USS Barry was one of the ships called by President John F. Kennedy to enact a naval blockade (the "Cuban Quarantine") of the island nation of Cuba, a communist hold just miles from American shores and actively supported by the Soviet Union. This took place during the critical "Cuban Missile Crisis" that nearly brought both world powers to nuclear war. The Barry joined her contemporaries in the action of October 1962. The situation was ultimately diffused and led to all of the Soviet Union's parked nuclear missiles removed from the island which, in turn, forced the United States to remove some of its missiles from allied nations bordering the Soviet Empire.
The USS Barry was one of the many US naval surface vessels taking part in the actions concerning the Vietnam War (1955-1975). Barry used her guns in anger during shore bombardment of enemy positions in the Mekong Delta. Her guns were then used in support of "Operation Double Eagle" near Quang Ngi which became the largest amphibious operation since the landings at Inchon during the Korean War (1950-1953). Barry's guns eventually fired some 2,500 shells against enemy positions, credited with destroyer about 1,000 enemy fortifications during the fighting. From the period of September 1965 to January 1967, the USS Barry covered some 55,000 miles at sea, proving her a well-traveled, combat veteran which netted her Vietnam service two Battle Stars. 1966 saw her become the first USN vessel to be outfitted with the Mk 86 Fire Control System (FCS), a digitally-assisted, gun-firing system intended to improve base accuracy at range. Barry completed her Vietnam tour on February 15th when she headed for Hong Kong.
In 1967, the USS Barry was given a major modernization that increased her Anti-Submarine Warfare prowess. This included integration of a Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) to aid in search and tracking of enemy submarines. Additionally, her deck was now graced with the "ASROC" kit (Anti-Submarine Rocket Launcher), a rocket-assisted torpedo projector developed exclusively for countering enemy submarines at range. The system coupled a subsonic rocket motor (using solid propellant) to a conventional submarine-hunting (inertial guidance) homing torpedo. The launcher carried eight individual launch cells and sat atop a trainable base (offering traversal and elevation) for engagement across many angles of the ship.
Barry functioned in an active status within the United States Navy inventory until decommissioned on November 5th, 1982 - her having spanned 26 years and covering hundreds of thousands of miles in which she took part in one major American war and supported various other actions as needed. Less than a week later, Barry ended up at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard before finding her final home at the Washington Naval Yard in 1984. The Washington Naval Yard accepted her as a permanent exhibit attached to the US Navy Memorial Museum of Washington D.C. As such, the third USS Barry (DD-933) continues as an active floating relic as part of the impressive collection of on-site exhibits housed by the United States Navy at Washington Navy Yard.
Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.