USS Barton (DD-599)
Barton in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts on 29 May 1942
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Barton |
Namesake | John Kennedy Barton |
Builder | Fore River Shipyard |
Laid down | 20 May 1941 |
Launched | 31 January 1942 |
Commissioned | 29 May 1942 |
Identification | DD-599 |
Fate | Sunk by Battle of Guadalcanal,[1] 13 November 1942 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Benson-class destroyer |
Displacement | 1,620 tons |
Length | 347 ft 9 in (105.99 m) |
Beam | 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m) |
Draft | 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m) |
Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
Complement | 276 |
Armament |
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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
Service history
Barton departed the east coast 23 August 1942 and steamed to the Pacific, arriving at
Arriving off
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
Now fully enveloped by Japanese battle lines, Barton and
Awards
In her short six months of active service to the
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
- ^ Brown p. 73
- Brown, David. Warship Losses of World War Two. Arms and Armour, London, Great Britain, 1990. ISBN 0-85368-802-8.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.