USS Barton ( DD - 722 ) USS " Barton " ( DD - 722 ) , an " Allen M . Sumner " - class destroyer , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral John Kennedy Barton . Construction . The second " Barton " ( DD - 722 ) was launched 10 October 1943 by Bath Iron Works Corp . , Bath , Maine ; sponsored by Ms . Barbara Dean Barton , granddaughter of Admiral Barton ; and commissioned 30 December 1943 , Commander J . W . Callahan in command . World War II . On 14 May 1944 , " Barton " departed Norfolk and arrived at Plymouth , England on the 27th . From 3 - 26 , June she carried out screening , patrol , and bombardment duties in support of the invasion of Normandy . On 4 June , she rescued 31 American soldiers from the sinking " LCT - 2498 " . During a brisk engagement with German batteries in the Bombardment of Cherbourg on 25 June , " Barton " was slightly damaged while delivering effective gunfire support . Returning to the U . S . on 10 July , " Barton " soon departed Norfolk for the Pacific , arriving at Pearl Harbor on 2 October . She then steamed westward to take part in the capture of Leyte , including the Ormoc landings ( 9 November – 8 December ) , Mindoro landings ( 12 – 18 December ) , Lingayen Gulf landings ( 4 – 21 January 1945 ) ; Iwo Jima invasion , including the 5th Fleet ' s supporting raids on Honshū and the Nansei Shoto ( 10 – 19 February , 25 February – 1 March ) ; Okinawa invasion ( 21 March – 30 June ) , and the 3rd Fleet raids on Japan ( 10 – 24 July ) . Post - War . After a brief tour with the occupation forces in Japan , " Barton " returned to Seattle on 6 October . She operated along the west coast until June 1946 , when she departed Oakland for Bikini Atoll where she participated in Operation Crossroads ( 15 June – 10 August ) . Returning to the United States , she continued operations off the west coast until 22 January 1947 , when she went out of commission in reserve at San Diego . On 11 April 1949 , " Barton " was recommissioned and joined Destroyer Division 201 ( DesDiv 201 ) . She operated with the Pacific Fleet until 11 July , when she got underway for Norfolk , arriving on 5 August . For the next three years , she operated along the eastern seaboard , made two cruises to the Caribbean : and one cruise with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean . On 15 May 1952 , " Barton " departed Norfolk via the Panama Canal for Korea , Commander Harvey B . Seim in command , arriving at Yokosuka , Japan on 18 June . She Joined Task Force 77 ( TF 77 ) as a member of a hunter - killer group for operations along the east coast of Korea . On 10 August , while silencing enemy batteries on the island of Hodo Pando , " Barton " was hit on her number one stack by a shell from an enemy shore battery . Two men were wounded . Sailor Dale P . Gray , BM3 , was killed . Repair party member MMFN Anthony Palm ( Johnstown , PA ) was dispatched to assess the extent of damage caused by the incoming round . His initial report of “ . . . it ’ s a small hole , about 18 ” in diameter ” , grossly underestimated the actual size of nearly 4 ½ feet . After a short repair period at Yokosuka ( 25 – 31 August ) , she returned to Korean waters . While operating with TF 77 , she was struck by a floating mine on 16 September , and had five men missing and seven wounded . The five sailors who died were Russell J . Graf , Harold J . Savoie , John M . Sherry , Walter E . Thierfelder , Jr . , and black crew member , John L . Walton . Effective damage control by her crew enabled her to reach Sasebo for temporary repairs ( 29 September – 19 October ) and then Norfolk , via the Suez Canal , for permanent repairs . She arrived at Norfolk on 12 December . Repairs completed on 15 August 1953 , " Barton " spent the remainder of the year operating along the east coast and in the Caribbean . On 4 January 1954 , the destroyer headed for the Far East once again for another tour of duty with the 7th Fleet . After several months patrolling the waters between Okinawa and Taiwan and participating in hunter - killer exercises with , " Barton " steamed around the southern tip of Africa — making stops in Kenya , South Africa , Brazil , and Trinidad along the way . She moored in Norfolk on 10 August . " Barton " began a schedule of training exercises and Atlantic Fleet maneuvers out of Norfolk , generally operating in the Virginia capes area and the West Indies . Following an overhaul in the Charleston Naval Shipyard in 1955 , the destroyer rejoined the Atlantic Fleet for three months of hunter - killer anti - submarine warfare ( ASW ) training in preparation for a Mediterranean cruise . On 28 July 1956 , the destroyer departed Norfolk and entered the Mediterranean Sea on 7 August . After participating in NATO Exercise " Whipsaw " , " Barton " and " Soley " steamed to Port Said , Egypt , to escort a convoy through the Suez Canal and