Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

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

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Alpha - Delta
To Additional Pages

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
Click On Image
For Full Size Image		Size Image Description Source
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.
Barbel 177kMockup of engine room from frames 69 to 81 showing one of Barbel's (SS-580) Faribanks eninges at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 2 Nov. 1955. U.S. Navy Photograph # 3101-11-55, courtesy of Darryl Baker. Photo added 02/19/07.
Barbel 130kMockup 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 135kMockup 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 150kMockup 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 154kMockup 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 mockup of manuevering/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 mockup port side of manuevering/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 mockup of manuevering/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 mockup of manuevering/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 Mockup 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 Mockup 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 185kMockup 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 214kMockup 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 260kMockup 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.
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
Back To The Main Official U.S. Navy Photograph Index Back To the Submarine Index

Problems and site related matters, E-mail Webmaster.
This page is created and maintained by Michael Mohl
© Michael Mohl © NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.