USS Barb ( SSN - 596 ) USS " Barb " ( SSN - 596 ) , a " Permit " - class attack submarine , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the barb , a kingfish of the Atlantic coast . The contract to build her was awarded to the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation in Pascagoula , Mississippi , and her keel was laid down on 9 November 1959 . She was launched on 12 February 1962 sponsored by Mrs . Marjorie Fluckey , wife of Rear Admiral Eugene Bennett Fluckey , who earned the Medal of Honor as Commanding Officer of . The new " Barb " was commissioned on 24 August 1963 , with Commander Charles D . Grojean in command . Service history . 1963 – 1967 . " Barb " departed Pascagoula on 28 September for her shakedown cruise off the west coast . Sailing by way of the Panama Canal and Vallejo , California , she arrived in Puget Sound where she carried out a variety of trials between 30 October and 19 November . The submarine then concluded her shakedown training with a four - week , round - trip voyage to Hawaii . Upon her return to the United States West Coast on 17 December 1963 , she entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for post - shakedown availability . Those repairs and modifications occupied her for nine months , carrying her well into 1964 . On 1 July 1964 , her home port was officially changed from Vallejo , California , to Pearl Harbor . Seven weeks later , " Barb " left the yard at Mare Island and began a somewhat circuitous voyage to her new base , traveling by way of Seattle , Washington . In Hawaii , as part of Submarine Division 71 , the boat pursued an active schedule of training missions in the local operating area . On 1 December 1964 , " Barb " was designated flagship for the Commander , Submarine Force , Pacific Fleet . Local training operations in the Hawaiian Islands took up most of 1965 . In fact , save for the period between 9 June and 25 July 1965 during which she voyaged to Mare Island Naval Shipyard for repairs to her sonar , the submarine operated in the Hawaiian area exclusively for two years . In the spring of 1966 , Barb completed an advanced training exercise from March 3 to May 15 . In late 1966 , the submarine made another extended voyage to the U . S . West Coast during which she visited San Francisco and then carried out weapons alignment tests at Dabob Bay , Washington , before undergoing repairs and modifications at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard . " Barb " returned to Hawaii late in October and spent the rest of 1966 in Pearl Harbor in a restricted availability . 1967 – 1969 . " Barb " resumed a normal training schedule in the Hawaiian operating area through the first four months of 1967 . Soon thereafter , however , her routine underwent a significant change when she embarked on her first deployment to the Far East on 9 May . She arrived at Naha , Okinawa , on 22 May , and sailed for Vietnamese waters on the 27th for a Vietnam War tour of duty with Task Group 77 . 9 . After that assignment , " Barb " made a liberty call at Singapore before heading for Yokosuka on 19 June . The submarine spent nine days at Yokosuka and then returned to sea for almost three weeks of unspecified operations . Another upkeep period back at Yokosuka closed out the month of August , at which point " Barb " got underway for Hong Kong and a week - long liberty and goodwill visit . While on her way back to the Vietnamese war zone , she received orders diverting her to training duty at Naha , Okinawa . That employment lasted until the second week in October , at which time she headed for Guam . Though diverted briefly to Subic Bay , " Barb " reached her destination on 15 October . At the conclusion of some tactical exercises and upkeep at Guam , she set out on the voyage back to Hawaii on 24 October . The submarine ended her first Far Eastern deployment when she reentered Pearl Harbor on 1 November . Following post - deployment standdown , " Barb " resumed local operations in the Hawaiian Islands at the beginning of 1968 . On 11 April 1968 " Barb " reported dozens of warships , including four or five submarines , of the Soviet Navy ' s Pacific Fleet all moving slowly and pinging with active sonar . The was missing , and a series of events that would prompt the building of the Hughes Glomar Explorer six years later had begun . In late May 1968 she commenced regular overhaul at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard . The maintenance and repairs took up the rest of 1968 and nearly all of 1969 . The overhaul ended officially on 8 December 1969 , just in time for the annual holiday standdown . 