into the Persian Gulf for a routine six - week patrol with the Middle East Force . On 29 October , the two destroyers started south from the vicinity of Abadan , Iran , to leave the gulf , circumnavigate the Arabian Peninsula , and retransit the Suez Canal . Hostilities broke out that same day between Israel and Egypt over Egypt ' s premature nationalization of the canal . The war closed the canal , and subsequent international military action prompted Egypt to block it with sunken ships . Meanwhile , " Barton " and " Soley " anchored in Sitrah Harbor , Bahrein , and stood by in case a need arose to evacuate Americans from the region . Operating from Bahrein , " Barton " spent the next two months anchored at night and conducting tactical and gunnery drills by day . Finally , on 12 December , the destroyer received orders directing her around the Cape of Good Hope to Norfolk , where she tied up on 5 February 1957 . Following a period of upkeep , " Barton " prepared to put to sea on 14 March . She and received orders to escort the cruiser as she carried President Eisenhower to Bermuda to confer with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan . " Barton " carried members of the press to the ceremony and stood sentry with " William M . Wood " at the entrance to the harbor . The destroyer then conducted ASW patrol and spent time in Norfolk in upkeep before going into drydock in Newport News for hull repairs . " Barton " exited Chesapeake Bay on 1 July and set out for yet another Mediterranean cruise . After several weeks of training operations with NATO forces and other units of the 6th Fleet , " Barton " anchored in Port Said on the night of 20 September . The following day , she and " Soley " transited the Suez Canal together once again and then headed to the Persian Gulf for a month of operations with the Iranian Navy . Upon relief by , the warship returned to the Mediterranean to participate in three more NATO exercises . She returned to Norfolk on 20 November . For the next seven years , " Barton " alternated between training exercises out of Norfolk and assignments with the 6th Fleet . She made four Mediterranean deployments , eight visits to the West Indies , and one voyage to Halifax , Nova Scotia . The warship also qualified as a gunfire support ship in several exercises at Culebra and Bloodsworth Islands . On 5 February 1958 , while steaming to Norfolk from the Caribbean , the destroyer received orders to assist a badly damaged Panamanian merchant ship , SS " Elefterio " . " Barton " s damage control parties could not contain the flooding caused by a large hole in " Elefterio " s hold , so she embarked the tanker ' s crew and passengers and transported them to Norfolk . In 1962 , " Barton " covered the Project Mercury space shot carried out on 18 May in which Colonel John Glenn , USMC , became the first American to orbit the Earth . Late in October , she and the other units of the Atlantic Fleet stood to in order to support the warships engaged in the quarantine of Cuba called for by President John F . Kennedy in response to the siting of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba . " Barton " rehearsed with amphibious units at Onslow Beach , N . C . , and stood by , ready for immediate action . The ship returned to Norfolk when the crisis ended . At the end of a Mediterranean deployment in August 1963 , " Barton " and made a goodwill tour of the Baltic Sea to support Vice President Lyndon B . Johnson ' s Scandinavian tour . The destroyers held " open ship " for general visiting at Copenhagen , Denmark , and Helsinki , Finland , before heading home on 10 September . In April 1965 , " Barton " received orders to join Reserve DesRon 30 , and she became flagship of the squadron in its home port of Philadelphia . Her underway periods benefitted the reserve units that trained on board the destroyer , and also provided her nucleus crew with liberty visits to such ports as Fort Lauderdale , Port Everglades , West Palm Beach , and Miami , Fla . ; Kingston , Jamaica ; San Juan , P . R . ; Freeport , Grand Bahamas ; Bermuda ; and Halifax , Nova Scotia . In July , " Barton " also steamed to Quebec and Montreal , and continued via the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Cleveland , Ohio , for a month of training combined with public awareness work about the Navy and its mission . During her remaining years in commission , " Barton " operated primarily between Philadelphia , Norfolk , and Guantanamo Bay . Fate . In August 1968 , a board of inspection and survey determined the destroyer to be beyond economical repair . " Barton " was decommissioned on 30 September 1968 , and her name struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 October . She was sunk as a target on 8 October 1969 . Awards . " Barton " received six battle star s for World War II service and two for Korea .