USS ''Barton'' (DD-599) was a in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. She was the first ship named for Admiral John Kennedy Barton. ''Barton'' was launched on 31 January 1942 by

Bethlehem Steel Corporation The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succ ...

, Quincy, Massachusetts; sponsored by Miss Barbara Dean Barton, granddaughter of Admiral Barton; and commissioned on 29 May 1942,

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Douglas Harold Fox in command.

Service history

''Barton'' departed the east coast 23 August 1942 and steamed to the Pacific, arriving at

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the nation ...

Tonga Islands Located in Oceania, Tonga is a small archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, directly south of Samoa and about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand. It has 169 islands, 36 of them inhabited, which are in three main groups – Vavaʻu ...

, 14 September 1942. During October she participated in the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai raid (5 October) and the Battle of Santa Cruz (26 October) where she claimed shooting down seven Japanese planes. On 29 October she successfully rescued 17 survivors of two downed air transports near Fabre Island. Arriving off Guadalcanal on 12 November 1942 having safely escorted a supply

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

to the island, ''Barton'' was ordered to join up with Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan's force of five cruisers and seven other destroyers to repel a force of Japanese warships reported by recon aircraft to be heading down the body of water known as 'The Slot' towards Guadalcanal. Assuming her position in the eleventh spot of the US force just before sundown, ''Barton''s crew settled into their battle stations to wait out the Japanese, expected to arrive around midnight. As darkness overspread the body of water known as

Ironbottom Sound "Ironbottom Sound" (alternatively Iron Bottom Sound or Ironbottomed Sound or Iron Bottom Bay) is the name given by Allied sailors to the stretch of water at the southern end of The Slot between Guadalcanal, Savo Island, and Florida Island of ...

, several tropical rain storms and squalls began to cross the area, limiting visibility for both the Americans and the Japanese as they steamed towards each other, however several American ships were equipped with long range

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

systems which began to detect the approaching Japanese ships at approximately 00:30hrs (12:30am). Consisting of two battleships, one cruiser and eleven destroyers, the Japanese fleet rounded the northwestern coast of

Savo Island Savo Island is an island in Solomon Islands in the southwest South Pacific ocean. Administratively, Savo Island is a part of the Central Province of the Solomon Islands. It is about from the capital Honiara. The principal village is Alialia, i ...

and entered Ironbottom Sound at approximately 01:10hrs (1:10am) and shaped their course for Henderson Field; the American airbase they were sent to destroy. Steaming through a heavy rain squall, the Japanese ships were totally unaware of the presence of the American force directly ahead of them, and the heavy rain prevented the US fleet from sighting the Japanese ships for over an hour after the first

contact. At approximately 01:30hrs (1:30am), both sides finally made visual contact with each other as the first Japanese ships emerged from the squall line only away from the entire US formation. Despite the Americans having steamed directly into the middle of the Japanese force, neither side opened fire for almost ten minutes as they passed by each other, with the Japanese ships enveloping the American battle column as they emerged from the darkness in three separate groups. In the second position of the rear, US Destroyer van USS ''Barton'' began to train her deck guns and

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s on several Japanese ships in her immediate area and awaited the order to open fire from the flagship. At 01:48hrs (1:48am) the order to open fire was precluded when lit its searchlights onto the cruiser , causing both sides to immediately open fire on each other and starting the

First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, the Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, the , took place from 12 to 15 November 1942, and was t ...

. Now fully enveloped by Japanese battle lines, ''Barton'' and steaming astern, broke to the northwest into the main group of Japanese ships while firing at point blank range on nearby Japanese destroyers and making violent maneuvers to avoid collisions with both friendly and enemy ships in the melee. ''Barton'' had just fired a full spread of

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

es at the battleship when the

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...

appeared suddenly out of the darkness and cut directly across the bow of ''Barton''. Making an emergency stop to avoid colliding with ''Helena'', ''Barton'' found herself at a dead stop as her engineering crew tried to get her engines back into gear to get her moving again. However, before she could get underway two ' Long Lance' torpedoes fired by the slammed into the midsection of ''Barton''; one in her

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

room and one in her engine room. The massive explosions broke the ''Barton'' in two, and both sections sank only minutes after the first torpedo struck, carrying with her 164 men: 13 officers and 151 of her crew. Forty-two survivors were rescued by and twenty-six by Higgins boats from Guadalcanal.

Awards

In her short six months of active service to the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

''Barton'' received four

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s for her service in World War II.

Rediscovery

The forward section of the wreck of ''Barton'' was discovered in 1992 by

Robert Ballard Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology: maritime archaeology and archaeology o ...

, with only the hull section and superstructure ahead of the boiler room found intact. To date the stern section of ''Barton'' has not been located.

References

* Brown, David. ''Warship Losses of World War Two.'' Arms and Armour, London, Great Britain, 1990. . *

External links

USS ''Barton'' website
a
Destroyer History Foundation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton (DD-599) Benson-class destroyers Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts 1942 ships World War II destroyers of the United States Shipwrecks in Ironbottom Sound Maritime incidents in November 1942 1992 archaeological discoveries Naval magazine explosions