1970 – 1972 . Early in January 1970 , " Barb " sailed to Washington state again to carry out weapons systems ' accuracy tests and to test a new type of torpedo . Returning to Hawaii late in February , " Barb " pursued a normal schedule of local training missions from her base at Pearl Harbor . That occupied her for the remainder of 1970 ; though , late in the year , she began preparations to deploy overseas . The submarine left Pearl Harbor for the Western Pacific on 2 January 1971 . She combined an extended special operation with her passage west that made the transit an unusually long one . She did not arrive in Yokosuka until 7 February . After two weeks of upkeep there , she headed for Subic Bay where she made a two - day stop . Departing Subic Bay on the 28th , " Barb " carried out another four weeks of special operations before returning to Subic Bay on 28 March . On the 30th , she embarked on the voyage to Hong Kong where she spent the first week in April . From Hong Kong , the warship sailed to the Mariana Islands , arriving at Guam on the 15th and remaining there for the rest of the month . On 1 May , she returned to sea for eight weeks of special operations . Her deployment ended on 25 June with her arrival back in Pearl Harbor . After post - deployment standdown , " Barb " began an extended shipyard availability at the end of July . She left the drydock in mid - October , but other repair work occupied her through the end of 1971 and into 1972 so " Barb " did not resume normal operations until the spring of 1972 . 1972 – 1976 . On 22 May 1972 , the submarine deployed to the Marianas area once more and operated from Apra Harbor , Guam , for most of the remainder of the year . On 8 July 1972 , " Barb " lay in Apra Harbor completing repairs prior to a patrol in the Mariana Islands . Typhoon Rita was approaching Guam , and " Barb " intended to be at sea and submerged before the storm arrived . Shortly after 04 : 00 hours , " Cobalt 2 " , a B - 52 Stratofortress of the Strategic Air Command commanded by United States Air Force Captain Leroy Johnson , took off from Andersen Air Force Base , intending to fly over the storm . Soon after takeoff , however , the aircraft became uncontrollable , and the crew bailed out . By 05 : 25 , the six - man crew were in the ocean . A C - 97 Stratofreighter spotted the survivors and radioed their location to Joint Search and Rescue at Agana . " Barb " and submarine were ordered to proceed at best speed and effect rescue . At about 23 : 00 , " Barb " surfaced about from the reported location . The heavy weather had already forced surface ships to turn back , and caused the round - hulled submarine to roll and corkscrew violently . It was 01 : 15 hours the next morning before the boat ' s crew spotted the survivors ' lights . They made numerous attempts to rescue the airmen through the night , but did not succeed . By 07 : 40 hours , visibility had improved and the typhoon had moved from the immediate area , and the boat approached a group of three rafts . Several attempts to shoot a line to the survivors failed , so Chief Torpedoman Jon Hentz volunteered to swim to them , towing a line . At about 08 : 15 , the rafts holding Major Ronald Dvorak , the Electronic Warfare Officer , Lieutenant William Neely III , the copilot , and Lieutenant Kent Dodson , the navigator , were secured to the submarine . Over the next hour , they were brought aboard , a task made more challenging by the waves that often exposed the submarine ' s screw and the ballast tank flood grates at the bottom of the boat . At about 10 : 00 hours , orbiting aircraft vectored " Barb " to the next survivor , Airman Daniel Johansen , the aircraft ' s gunner , who caught a line shot to him and was pulled aboard in less than a quarter - hour . Meanwhile , " Gurnard " arrived on the scene , found Captain Leroy Johnson , the aircraft commander , and brought him aboard . Lieutenant Colonel J . L . Vaughn , the radar navigator , had not survived the night . Aircraft sighted his body floating face down , still tied to his raft . The survivors were carried back to Guam , where each boat was presented the Meritorious Unit Commendation , and ten submariners who played perilous topside roles received individual commendations . Torpedoman Hentz received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal . On 15 December 1972 , " Barb " returned to Hawaii . From January to early March 1973 , she carried out normal training missions out of her home port . On 10 March , she stood out of Pearl Harbor on a three - month overseas assignment . Following another eight - week special operation , she visited Pusan , South Korea , for four days during the second week in May . From Pusan , the submarine sailed back to the Marianas , in the vicinity of which she operated for about a month before heading back to Hawaii on 10 June . She reentered Pearl Harbor on the 18th . At the end of the usual month of leave and upkeep , " Barb " took up local training operations once again in July . In September , she participated in the multinational exercise RIMPAC 73 . During the remainder of 1973 , the submarine returned to local training duty and began preparations for her second refueling overhaul scheduled to begin the following spring . That overhaul commenced when she entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 1 March 1974 , and lasted for just over 20 months . During that time , her home port was changed from Pearl Harbor to San Diego so that , when she completed the overhaul early in November 1975 , " Barb " began her refresher training out of that new home port . Similar assignments carried out all along the west coast of North America occupied her time for almost 16 months . She did not start preparing for another tour of duty overseas until late in 1976 , and the deployment itself did not begin until early in 1977 . 