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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patch contributed by Mike Smolinski

Barb (SS-220)

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Mike - Oscar
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Keel Laying - WW II Service

Unit Awards, Campaign and Service Medals and Ribbons


Presidential Unit Citation
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION to the UNITED STATES SHIP Barb (SS-220) for service as set forth in the following CITATION:
"For extraordinary heroism in action during the Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh War Patrols against enemy Japanese surface forces in restricted waters of the Pacific. Persistent in her search for vital targets, the Barb relentlessly tracked down the enemy and struck with indomitable fury despite unfavorable attack opportunity and severe countermeasures. Handled superbly, she held undeviatingly to her aggressive course and, on contacting a concentration of hostile ships in the lower reaches of a harbor, boldly penetrated the formidable screen. Riding dangerously, surfaced, in shallow water, the Barb launched her torpedoes into the enemy group to score devastating hits on the major targets, thereafter retiring at high speed on the surface in a full hour's run through uncharted, heavily mined and rock obstructed waters. Inexorable in combat, the Barb also braved the perils of a topical typhoon to rescue fourteen British and Australian prisoners of war who had survived the torpedoing and sinking of a hostile transport ship en route from Singapore to the Japanese Empire. Determined in carrying the fight to the enemy, the Barb has achieved an illustrious record of gallantry in action, reflecting the highest credit upon her valiant officers and men and upon the United States Naval Service."
Submitted by Bill Gonyo.

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 7 June 1941, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 2 April 1942; Commissioned USS Barb (SS-220), 8 July 1942; Decommissioned, 12 February 1947, at New London, CT.; Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet; Recommissioned, 3 December 1951; Decommissioned, 5 Februarty 1954, for Guppy conversion; Recommissioned, 3 August 1954; Decommissioned, and loaned to Italy, 13 December 1954; Struck from the Naval Register, 15 October 1972; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 1 April 1975, by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service. Barb received the Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation, and eight battle stars for her World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311' 9"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 Officers 54 Enlisted; Operating Depth, 300 ft; Submerged Endurance, 48 hrs at 2 kts; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel electric reduction gear with four General Motors main generator engines, HP 5400, Fuel Capacity, 97,140 gals., four General Electric main motors, HP 2740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin propellers.
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Barb 66k Barb (SS-220) underway on 21 July 1951.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph # NH 103521, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Collection of Melvin C. Keehner.
Barb 55k Barb's (SS-220) weathervane. Presented to Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz by his former aide, Rear Admiral Eugene B. Fluckey, USN, circa the later 1950s or early 1960s. Fluckey had commanded the submarine during World War II. The weathervane features submariners' "dolphins" at its top, with the five stars of a Fleet Admiral immediately below, and a model of Barb as she appeared following her 1954 conversion to "GUPPY" configuration. It was erected in Nimitz' garden at 728 Santa Barbara Road, Berkeley, California. US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 58267. Collection of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.
Mackerel415kNew London, CT., 23 Jan. 1954. Target sub dwarfed by conventional sub, Barb (SS-220)
Moored at the Navy's submarine base here, the little T-1 (T stands for target) is a product of the Electric Boat Division, General Dynamics Corp, Groton CT. The little boats job is to work with the antisubmarine forces, as a target for them, and also as an experimental vessel, to try out some ideas the Navy has. The T-1 has a carefully selected crew of 14 enlisted men and two officers. She holds within her 131 feet of length the same general machinery and equipment as the GUPPY submarines more than twice her length and displaces 250 tons to the conventional submarines 1500. 		AP Wirephoto courtesy of David Buell. Photo added 03/21/10.
Enrico Tazzoli (S-511)
Barb 98k Barb (SS-220) after she was modernized at Portsmouth NSY at Kittery Maine on Nov. 1954
USN photo, courtesy of Baker Collection.
Barb 129k Barb (SS-220) underway in November 1954, following modernization and during preparations for transfer to Italy.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-649677, now in the collections of the National Archives.
Barb 688k The Italian Submarine Enrico Tazzoli (S-511), ex-Barb (SS-220) at Genoa, Italy in 1956. Photo courtesy of Carlo Martinelli.
Barb 846k The Enrico Tazzoli (S-511) at Genoa, Italy on 26 Feb 1961. Photo courtesy of Carlo Martinelli.
Barb 207k Enrico Tazzoli (S-511) underway in harbour, location unknown. The large warships at right is the guided missile light cruiser Guiseppe Garibaldi (C-551). The Guiseppe Garibaldi was rebuilt in the La Spezia Arsenal starting from 1957, and, at her completion in 1961, she was named flagship of the Italian Navy. Partial text courtesy of wikipedia.org. Photo courtesy of Robert Hurst. Photo added 05/06/10.
Barb 282k The Enrico Tazzoli (S-511) at Taranto, circa 1967. Photo courtesy of Maurizio Brescia Collection.
Lizardfish 430k Enrico Tazzoli (S-511) is inboard of the Evangelista Torricelli (S-512) at La S pezia, Italy, 25 August 1968. Photo courtesy of Carlo Martinelli.
Barb 163k Retired Medal of Honor recipient Rear Adm. Eugene Fluckey receives recognition from Vice Adm. Charles Munns, Commander, Naval Submarine Forces, at the Arbor Nursing Home in Annapolis, Md. on 27 Nov. 2006. Fluckey received the Medal of Honor for gallantry as commanding officer of Barb (SS-220) in 1944.
USN photo # N-5215E-002 by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Matthew A. Ebarb, courtesy of navy.mil.
Barb 69k Retired Vice Adm. Albert Konetzni, presents the American flag to Mrs. Margaret Fluckey during the rendering of military honors for retired Rear Adm. Eugene Fluckey, held in the Naval Academy Columbarium 28 Aug.2007. Fluckey, credited with sinking more tonnage than any other U.S. skipper in World War II, received the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses for his five patrols while in command of the Barb (SS-220) died 28 June 2007.
USN photo # N-8655E-002 by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kelvin Edwards courtesy of navy.mil.
Rear Adm. Eugene Fluckey210kSonar Technician (Submarine) 2nd Class Mike Micheli, assigned to the Pasadena (SSN-752), renders a 13-gun salute during a burial at sea for retired Rear Adm. Eugene Fluckey on 24 Jan. 2009. Fluckey's ashes were scattered at the same location where he and his crew rescued 14 allied POWs stranded in the South China Sea more than 60 years ago. Pasadena is on a scheduled six-month deployment to the western Pacific Ocean.
US Navy photo # N-8534H-008 by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Barry R. Hirayama, courtesy of news.navy.mil.
View the Barb (SS-220)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ
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