bow planes, the Barbel hadn't completed a year of service before encountering serious problems. Operating at a test depth of 700 feet, a five-inch line from sea ruptured; the Barbel immediately executed an emergency ballast tank blow to reach the surface, where it was found that she had taken on more than 350 tons of water. She immediately entered drydock at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for repairs to all pipes over two inches, and had her bow planes switched to fairwater planes.

Assigned to the Pacific Fleet, and homeported at Pearl Harbor, the Barbel would make a number of deployments to the Western Pacific, including several to the Vietnam War zone. During her first deployment to Vietnam, the Barbel accidentally rammed and sank North Vietnam's largest freighter, damaging herself in the process. The incident occurred in a North Vietnamese river, but the Barbel's crew was able to keep her submerged and return to port for repairs. Official U.S. reports on the incident said the collision had happened in the Gulf of Tonkin, in order to minimize international outcry.

The Barbel would make several other brief appearances in the Gulf of Tonkin, in 1967, 1969 and 1979. During her 1969 Western Pacific cruise, the Barbel was ordered to replace a nuclear powered submarine, which was suffering from mechanical problems, on a special operations mission. It was decided by some members of the crew that a pin, mocking the recently created Polaris Patrol Pin, should be created honoring diesel powered submarines called on to cover for a broken down nuclear sub. The finished product became known as the DBF (Diesel Boats Forever) Pin, a poplar keepsake among diesel powered submariners. After the 1969 deployment, the Barbel received the Navy Unit Commendation.

In 1973, the Barbel fired a record 118 torpedoes and won the Battle Efficiency "E" for outstanding combat preparedness. She would also win Battle "E"s for the 1981, 1984 and 1986 fiscal years.

On May 1, 1989, three members of the Barbel's crew were washed overboard while she was conducting surface operations off of Kyushu, Japan. Two of those crewmembers drowned.

Decommissioning

The Barbel was decommissioned on Dec. 4, 1989 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on Jan. 17, 1990. Scrapping had already begun and was stopped in the early 1990s when the scrapper discovered the submarine's interior was filled with painted-over asbestos insulation. Her sail and superstructure were rebuilt with wood in the mid-1990s so she could play a brief role in the movie "Crimson Tide." On Jan. 30, 2001, she was sunk as a target off the coast of California.

Characteristics of the USS Barbel
Class and type: Barbel-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement: 1,744 tons (1,778 t) light [1]
2,146 tons (2,180 t) full
2,637 tons (2,679 t) submerged [1]
402 tons (408 t) dead
Length: 219 ft 6 in (66.9 m) overall [1]
Beam: 29 ft (8.8 m) [1]
Draft: 25 ft (7.6 m) max [1]
Propulsion: Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, total 4,800 bhp (3.6 MW)
2 × General Electric electric motors, total 3,150 bhp (2.3 MW)
one screw [1] Speed: 12 knots (22 km/h) surfaced
25 knots (46 km/h) submerged [1]
Endurance: 30 minutes at full speed
102 hours at 3 knots
Test depth: 712 ft (217 m) operating
1,050 ft (320 m) collapse
Complement: 10 officers, 69 men
Armament: 6 × 21 in (533 mm) [1] bow torpedo tubes, 18 torpedoes

Career:
Ordered: 24 August 1955
Builder: Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine [1]
Laid down: 18 May 1956 [1]
Launched: 19 July 1958 [1]
Commissioned: 17 January 1959 [1]
Decommissioned: 4 December 1989
Struck: 17 January 1990 [1]
Fate: Sunk as a target 30 January 2001

Timeline:
August 1955: USS Barbel ordered
May 1956: USS Barbel's keel laid down
July 1958: USS Barbel launched
January 1959: USS Barbel commissioned
1960: USS Barbel nearly sinks during incident on training mission
1966: USS Barbel collides with and sinks North Vietnamese freighter
1969: USS Barbel wins Navy Unit Commendation
May 1989: USS Barbel loses two crew members when they are washed overboard
December 1989: USS Barbel decommissioned

Crewmembers of the USS Barbel:
An unofficial list of crew members that served on the USS Barbel can be found on the unofficial navy website at: http://navysite.de. This list is compiled by former crewmembers that voluntarily register. Some quoted comments from former crewmembers are listed below; many more are available on the source website at the following Web address:
http://navysite.de/ss/ss580.htm

Mel Britain (served October 1969-December 1971): "Best class of boat I ever sailed on."
Army Armstrong (served February 1970-July 1973): "Best time of my life."
Scott Hayes (served September 1970-July 1973): "The Barbel was the Mother of her class. I'm proud to have served on her."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Barbel_(SS-580)
http://www.navysite.de/crewlist/commandlist.php?commandid=1095

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