1977 – 1979 . On 17 February 1977 , " Barb " stood out of San Diego on her way to the Far East . On the first leg of her voyage , she participated in the multinational exercise RIMPAC 77 and then made a two - day call at her former home port , Pearl Harbor , at the end of the month . She then embarked on the transit to Subic Bay , the duration of which was extended by exercises with TG 37 . 9 and TG 77 . 3 . The submarine arrived in Subic Bay on 18 March but returned to sea almost immediately for the passage to Chinhae , Korea . Along the way , she took part in exercises with units of the Japan Maritime Self - Defense Force and with elements of the South Korean Navy . " Barb " visited Chinhae from 29 March to 1 April and then called at Hong Kong between 11 and 14 April . From Hong Kong , she set out for the Marianas , exercising with units of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and United States Navy patrol aircraft along the way . The submarine spent the period 20 April to 9 May in port at Guam , then put to sea for the first of two special operations that she conducted in May and June . " Barb " reentered Guam on 24 May , but returned to sea the following day to begin the second and longer of her two special operations . That employment lasted until the end of June at which time she put into Subic Bay for a week of liberty before heading back to the United States on 7 July . On the way home , " Barb " called at Hawaii for several days in the latter part of July , resuming the voyage home on the 25th . She arrived back in San Diego on 2 August . After several weeks of relative inactivity , the submarine embarked on a schedule of local operations highlighted by her selection as a test platform for the Tomahawk cruise missile in late October . She remained so occupied through the end of 1977 into the second quarter of 1978 . On 26 April , the warship entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for a three - month availability . She resumed normal operations out of San Diego late in July and continued so engaged until deploying to the western Pacific once more on 27 September 1978 . " Barb " spent the week between 3 and 10 October in Hawaii and then resumed her passage west arriving in Subic Bay on the 29th . She stayed in Subic Bay for three weeks and then set sail for Japan on 20 November . After four days of voyage repairs at Yokosuka , she returned to sea on 1 December for a month - long special operation that she concluded at Chinhae , Korea , on the last day of 1978 . The Chinhae visit extended three days into 1979 at which point the submarine set out for the Marianas . She reached Guam on 11 January and remained there through the end of the month . On 1 February , She embarked on the voyage to Subic Bay where she arrived on the 6th . Three days later , " Barb " put to sea to take part in MULTIPLEX 2 - 79 that lasted until the 21st . She returned to Subic Bay for the last week in February before setting out on the voyage home on the 28th . Almost three weeks later , on 17 March , " Barb " stood into San Diego and commenced seven weeks of post - deployment leave and upkeep . At the end of the first week in May , she embarked upon a normal training routine that she carried out in the southern California operating area . Similar evolutions occupied her for the rest of 1979 and into the first weeks of 1980 . 1980 – 1989 . On 7 February 1980 , " Barb " deployed to the mid - Pacific region to conduct equipment tests and procedure evaluations and to take part in the multinational exercise , RIMPAC 80 . Based at Pearl Harbor , she carried out those missions until early April when she returned to San Diego . Another seven - week upkeep period followed , after which she resumed local operations out of San Diego . The submarine continued to pursue training assignments locally until July . On 21 July , " Barb " entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for an unusually extensive overhaul , which lasted until late 1982 . The propulsion plant underwent steam generator cleaning . The fire control and sonar systems were replaced with the latest AN / BQQ - 5 sonar and digital fire control technology . " Barb " received the complete SUBSAFE package of modifications the Navy first began installing on submarines in the 1960s . What was to have been an 18 - month overhaul stretched into 27 months due to shipyard repair quality problems and scheduling delays . " Barb " underwent not one but four sea trials as each trial identified additional re - work to be done at the shipyard . " Barb " eventually returned to the Point Loma submarine base in San Diego , California in December 1982 . Additional re - work was done in floating dry - dock in San Diego in early 1983 . " Barb " was deactivated on 10 March 1989 , then decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 20 December 1989 . Ex - " Barb " entered the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton , Washington , and on 14 March 1996 ceased to exist . Honors and awards . " Barb " earned two campaign star s for Vietnam War service ( 1967 and 1971 ) , two Meritorious Unit Commendations ( 1972 and 1973 ) , the Navy Battle " E " ( 10 / 78 - 9 / 80 ) , and a Navy Unit Commendation ( earned in the Spring of 1966 and awarded in 1968 ) .