USS Barton (DD-599)

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Barton in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts on 29 May 1942
History
United States
NameUSS Barton
NamesakeJohn Kennedy Barton
BuilderFore River Shipyard
Laid down20 May 1941
Launched31 January 1942
Commissioned29 May 1942
IdentificationDD-599
FateSunk by
Battle of Guadalcanal,[1]
13 November 1942
General characteristics
Class and typeBenson-class destroyer
Displacement1,620 tons
Length347 ft 9 in (105.99 m)
Beam36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)
Draft17 ft 4 in (5.28 m)
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Complement276
Armament
  • 4 ×
    5 in (130 mm)
    /38 guns
  • 4 × 1.1-inch/75 AA guns
  • 7 × 20mm AA guns
  • 5 ×
    21 in (533 mm)
    torpedo tubes

USS Barton (DD-599) was a Benson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the first ship named for Rear Admiral John Kennedy Barton.

Construction and commissioning

Barton was

Douglas Harold Fox
in command.

Service history

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

Tonga Islands, 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

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, 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 systems which began to detect the approaching Japanese ships at approximately 00:30hrs (12:30 am). Consisting of two battleships, one cruiser and eleven destroyers, the Japanese fleet rounded the northwestern coast of Savo Island and entered Ironbottom Sound at approximately 01:10hrs (1:10 am) 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 radar contact.

At approximately 01:30hrs (1:30 am), both sides finally made visual contact with each other as the first Japanese ships emerged from the squall line only 3,000 yards (2,700 m) 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

First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
.

Now fully enveloped by Japanese battle lines, Barton and

Higgins boats
from Guadalcanal.

Awards

In her short six months of active service to the

battle stars
for her service in World War II.

Rediscovery

The forward section of the wreck of Barton was discovered in 1992 by Robert Ballard, 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

  1. ^ Brown p. 73
  • Brown, David. Warship Losses of World War Two. Arms and Armour, London, Great Britain, 1990. .
  • This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links