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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Barbel (SS-580)
Mockup / Construction & Keel Laying

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Alpha - Delta
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Launching - Decommissioning

Barbel Class Submarine: Laid down, 18 May 1956, at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, NH.; Launched, 19 July 1958; Commissioned, USS Barbel (SS-580), 17 January 1959; Decommissioned, 4 December 1989; Struck from the Naval Register, 17 January 1990; Final Disposition, sunk as a target, 30 January 2001, at 032° 19' 08.0" North, 121° 36' 16.0" West, depth: 1972 fathoms.

Specifications: Displacement, Surface 2,140 t., Submerged: 2,639 t.; Length 218' 1" ; Beam 29'; Draft 29' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 15 kts, Submerged (snorkel) 12 kts, (battery) 21 kts; Maximum Operating Depth, 712 ft.; Complement 8 Officers 75 Enlisted; Armament, six 21" torpedo tubes (bow), 18 torpedo capacity including 6 loaded Sensors 2 periscopes, active sonar, passive sonar, radar, ECM; Propulsion, Surface Propulsion 3 Fairbanks-Morse 38d(8 1/8)x10 diesel engines Designed SHP continuous: 3150 Designed RPM: 1 propeller; Fuel capacity: 112,000 gallons Cruising Distance: 19,000 miles without refueling Submerged Propulsion (Snorkel) Designed SHP: 2400 Designed RPM: 52 Submerged Propulsion (Battery) 2 General Electric motors Designed SHP: 4800 Designed RPM: 198 Maximum safe astern RPM: 110 Endurance at full speed: 0.5 hours Endurance at 3 knots: 102.0 hours
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Barbel 177kMock-up of engine room from frames 69 to 81 showing one of Barbel's (SS-580) Fairbanks engines at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 2 Nov. 1955. U.S. Navy Photograph # 3101-11-55, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 130kMock-up of engine control room from frames 81 to 79 upper level of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 2 Nov. 1955. U.S. Navy Photograph # 3102-11-55, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 135kMock-up of bulkhead at frame 69 looking aft of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 2 Nov. 1955. U.S. Navy Photograph # 3115-11-55, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 150kMock-up of bulkhead at frame 81 looking forward of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 2 Nov. 1955. U.S. Navy Photograph # 3116-11-55, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 154kMock-up of exterior engine piping and mufflers of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 2 Nov. 1955. U.S. Navy Photograph # 3121-11-55, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 133k Stern view of starboard side mock-up of maneuvering/motor and engine room of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in January 1956. U.S. Navy Photograph # 91-1-56, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 131k Stern view of mock-up port side of maneuvering / motor and engine room of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in January 1956. U.S. Navy Photograph # 92-1-56, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 206k Forward view of port side mock-up of maneuvering / motor and engine room of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in January 1956. U.S. Navy Photograph # 93-1-56, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 196k Forward view of starboard port side mock-up of maneuvering / motor and engine room of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in January 1956. U.S. Navy Photograph # 94-1-56, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 196k Mock-up of the Sonar Plot area of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in June 1956. U.S. Navy Photograph # 1691(L)-6-56, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 184k Mock-up of the Fire Control area of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in June 1956. U.S. Navy Photograph # 1693(L)-6-56, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 185kMock-up of the Navigation Center area of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in June 1956. U.S. Navy Photograph # 1694(L)-6-56, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 214kMock-up of the Sonar Control area of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in June 1956. U.S. Navy Photograph # 1695(L)-6-56, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 260kMock-up of the engineer & pilot control consoles in control center of Barbel (SS-580) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in June 1956. U.S. Navy Photograph # 1773(L)-6-56, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Barbel 539k Panel sketches. U.S. Navy Photograph courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
Photo added 09/28/10.
Barbel 527k Panel sketches. U.S. Navy Photograph courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
Photo added 09/28/10.
Barbel 102kBarbel (SS-580) as modified with sail planes. The bow sonars are SQS-4 above and BQR-2 below the torpedo tubes. The sonar room was the middle deck space just abaft the mast shown, below the control room/attack center. The small space just abaft the attack center was the Supplementary Radio room (ELINT space); the radio center was abaft it.
Masts, fore to aft, are: No.1 & 2 periscopes;BRD-6/ECM mast; BPS-12 radar; BLR-1 ECM (with VLF loop alongside, shown as dashed line); and snorkel induction and exhaust.
Note the concentration of batteries amidships, typical of three deck submarines. The structure above the engines is the muffler.
Not visible in these drawings is the line of air-emitter piping, port and starboard, close to the keel, providing an acoustic shield around the hull. 		Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Since 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman & James L. Christley. Naval Institute Press.
There is no DANFS History currently available for Barbel (SS-580) at the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site, the main archive for the DANFS Online Project.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
SubmarineSailors.com - USS Barbel SS-580
HISTORIC SUBMARINE DOCUMENTARY AND TRAINING FILMS
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