USS Barry (DD-933)

History of USS Barry (DD-933)

The Forrest-Sherman class destroyers were established in 1955 as a fleet of 18 ships led by USS Forrest Sherman (DD-931). These types are traditionally powered ships designed to deal with various threats expected during the "Cold War" between the West and the Soviet Union.

During all-out war, the enemy used attack submarines, aircraft, and other surface combatants, so modern destroyers at the time were equipped with a plethora of weapon options to deal with the threat. In this way, U.S. destroyers can counter air, surface, and submarine threats and support maritime operations or protect major fleet components in amphibious assaults.

These types of ships are designed to operate independently, or as part of a larger force in deep or coastal waters. In addition to its versatile weapons, the destroyer has the advantageous speed to deal with a potential threat or to evade imminent danger.

The third ship in the class became the USS Barry (DD-933), named after Revolutionary War hero Commodore John Barry, often referred to as the "Father of the U.S. Navy". Barry served in the Continental Navy, the precursor to the modern U.S.

Navy, and fought in several notable battles in the war that led to American independence. His name eventually graced the hulls of no fewer than four U.S. warships, including the state-of-the-art Arleigh Burke-class USS John Barry (DDG-52) (2013) currently in service.

USS Barry (DD-933) was ordered on December 15, 1952, when the United States was fully committed to the Korean War (1950-1953). On March 15, 1954, she saw the keel being laid by Bath Iron Works (Bath, Maine, USA), and the hull was launched on October 1, 1955. So far, the Korean War ended in a loose armistice. The U.S.

Navy officially acquired the ship on August 31, 1956, and commissioned it on September 7, 1956.

A destroyer-like ship, the Barry is a compact ship built with speed in mind. Her design remained fairly traditional, including an accessible forecastle with foredeck guns, a mid-superstructure, and aft deck guns (no helideck). Two chimneys complete her side profile, as do a pair of towering masts - the front appendages of the intricate lattice structure and the lower rear mast in a tripod arrangement. The bridge was located aft of the front guns (identifiable by their large windows), near the top of the superstructure, with a good view over the bow and forward sides.

The rudder is in the middle of the bridge, and the captain is on the left. He got a forward cabin in order to get close to the bridge. Connected to the rear of the bridge is a darkened operating room with sensitive electronics, equipment and specialists to monitor them. The ship has a crew of 337, including 22 officers and 315 soldiers.

Electricity is supplied by 4 x 1,200 lb boilers that power 2 x steam turbines driving 2 x axles aft. Top speed is 32 knots and full-load displacement is 4,000 lbs.

Barry began her 1956 Shakedown cruise with port stopovers throughout the Caribbean. In February 1957, she passed through the Panama Canal, making several stops in Latin and South America. In June, she was hired to start her first European company before returning to the United States. Back in European (Mediterranean) waters, Barry was dispatched to the Lebanese coast along with other U.S. Navy ships to help stabilize the growing unrest there.

She then returned to the United States in the mid-1960s.

The USS Barry was one of the ships President John F. Kennedy called for a naval blockade of the island nation of Cuba ("Cuban Quarantine"), a Communist stronghold just a few miles off the coast of the United States and actively supported by the Soviet Union. This occurred during the pivotal "Cuba Crisis" that nearly plunged the two world powers into nuclear war.

Barry joined her contemporaries in the October 1962 action. The situation eventually spread, resulting in the removal of all nuclear missiles parked by the Soviet Union from the island, which in turn forced the United States to withdraw some of its missiles from its allies bordering the Soviet Empire.

The USS Barry was one of many U.S. Navy surface ships involved in operations in the Vietnam War (1955-1975). Barry angrily used her gun while ground bombing enemy positions in the Mekong Delta.

Their artillery was then used to support Operation Double Eagle near Gwanggyeong, which became the largest amphibious operation since the landings at Incheon during the Korean War (1950-1953). Barry's guns ended up firing around 2,500 rounds at enemy positions, and the destroyers believed that around 1,000 enemy fortifications were built during the battle. From September 1965 to January 1967, the USS Barry sailed some 55,000 miles at sea, proving she was a seasoned veteran, earning two battle stars while serving in Vietnam.

In 1966, she became the first U.S. Navy ship to be equipped with the Mk 86 Fire Control System (FCS), a digitally-assisted gunfire system designed to improve base range accuracy. Barry left for Hong Kong on February 15 to wrap up her Vietnam trip.

In 1967, the USS Barry underwent a major modernization, increasing her anti-submarine capabilities. This includes integrating variable depth sonar (VDS) to help search and track enemy submarines. Additionally, her deck is now adorned with an "ASROC" (Anti-Submarine Rocket Launcher) kit, a rocket-assisted torpedo launcher designed for long-range engagements against enemy submarines. The system combines a subsonic rocket motor (using solid propellant) with a traditional anti-submarine (inertially guided) homing torpedo.

The launch vehicle carries eight separate launch cells and sits on a trainable base (allowing for traversal and lift) to attack from many corners of the ship.

Barry was active in the U.S. Navy inventory until her retirement on November 5, 1982she had spanned 26 years, traveled hundreds of thousands of miles, fought in a major U.S. war, and supported various other actions, if required. Barry landed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard less than a week later, before finding a permanent home at the Washington Navy Yard in 1984. The Washington Navy Yard brought her to the U.S. Naval Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. for a permanent display.

The third USS Barry (DD-933) remains an active floating relic as part of the US Navy's impressive collection of live exhibits at the Washington Naval Shipyard.

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