[Bubblehead1980]

WAR PATROL REPORT
USS BARB SS-220
THIRD WAR PATROL
20 February- 1943


PROLOGUE
--------------


Arrived BASE II, Rosneath, Scotland from Second War Patrol on 3 February 1943. Commenced refit period with modifications to
conning tower Fairweather by crews from USS BEAVER. Fairweather was cut down with a forward platform and
twin 20mm Oerlikon AA gun added forward, with a twin 20 mm gun added to deck aft.
Aft conning tower and periscope shears further altered to reduce silhouette.

All torpedoes removed for check by BEAVER torpedo shop, with twenty four MK 14 torpedoes
loaded aboard along with provisions 14-19 February. Ready for sea 20 February 1943.



NARRATIVE
----------

February 20
____________


1030 Departed BASE II, Rosneath, Scotland for assigned patrol area Northeast of Iceland.



February 21
____________

0050 Spotted DD. Exchanged recognition signals.


February 22
____________

En route patrol area. Normal routine. Uneventful.


February 23
____________


0000 Entered patrol area NNE of Iceland.

Patrol in area uneventful.


February 24
____________

Patrol in area. Uneventful.


February 25
____________


0154 SD contact 16200 yds, closing.

0156 Range decreased to 10000 yards. Aware of the lack of bombing restrictions in area,
ordered a dive in case aircraft planned to attack.

0157 BARB at 100 ft, series of explosions astern, not close.


0200 Large series of explosions astern to port, not close. Ordered 300 ft.


0430 Surfaced.


February 26
____________
Uneventful. Patrol in area.



February 28
____________


2240 SD contact 16500 yds steadied at 10000 yds.

2241 Range began to decrease rapidly. Dive.

2243 BARB at 165 ft. Series of large explosions, not close.

2244 More explosions, not close.


March 1
________

0122 Surfaced.


March 2-8
___________

Patrol in area, uneventful.


March 9
________


0600 Submerged just after dawn for patrol.

0604 after leveling off at 100 feet, sound detected a U Boat bearing 050 estimated range 3000 yards or less, closing. Appears a enemy submerged U Boat was conducting a approach to fire when BARB made her routine dive!

Went to 150 ft rigged for silent running.

0721 Lost sound contact. Remained submerged for rest of the day.

1900 Surfaced.

2241 SD contact steady at 12000 yards, suddenly began closing. At 10000 yards, BARB submerged. Several explosions heard. Another Allied aircraft attacked BARB, as Axis aircraft are not present in area.


March 10-19
___________

Patrol in area. Uneventful aside from storms on 12-15 March. Heavy seas persisted after.


March 20
_________

1303 Spotted GLEAVES Class DD bearing 050 9000 yards. SJ did not detect this vessel. Attempted to exchange recognition signals and evade, but DD charged in, fired salvo from forward turrets, apparently believing BARB was a U Boat. BARB submerged, rigged for depth charge and silent running. A strong thermal layer at 80 feet was detected.

The DD made pinged and made multiple DC runs but none were too close, the Icelandic waters appear to help conceal BARB.


1401 A second warship contact arrived on scene and began pinging. More DC, but none close. BARB slipped away and surfaced after dark at 1900 hours. A radio report was sent to COMSUBLANT upon surfacing.



March 21-25
___________

Patrol in area. Uneventful.

SJ not operating properly.


March 26
_________


0000 Time on station expired, departed area proceeded to BASE II-Rosneath.

0300 Heavy winds and seas, with patchy fog.

March 27-28
__________

En route Rosneath.

Spotted, exchanged recognition signals with RAF patrol pane at 1421 hours on 27 March.


March 29
__________


1004 Arrived BASE II-Rosneath, Scotland. Terminated war patrol.



WEATHER
------------


Weather during transit and on station was typical for the area this time of area. Most days featured light to moderate fog and clouds, with seas always at a solid chop to heavy swells, with winds ranging from 10 knots to in excess of 30 knots. Several days of storms hindered operations in area at times.


