USS Barbel (SS-580)

Barbel (SS-580) was laid by Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 18 May 1956. She was launched on 19 July 1958, sponsored by Mrs. Bernard L. Austin, and commissioned on 17 January 1959 with Lieutenant Commander Ord Kimzey, Jr. in command.

Barbel was the lead ship of her class, which was the first class built with a teardrop shape. These three submarines were also milestones in that they were the last diesel electric propelled submarines built by the US Navy. This class was also the first to incorporate a centralized arrangement of controls, or "attack center".

As the first ship of her class and design, Barbel conducted builder's trials, special tests, and a post shake-down overhaul prior to joining Submarine Division 62 in Norfolk, Virginia in the summer of 1960. In January 1962, Barbel transited the Panama Canal to San Diego, California, where she joined the U.S. Pacific Fleet, operating as a unit of Submarine Division 33 for six months.

Barbel moved in July 1962 to Pearl Harbor as a flagship for the newly formed Submarine Division 133, operating in the Mid-Pacific and deploying to the Western Pacific for operations with Seventh Fleet. In April 1964, Barbel departed for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for overhaul. Upon completion of the overhaul and extensive testing, she returned to Pearl Harbor as the first submarine to incorporate the enhanced reliability of the "SUBSAFE" modifications.

Over the next eleven years (1965-1976), Barbel conducted seven extended deployments to the Western Pacific. During those deployments, Barbel visited ports in Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong, and operated , with units of the U.S. SEVENTH Fleet and allied navies. During the same interval, the ship also underwent three overhauls - two at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and a third at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. In November, 1976, at the conclusion of the third overhaul, Barbel visited Victoria and Vancouver, Canada, and Seattle, Washington before returning to Pearl Harbor.

Barbel conducted another four extended Western Pacific and two Eastern Pacific deployments before beginning her next overhaul at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in September 1982. Following that overhaul and operations in the Hawaiian area, Barbel deployed to the Western Pacific for the twelfth time in September 1984, returning to Pearl Harbor in March 1985. Barbel conducted local operations and refits until September 1985. Barbel was then forward deployed in Sasebo, Japan in October 1985 under U.S. SEVENTH Fleet and Commander Task Force 74/Submarine Group Seven.

On 1 May 1989 Barbel experienced a flooding casualty taking the lives of two shipmates. The damage to the submarine was extensive and the decision was made to decommission her. She was decommissioned 4 December 1989 and struck from the navy list on 4 March 1992. On 30 January 2001, Barbel was sunk as a target (at 032° 19' 08.0" North, 121° 36' 16.0" West ) off the coast of San Pedro California in 11,800 feet of water.

The following shipmates lost their lives aboard USS Barbel (SS-580) on May 1, 1989 :

Lear James D. SA
Womble Walter G. LT