Original USS BARB SS-220 Submarine Last Combat Patrol Journal Diary

[warpath]

Historic Original USS BARB SS-220 Submarine Last Combat Patrol Journal...Diary kept by Joseph H. Burnett Q/M 3rd Class during the boat's final war patrol in WWII...The handwritten unpublished journal consists of about 66 pages describing in great detail the travels, exploits and combat aboard the USS Barb in the Pacific and along the coast of Japan...Of particular interest are the several examples of sea to land warfare conducted by the Barb during which the crew set several records including the first land attack on the Japanese mainland, the first use of rockets to shell a coastal town and city in Japan and the absolutely unreal sinking of a train by a crew of volunteer sailors....Links below are provided to give full history of the boat and its exploits...I have attached a few select pages of the diary to include passages that relate firsthand combat experiences seldom spoken of or seen in print.

 

The U.S.S. Barb was a pioneer, paving the way for the first submarine launched missiles and flying a battle flag unlike that of any other ship. In addition to the Medal of Honor ribbon at the top of the flag identifying the heroism of its captain, Commander Eugene "Lucky" Fluckey, the bottom border of the flag bore the image of a Japanese locomotive. The U.S.S. Barb was indeed, the submarine that "SANK A TRAIN".

 

 

http://www.homeofheroes.com/profiles/profiles_fluckey.html

 

http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2966.html

 

http://olive-drab.com/od_history_ww2_stories_barb_train.php

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Barb_(SS-220)

 

http://www.eugeneleeslover.com/USNAVY/USS_Barb.html

[warpath]

2

[warpath]

3

[warpath]

4

[warpath]

Mentioned in several passages are examples of taking prisoners, throwing some back in the water due to their injuries and killing Japanese left in the water...Brutal facts not shared with the public.

[warpath]

One sailor was called on to eliminate survivors on several occasions, the reason given that he wanted revenge for his brother who was killed on Saipan...As stated he was responsible for 30 Japanese.

[warpath]

List of sailors who went ashore to destroy the train.

[ajbUSWM]

Very cool.

[IronMaiden]

Thanks for posting, these are really interesting. Life on the water is very intriguing.

[Josh B.]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing!

 

Josh

[KASTAUFFER]

Great diary Ed. These are often under appreciated because they are not "eye candy".

 

Kurt

[hueytaxi]

Impressive!

[warpath]

Historic Original USS BARB SS-220 Submarine Last Combat Patrol Journal

 

If anyone knows of researchers working on the USS Barb history for publication please let me know. Ed

[Garandomatic]

Holy cow...

[sundance]

Very interesting. I think I know what "eliminating survivors" means but hard to imagine it was common practice - was it? Hard to take prisoners on a sub I'd guess.

[Dave]

The keeping of journals was typically discouraged due to the amount of intelligence that could be gleaned from them if they were ever captured. However, they did happen. Most (like my grandfather's) were pretty boring ("Fell asleep listening to the main shaft make revolutions...") but some, like this one, are superbly historical.

 

Back in the day, the Barb had a pretty active veteran's association and their written history revolved around ADM Fluckey's "Thunder Below", which was (and still is) probably one of the best WW2 submarine memoirs out there. Most of the veterans have now passed on and I don't know if any of the very few living ones are active in pushing their sub's history anymore (Fluckey was really the main driver of that...he was a great guy, but having spent time with him, he was all about telling stories of the sub and...of course...mostly himself) I think someone (was it Spielberg?) bought the movie rights to the book...but I don't think anything has ever progressed with that. It would be really interesting to figure out if something was going to happen with the film and incorporate some of this info into it.

 

Dave

[Garandomatic]

I've got a reprint of the Barb's battleflag hanging on my classroom. Always was fascinated by FLuckey and the Barb.