.jpg) Barton inBoston Harbor, Massachusetts on 29 May 1942 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSBarton |
| 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 byJapanese destroyer Amatsukaze,Battle of Guadalcanal,[1] 13 November 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Benson-classdestroyer |
| 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 | 36knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
| Complement | 276 |
| Armament |
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USSBarton (DD-599) was aBenson-classdestroyer in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II. She was the first ship named forRear AdmiralJohn Kennedy Barton.
Barton waslaunched on 31 January 1942 byBethlehem Steel Corporation atQuincy,Massachusetts,sponsored by Miss Barbara Dean Barton, granddaughter ofRear AdmiralJohn Kennedy Barton, andcommissioned on 29 May 1942,Lieutenant CommanderDouglas Harold Fox in command.
Barton departed the east coast 23 August 1942 and steamed to the Pacific, arriving atTongatapu,Tonga Islands, 14 September 1942. During October she participated in the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai raid (5 October) and theBattle 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 offGuadalcanal on 12 November 1942 having safely escorted a supplyconvoy to the island,Barton was ordered to join up withRear AdmiralDaniel J. Callaghan's force of fivecruisers and seven otherdestroyers 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 asIronbottom 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 rangeradar systems which began to detect the approaching Japanese ships at approximately 00:30hrs (12:30 am). Consisting of twobattleships, one cruiser and eleven destroyers, the Japanese fleet rounded the northwestern coast ofSavo Island and entered Ironbottom Sound at approximately 01:10hrs (1:10 am) and shaped their course forHenderson 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 firstradar 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 USSBarton began to train her deck guns andtorpedo tubes on several Japanese ships in her immediate area and awaited the order to open fire from theflagship. At 01:48hrs (1:48 am) the order to open fire was precluded whenAkatsuki lit its searchlights onto the cruiserAtlanta, causing both sides to immediately open fire on each other and starting theFirst Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
Now fully enveloped by Japanese battle lines,Barton andMonssen steaming astern, broke to the northwest into the main group of Japanese ships while firing at point blank range on nearby Japanese destroyers and making violent maneuvers to avoid collisions with both friendly and enemy ships in the melee.Barton had just fired a full spread oftorpedoes at the battleshipHiei when thelight cruiserUSS Helena appeared suddenly out of the darkness and cut directly across thebow ofBarton. Making an emergency stop to avoid colliding withHelena,Barton found herself at a dead stop as her engineering crew tried to get her engines back into gear to get her moving again. However, before she could get underway two 'Long Lance' torpedoes fired by theAmatsukaze slammed into the midsection ofBarton; one in herboiler room and one in her engine room. The massive explosions broke theBarton in two, and both sections sank only minutes after the first torpedo struck, carrying with her 164 men: 13 officers and 151 of her crew. Forty-two survivors were rescued byUSS Portland and twenty-six byHiggins boats from Guadalcanal.
In her short six months of active service to theUS NavyBarton received fourbattle stars for her service in World War II.
The forward section of the wreck ofBarton was discovered in 1992 byRobert Ballard, with only the hull section andsuperstructure ahead of theboiler room found intact. To date the stern section ofBarton has not been located.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere. United States Navy | |
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 Republic of China Navy | |
 Marina Militare |
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