USS Barbel (SS-580)
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| Career | 
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|---|---|
| Ordered: | 24 August 1955 |
| Laid down: | 18 May 1956 |
| Launched: | 19 July 1958 |
| Commissioned: | 17 January 1959 |
| Decommissioned: | 4 December 1989 |
| Fate: | Disposed of as a target |
| Stricken: | 17 January 1990 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1744 tons light, 2146 tons full, 402 tons dead |
| Length: | 66.7 meters (219 feet) overall, 66.7 meters (219 feet) waterline |
| Beam: | 8.8 meters (29 feet) |
| Draft: | 8.5 meters (28 feet) |
| Propulsion: | three Fairbanks-Morse 38d(8 1/8)x10 3150shp diesel engines, two General Electric 4800shp motors |
| Speed: | 15 knots surfaced, 12 knots snorkeling, 21 knots on battery |
| Endurance: | 30 minutes at full speed, 102 hours at 3 knots |
| Range: | 19,000 miles |
| Depth: | 712 feet |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 69 men |
| Armament: | six 21-inch torpedo tubes, 18 torpedoes |
The second USS Barbel (SS-580) was the lead ship of her class of submarines in the United States Navy. She was named for the barbel, a cyrinoid fish, commonly called a minnow or carp.
The contract to build Barbel was awarded to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire on 24 August 1955 and her keel was laid down on 18 May 1956. She was launched on 19 July 1958 sponsored by Mrs. Bernard L. Austin, and commissioned on 17 January 1959, with Lieutenant Commander Ord Kimzey, Jr., in command.
Barbel-class submarines were designed and built with bow planes; at some time before May 1962, Barbel was converted to fairwater planes.
- 31 years of history go here.
In 1966 Barbel accidentally rammed and sank North Vietnam's largest freighter in the Gulf of Tonkin while trying to determine what type of war-related cargo it was carrying. Although damaged, Barbel was able to remain submerged and return to port for repairs.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the early classes of nuclear submarines suffered reliability problems, and on occasion were unable to complete their various missions. In 1967, Barbel was ordered to Japan to relieve a nuclear attack submarine that suffered such a casualty. As the crew celebrated the nuclear boat's misfortune, they created the Diesel Boats Forever insignia as an emblem of the superiority of diesel engines over nuclear reactors.
From 19 January 1981 to 22 January, Barbel and Grayback (SS-574) participated in ASWEX 81-3U off the coast of the Philippines, an exercise in shallow water ASW. The submarines opposed the transit of the oiler
USNS Navasota (TAO-106),
which was escorted by the destroyers
John Young (CTF 75 embarked) and
Elliot,
and frigates
Gray,
Whipple,
Lang,
Ramsey and
through the narrow straits.
On 1 May 1989, while operating off Kyushu, Japan, three submariners were washed overboard by heavy waves. One sailor was rescued; two drowned.
Barbel was decommissioned on 4 December 1989, and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 17 January 1990. The Navy began the process of scrapping the hulk of ex-Barbel, but after its sail and superstructure had been removed and scrapped, the process was deemed to be too expensive. On 25 January 2001, the remaining hull was towed from the berth in San Pedro, California, where it had been tied up for the past eight years. On 30 January 2001 it was sunk as a target off the California coast in 1972 fathoms.
See USS Barbel for other ships of the same name.
References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
| Barbel-class submarine |
| List of submarines of the United States Navy List of submarine classes of the United States Navy |