USS Barbero ( SS - 317 ) USS " Barbero " ( SS / SSA / SSG - 317 ) was a " Balao " - class submarine of the United States Navy , named for a family of fishes commonly called surgeon fish . " Barbero " was laid by the Electric Boat Company of Groton , Connecticut on 25 March 1943 . She was launched on 12 December 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . Katherine R . Keating , and commissioned on 29 April 1944 , Lieutenant Commander Irvin S . Hartman in command . Service history . World War II . " Barbero " s war operations span the period from 9 August 1944 – 2 January 1945 , during which she completed two war patrols . She is credited with sinking three Japanese merchant ships totaling 9 , 126 tons while patrolling in the Java and South China Seas . " Barbero " embarked on her first war patrol from Pearl Harbor on 9 August 1944 . She reached her patrol area , located east of the central Philippines off San Bernardino Strait , on 24 August . Though she had been stationed there to report and to interdict any attempt by the Japanese to use the strait to contest the Allied invasion of the Palau Islands , they tried no such move . Moreover , during the 31 days that she spent in the area , she encountered no large target . The high point of the patrol came when " Barbero " lobbed 25 rounds at a radar station on Batag Island with her 5 - inch deck gun . Though she obtained no definite results , her failure to detect radar activity the following night prompted her claim to have neutralized the station . The submarine cleared the area on 24 September 1944 and headed for western Australia , concluding a disappointing 56 - day patrol at Fremantle on 4 October . After refit and a brief training period , " Barbero " departed Fremantle on her second war patrol on 26 October . On this patrol , Comdr . Hartman also assumed command of a coordinated attack group ( nicknamed a wolfpack ) consisting of " Barbero " , USS Haddo ( SS - 255 ) , and USS Redfin ( SS - 272 ) . The first phase of this two - part patrol lasted from 26 October until 15 November . It was conducted in the Makassar Strait and in the area west of Mindoro . On 2 November , after a lively passage of Lombok Strait during which picket boats and shore batteries fired on her , " Barbero " sank her first ship , a 2 , 700 - ton transport loaded with troops . On 8 November , she sent a 7 , 500 - ton tanker to the bottom during a coordinated attack on a small convoy carried out in cooperation with " Redfin " . " Redfin " received credit for sinking the other tanker in the convoy . Following a three - day stop at Mios Woendi to rearm with torpedo es and perform minor upkeep , " Barbero " embarked on the second portion of the patrol . This longer phase lasted from 18 November 1944 to 2 January 1945 and was conducted in the South China Sea northeast of Borneo . On 24 December in an attack on an escorted four - ship convoy , a 7 , 500 - ton gasoline tanker was sunk and a second tanker grossing about 5 , 000 tons was damaged . On Christmas Day , the submarine claimed her gift from the Japanese in the form of a 4 , 000 - ton cargo ship that she sank . On 27 December , while she attempted the perilous repassage of Lombok Strait , fragments from an aerial bomb that narrowly missed " Barbero " close aboard aft damaged her port reduction gear . The damage forced her to cover the distance remaining to Fremantle on a single screw , and put her out of action for the remainder of the war . In 68 days away from Fremantle , Barbero returned having sunk four ships totalling 21 , 700 tons and claiming damage to a fifth of 5 , 000 tons . Post - War Cargo and Regulus Missile Conversions . In September 1945 , she was ordered to Mare Island Naval Shipyard – where she underwent pre - inactivation overhaul – and was placed in commission in reserve on 25 April 1946 . Following conversion to a cargo submarine at Mare Island , " Barbero " was recommissioned , redesignated SSA - 317 , and assigned to the Pacific Fleet on 31 March 1948 . From October 1948 – March 1950 , she took part in an experimental program to evaluate her capabilities as a cargo carrier . Experimentation ended in early 1950 , and she was decommissioned into the reserve on 30 June 1950 . On 1 February 1955 , " Barbero " entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard for her second conversion , equipping her to launch the Regulus I nuclear cruise missile . She was thus redesignated SSG - 317 and recommissioned on 28 October 1955 under Lt . Cmdr . Samuel T . Bussey as the second submarine equipped with the Regulus missile , the USS Tunny ( SSG - 282 ) having been converted in 1953 . In this role , " Barbero " was equipped with a hangar housing two missiles and a launcher on the after deck . One of the limitations of Regulus was that the firing submarine had to surface , the missile then being rolled out onto the launcher and fired . Regulus I also required guidance from submarines or other platforms after firing . She operated off the coast of California , firing her first test missile near San Clemente Island on 14 March 1956 , until April 1956 , when she transited the Panama Canal and joined the Atlantic Fleet , based at Norfolk , Virginia . On 1 July 1959 , Barbero was reassigned to the Pacific Fleet ' s Submarine Squadron 1 , based at Pearl Harbor . From there , she served as an integral part in the nation ' s defense against nuclear war by carrying out early versions of the deterrent patrols that later became a regular feature of the submarine force after the introduction of the fleet ballistic missile submarine . In January 1962 , Barbero entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for an extensive five - month overhaul . During that time , members of her crew pursued various fields of training and education at service schools in Hawaii and on the west coast . After concluding the overhaul in June , Barbero carried out local operations and conducted refresher training . She then completed a single deterrent patrol mission in the latter half of 1962 . Barbero conducted another two deterrent missions 1963 , making liberty calls in Far Eastern ports at the conclusion of each . Missile Mail . In 1959 " Barbero " assisted the United States Post Office Department , predecessor of what in 1971 became today ' s United States Postal Service ( USPS ) , in its search for faster , more efficient forms of mail transportation . The USPS tried their first and only delivery of " Missile Mail " , though the idea of delivering mail by rocket was not new . Shortly before noon on 8 June 1959 , off the northern Florida coast , " Barbero " fired a Regulus cruise missile towards the Naval Auxiliary Air Station , Mayport , Florida . Twenty - two minutes later the training type missile landed at its target ; its training - type warhead having been configured to contain two official USPS mail containers . The USPS had officially established a branch post office on " Barbero " and delivered some 3 , 000 pieces of mail to it before " Barbero " left Norfolk , Virginia . The mail consisted entirely of commemorative postal covers addressed to President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower , other government officials , the Postmasters General of all members of the Universal Postal Union , and so on . They contained letters from United States Postmaster General Arthur E . Summerfield . Their postage ( four cents domestic , eight cents international ) had been cancelled " USS Barbero 8 June 9 . 30 am 1959 " before the boat put to sea . In Mayport , the Regulus was opened and the mail forwarded to the Jacksonville , Florida Post Office for further sorting and routing . Upon witnessing the missile ' s landing , Summerfield stated , " This peacetime employment of a guided missile for the important and practical purpose of carrying mail , is the first known official use of missiles by any Post Office Department of any nation . " Summerfield proclaimed the event to be " of historic significance to the peoples of the entire world , " and predicted that " before man reaches the moon , mail will be delivered within hours from New York to California , to Britain , to India or Australia by guided missiles . We stand on the threshold of rocket mail . " Decommissioning and disposal . Regulus was superseded by the Polaris missile in 1964 . " Barbero " ended her nuclear strategic deterrent patrols and was decommissioned on 30 June 1964 . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Registry on 1 July 1964 , prior to being used as a target and sunk by the submarine ( SS - 351 ) off Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , on 7 October 1964 . Awards . " Barbero " received two battle star s for her World War II service .