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Allied Warships

Barb (SS-220)

Submarine of the Gato class


USS Barb shortly after completion

NavyThe US Navy
TypeSubmarine
ClassGato 
Pennant220 
Built byElectric Boat Co. (Groton, Connecticut, U.S.A.) 
Ordered 
Laid down7 Jun, 1941 
Launched2 Apr, 1942 
Commissioned8 Jul, 1942 
End service13 Dec, 1954 
Loss position
 
HistoryDecommissioned 12 February 1947.
Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
Recommissioned 3 December 1951.
Decommissioned 5 February 1954 for Guppy conversion.
Recommissioned 3 August 1954.
Decommissioned and loaned to Italy 13 December 1954.
Stricken 15 October 1972.
Sold 1 April 1975 to be broken up for scrap. 

Noteable events involving Barb include:

20 Oct, 1942
With her trials and training completed USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Waterman) departs New London bound for the north-west coast of Africa. Barb was to take part in the landing in North Africa.

25 Nov, 1942
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Waterman) arrives at Rosneath, Scotland

24 Jul, 1943
After making another 4 unsuccessful war patrols in European waters USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Waterman) enters the submarine base at New London for an overhaul before being sent to the Pacific.

30 Sep, 1943
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Waterman) departs Pearl Harbour for her 6th war patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the East China Sea.

24 Nov, 1943
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Waterman) ends her 6th war patrol at Midway. Barb is now ordered to proceed to the Mare Island Navy Yard for an overhaul.

2 Mar, 1944
With her overhaul completed USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Waterman) departs Pearl Harbour for her 7th war patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Philippine Sea.

28 Mar, 1944
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Waterman) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese merchant Fukusei Maru (2219 GRT) off Rasa Island in position 24º25'N, 131º11'E. (see map)

25 Apr, 1944
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Waterman) ends her 7th war patrol at Midway.

21 May, 1944
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) departs Midway for her 8th war patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Sea of Okhotsk.

31 May, 1944
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese transport ships Madras Maru (3802 GRT) southwest of Paramushiro in position 48º21'N, 151º20'E and Koto Maru (1053 GRT) in position 47º55'N, 151º42'E. (see map)

11 Jun, 1944
While on patrol in Sea of Okhotsk, east of Karafuto USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) sinks two Japanese sampams with gunfire in position 48º13'N, 144º21'E and torpedoes and sinks the Japanese sinks the Japanese fishing vessels Chihaya Maru (1160 GRT) and Toten Maru (3823 GRT) in position 46º50'N, 144º05'E. (see map)

13 Jun, 1944
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese transport ship Takashima Maru (5633 GRT) in Sea of Okhotsk in position 50º53'N, 151º12'E. (see map)

5 Jul, 1944
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) ends her 8th war patrol at Midway.

4 Aug, 1944
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) departs Midway for her 9th war patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the South China Sea off Formosa.

31 Aug, 1944
While on patrol in Luzon Strait, south of Formosa, USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Hinode Maru No.20 (281 GRT) in position 21º21'N, 121º11'E and the Japanese transport ship Okuni Maru (5633 GRT) in position 21º14'N, 121º22'E. (see map)

4 Sep, 1944
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) sinks a Japanese sampam with gunfire in postion 21º05'N, 119º.34'E. (see map)

17 Sep, 1944
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese escort carrier Unyo (offsite link) and the Japanese tanker Asuza Maru (10022 GRT) about 220 nauticsal miles south-east of Hong Kong in position 19º08'N, 116º36'E. (see map)

25 Sep, 1944
USS Barb (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) ends her 9th war patrol at Saipan. A day later Barb departs Saipan for Majuro.

27 Oct, 1944
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) departs Majuro for her 10th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the East China Sea.

10 Nov, 1944
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese transport ship Gokoku Maru (10438 GRT) about seven nautical miles off Koshiki Jima, eastern Kyushu, Japan, in position 33º24'N, 129º04'E. (see map)

12 Nov, 1944
While on patrol in the East China Sea, USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese transport ship Naruo Maru (4823 GRT) and torpedoes and damages the Japanese merchant Gyokuyo Maru (5396 GRT) in position 31º39'N, 125º36'E. The damaged Gyokuyo Maru is sunk 2 days later by USS Spadefish. (see map)

25 Nov, 1944
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) ends her 10th war patrol at Midway.

19 Dec, 1944
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) departs Midway for her 11th war patrol. She is ordered to patrol in Formosa Strait.

8 Jan, 1945
While on patrol in Formosa Strait, USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese merchants Anyo Maru (9256 GRT) in position 24º34'N, 120º37'E, Tatsuyo Maru (6892 GRT) in position 24º55'N, 120º26'E, the Japanese tanker Sanyo Maru (2854 GRT) in position 24º37'N, 120º31'E, and damages the Japanese transport ship Meiho Maru (2857 GRT) in position 24º25'N, 120º29'E. (see map)

9 Jan, 1945
The Japanese tanker Hikoshima Maru (2854 GRT) sinks as the result of damage inflicted by USS Barb (Cdr E.B. Fluckey) and beaching the previous day in position 24º37'N, 120º31'E (see map)

23 Jan, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) enters the shallow harbor of Namkwan, China, and despite her claim that she sinks three ships and probably sinks a fourth, and damages two more, she actually destroys only a single vessel the Japanese merchant Taikyo Maru (5244 GRT) in position 27º04'N, 120º27'E.

For this attack Cdr. E.B. Fluckey was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and Barb received the Presidential Unit Citation.

10 Feb, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) ends her 11th war patrol at Midway. Barb departed for Pearl Harbour the next day.

15 Feb, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) arrives at Pearl Harbour.

27 Feb, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) starts a major overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard.

8 Jun, 1945
With her overhaul completed USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) departs Pearl Harbour for her 12th war patrol. She is ordered to patrol off the northern part of the Japanese home islands.

21 Jun, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) sinks two small Japanese tugs with gunfire of the north-west coast of Hokkaido in position 44º39'N, 146º42'E. (see map)

23 Jun, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) sinks a Japanese fishing vessel with gunfire in La Pérouse Strait in position 47º21'N, 143º06'E (see map)

2 Jul, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) employs rockets in a bombardment of Japanese shore installations at Kaihyo Island off the east coast of Karafuto. This is the first successful use of these weapons against shore positions by a US submarine. Barb also sinks three Japanese sampams with gunfire in position 48º30'N, 144º38'E. (see map)

5 Jul, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese merchant Sapporo Maru No.11 (2820 GRT) just outside Odomari harbor, south-west of Sakhalin in position 46º04'N, 142º14'E. (see map)

8 Jul, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) sinks a small Japanese tug with gunfire in La Pérouse Strait in position 47º27'N, 142º47'E. (see map)

15 Jul, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) sinks the Japanese sampam Seiho Maru No.15 (91 GRT) with gunfire off Hokkaido.

25 Jul, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) sinks a Japanese sampam with gunfire in position 49º04'N, 143º49'E and 5 more in position 48º53'N, 144.º19'E. (see map)

26 Jul, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) shells a Japanese shipyard and destroys 35 Japanese sampams under construction of the East coast of Hokkaido in position 44º20'N, 146º01'E. Later she also sinks a Japanese trawler with gunfire in position 44º21'N, 145º52'E. (see map)

2 Aug, 1945
USS Barb (Cdr. E.B. Fluckey) ends her 12th war patrol at Midway.


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