Multiple large and moderate sized icebergs were observed in the area.



NAVIGATIONAL AIDES
--------------------------

Lighthouse on Jan Mayen Island provided navigational aide in assigned area.



ATTACK DATA
-----------------

No attacks were conducted on this patrol.



SOUND CONDITIONS AND SOUND GEAR
----------------------------------------------

Sound conditions were generally poor in assigned area due to heavy seas and temperatures.


Sound gear functioned properly but suffered in the poor sound environment.


RADAR
---------


SD

SD Radar performed well, with typical detection of aircraft at 14000 yards.


SJ

SJ function was adequate through first part of patrol. Around 20 March, SJ began to fail to detect surface targets. (had a accidental shell out to windows, so I reloaded a previous save after exiting game. Upon reload, SJ did not function rest of patrol. Possibly damaged?)


RADIO
--------

Radio function was normal during this patrol.



MINES
---------


No mines were encountered on this patrol.



ANTI-SUBMARINE COUNTERMEASURES AND TACTICS
-------------------------------------------------------------

No enemy ASW measures were encountered on this patrol.

One submerged enemy U Boat was located via sound, conducting a approach on BARB. Contact was made just after diving for patrol at dawn. Submarine was estimated 3000 yards and closing, likely nearing firing point. However, this is believed to be a chance encounter with a U-Boat operating or transiting through the area.


Several Allied aircraft and two destroyers attacked BARB in friendly fire incidents.

Allied ASV radar appeared to detect BARB long before they showed up on BARB's SD radar scope. This required BARB to submerged several times to avoid attack. Explosions indicating aerial depth charges and bombs were dropped. All of these friendly fire incidents involving aircraft took place at night.


Two Gleaves Class Destroyers, identities unknown depth charged BARB. BARB on the surface, encountered a DD South of Jan Mayen Island, NNE of Iceland. BARB's SJ radar did not detect the contact and thus contact likely already had BARB, who was on surface riding out a storm which had just cleared at time of contact, on her surface search radar.

Heavy sea state, thermal layers, and ocean temperatures helped to provide inadequate sound conditions for the hunters, thankfully. A second destroyer soon arrived on scene, indicating a ASW patrol.


BARB evaded the two DD's by rigging for silent running and depth charged, with evasion at test depth of 300 ft.



MAJOR DAMAGE AND DEFECTS

No damage occurred on this patrol.


Defects


SJ Radar Unit stopped functioning properly from 20 March to end of patrol.
Repairs conducted by USS BEAVER at BASE II, Rosneath.



THERMAL LAYERS


Thermal layers in area were quite shallowed as were recorded at 65-80 feet throughout area.



PERSONNEL

Crew performance was superb in spite of a challenging 30 plus days in area with heavy seas, bitterly cold temperatures, numerous "friendly fire" attacks, being stalked by a enemy U Boat and normal privations of patrol.


Eight men advanced in rating during this patrol, with one officer and six more being designated as "Qualified in Submarines".



HEALTH AND HABITABILITY

Health of crew and habitability of boat were overall satisfactory.

Rough seas did restrict meal preparations on some days and other challenges.



MILES STEAD-FUEL USED

Miles Gallons
Rosneath to Area 894 19550
In Area 9550 85550
Area to Rosneath 955 20224



DURATION
Days
Rosneath to Area 3
In Area 36
Rosneath 3




FACTORS IN ENDURANCE

Torpedoes 24
Fuel 24500 gallons
Provisions 39 days
Crew Indefinite

Reason for termination of patrol: Time on station expired-fuel status low.



REMARKS

A challenging patrol given the weather conditions and difficulty of searching for enemy U-Boats, which was primary assignment in this area. Allied ASW attacks, particularly by air made operations a challenge.

Given experiences of this patrol, it is felt better that a friendly submarine not be assigned to these waters in the future.


J.R. Waterman