The first
BARTON
(DD‑599)
was
launched
on 31
January
1942 by
the
Bethlehem
Steel Co.,
of Quincy,
Massachusetts,
and was
commissioned
on 29 May
1842, with
Lieutenant
Commander
D. H. Fox
as her
captain.
She left
the East
Coast on
23 August
and
steamed
for the
South
Pacific.
She
arrived at
Tongatabu
in the
Tonga
Islands on
14
September,
and saw
her first
action on
5 October
when she
participated
in the
Buin‑Faisi‑Tonolai
raid.
By 24
October,
the U.S.
Marines
were
struggling
to hold on
to
Guadalcanal’s
Henderson
Field, and
a Japanese
armada lay
in wait to
stop the
Americans
from
reinforcing
their
troops
ashore.
Meanwhile,
Vice
Admiral
W.F.
Halsey had
his own
armada on
the scene.
The two
would soon
meet in
the Battle
of Santa
Cruz. The
U.S. Task
Force 61
was made
up of two
carrier
groups.
Task Force
16
included
the
carrier
ENTERPRISE,
the
battleship
SOUTH
DAKOTA,
two
cruisers,
and the
destroyers
PORTER,
SMITH,
CUSHING,
PRESTON,
MAURY,
SHAW,
MAHAN, and
CONYNGHAM;
Task Force
17, led by
the
carrier
HORNET,
consisted
of four
cruisers,
and the
destroyers
BARTON,
MUSTIN,
HUGHES,
RUSSELL,
ANDERSON,
and
MORRIS.
The Battle
of Santa
Cruz began
with the
bombing of
a Japanese
carrier on
the
morning of
26 October
followed
by a
battle in
the air
between
planes
from both
sides.
Then, at
1010,
nearly
thirty
planes
attacked
the
HORNET,
which took
hits from
bombs,
torpedoes,
and two
suicide
planes.
Antiaircraft
gunners
aboard the
BARTON and
other
screening
DDs
brought
down
several of
the
attackers
and
covered
efforts to
save the
badly
damaged
carrier.
The
destroyers
MORRIS and
RUSSELL
moved in
to fight
fires, but
by
mid-afternoon,
the
RUSSELL
and HUGHES
were
taking off
wounded
and about
875 of her
crew. The
effort to
save the
ship ended
when six
torpedo-bombers
struck two
fatal
blows. Her
captain
ordered
the rest
of the
crew to
abandon
ship, and
after the
six
accompanying
destroyers
picked up
remaining
survivors,
the MUSTIN
and
ANDERSON
attempted
unsuccessfully
to sink
the
carrier
with
torpedoes
and
gunfire.
The two
destroyers
barely
escaped as
an enemy
force
descended
on the
burning
carrier,
which two
of their
destroyers
finally
sank at
0135 on 27
October.
The BARTON
was back
to
more-or-less
routine
duties for
another
two weeks,
during
which she
rescued 17
survivors
of two
downed air
transports
near Fabre
Island.
By 11
November
the BARTON
was
operating
with Rear
Admiral D.
J.
Callaghan’s
landing
support
group,
which
included
the
cruisers
SAN
FRANCISCO,
PORTLAND,
HELENA,
JUNEAU,
and
ATLANTA,
and fellow
destroyers
AARON
WARD,
MONSSEN,
FLETCHER,
CUSHING,
LAFFEY,
STERETT,
and
O’BANNON.
Their task
was to
prevent
the
bombardment
of
Henderson
Field by a
powerful
enemy
force. Led
by two
battleships,
the
Japanese
striking
force
included a
light
cruiser
and 14
destroyers,
backed up
by two
aircraft
carriers
and a
dozen more
destroyers
guarding a
convoy of
transports.
In the van
of the
American
column were
the CUSHING,
LAFFEY,
STERETT, and
O’BANNON.
Next came
the
cruisers,
followed by
the AARON
WARD,
BARTON,
MONSSEN, and
FLETCHER.
Early on 13
November, a
Friday,
Callaghan’s
support
group was
off Lunga
Point, and
the Japanese
were
approaching
from the
north. Both
groups were
headed for
the same
patch of
Savo Sound
and the
Naval Battle
of
Guadalcanal.
The HELENA
made the
first
contact with
the enemy at
0124, and
Callaghan
turned his
column
toward the
oncoming
Japanese. In
the lead,
the division
commander
aboard the
CUSHING
caught sight
of two enemy
destroyers
at 0141. The
American DD
made a sharp
turn to port
to avoid a
collision
and to bring
her
torpedoes to
bear, but
the order to
fire was
delayed
because of
communications
failures
within the
U.S. group.
In the
interim, the
enemy
destroyers
moved out of
range and
alerted the
rest of the
strike force
of the
presence of
the American
column,
which had
proceeded to
forge ahead
and into the
Japanese
formation.
All
semblance of
order
vanished,
and the
ensuing
battle was
one of ship
versus ship.
The BARTON’s
gunners
began firing
at
approximately
0148. She
followed
that with
four
torpedoes,
but in the
melee
suddenly had
to come to
an emergency
stop to
avoid a
collision.
She was
practically
dead in the
water, when
two enemy
torpedoes
found their
mark. The
first
torpedo tore
into her
forward
fireroom,
and a few
seconds
later, a
second
struck her
forward
engine‑room.
Within
seconds, the
BARTON broke
in two and
plunged to
the bottom,
carrying
with her an
estimated 80
percent of
her valiant
crew.
Forty‑two
survivors
were rescued
by the
PORTLAND
(CA‑33) and
HIGGINS
boats from
Guadalcanal.
She was the
first ship
lost during
the Naval
Battle of
Guadalcanal. |
