USS Barb sank most tonnage of any U.S. sub
In many respects, the USS Barb was identical to scores of other American submarines rushed into production in the early years of World War II.
Like the 76 other Gato class subs, the Barb was nearly 312 feet long and a little more than 27 feet wide, accommodated a crew of about 80 and contained 10 torpedo tubes, six forward and four aft. Four diesel engines powered it to top speeds of 21 knots on the surface, and four electric motors propelled it at about 9 knots in the silent depths of the sea.
The heroics and innovations of her commander and crew, however, put the Barb in a class apart.
"It so happened that I was with a skipper who was a real warrior, Eugene Fluckey. He went after them, staying on the surface most of the time. We were always diving with planes coming after us," says Neal Sever, 82, of Whitehall, a Navy signalman who served on the Barb.
Rear Adm. Eugene B. Fluckey -- nicknamed "Dead-Eye Fluckey," "Lucky Fluckey" and the "Galloping Ghost of the China Coast" -- became one of the most decorated U.S. military heroes of WWII while commander of the Barb in 1944-45.
A series of daring war patrols resulted in Fluckey receiving the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor, and four Navy Crosses, his service's second highest decoration. The Barb sank the greatest enemy tonnage of all American submarines in WWII. It was the first sub to launch missiles at land targets.
Of the 143 men who served on the Barb under Fluckey, 23 are alive. For separate missions, the Barb's crew received the Presidential Unit Citation and Navy Unit Commendation.
His crews admired and respected Fluckey, says Don Miller, 85, of Upper St. Clair, who was a torpedoman on the Barb.
"Everybody liked him," Miller said. "I never saw him mad. I never saw him yell at any of the guys or anything like that, although there were times we may have deserved yelling at. There were some hectic times."
In one of the most brazen attacks of the war, the Barb navigated through uncharted waters into a harbor protected by rocky shoals on the east coast of China, surprising a convoy of 30 Japanese ships at anchor. The submarine scored eight torpedo hits on six ships, including an ammunition vessel. Three ships quickly sank.
"We fired all 10, forward and aft. I could hear them hitting. It was a lot of noise," Miller recalls. "Coming out, nobody stopped us."
The Barb's uncanny elusiveness paralleled the sub's reputation for making bold and fierce attacks. Enemy boats and planes relentlessly chased the Barb, dropping approximately 500 depth charges in her vicinity.
"It would knock cork lining loose and pop light bulbs. It was noisy. It bounced you around," Sever said. "There were a lot of close calls. If a depth charge goes off within 50 feet, it will puncture your hull and you are probably dead."
Sever keeps in touch with the Barb's surviving crew through a newsletter he produces. Although the retired attorney has lost most of his eyesight because of macular degeneration, he's able to work with low-vision computer equipment he got through Blind & Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh.
"Fluckey's funeral was probably our last reunion," he says of the aging submariners group.
Fluckey died last year on June 28. He was 93.
