USS Barry (DD-248)

Barry was held in reserve commission until 15 November 1921, when she was placed in full commission and reported to the Atlantic Fleet. In October 1922, she departed Hampton Roads, Virginia, for the Mediterranean where she served with the U. S. Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters until July 1923. Returning to the East Coast 10 August 1923, she joined Destroyer Squadron 14, Scouting Fleet. Later in August and September, Barry operated as a plane guard in the Atlantic for the U.S. Army's "Around the World Flight" and was stationed between Labrador and Nova Scotia, Canada. When one of the three Army planes ditched owing to engine trouble, Barry transported the pilots to Pictou, Nova Scotia, where they boarded a replacement plane to continue their flight home to Seattle via Boston and across the United States.

Early in 1925, Barry transited the Panama Canal and joined the Battle Fleet for maneuvers in the Pacific. She returned to the East Coast in July 1925, and took up routine duties with the Scouting Fleet until February 1932, when she returned to the Pacific for fleet maneuvers. Upon completion of maneuvers, she returned to the Atlantic and was assigned to Rotating Reserve Destroyer Squadron 19 at Norfolk, 20 December 1932.

Barry was recommissioned at Norfolk 20 June 1933 and on 1 July sailed for San Diego to Join Destroyer Division 7, Scouting Force. She served with the Scouting Force until May 1936 when she returned to the Atlantic and for a short time served as flagship of Destroyer Division 8. Later in 1936 she again returned to the Pacific, joining Destroyer Division 22, Battle Force. Between January and April 1938 she was in Hawaiian waters and on 21 May 1938 was transferred to Destroyer Division 21, in the Atlantic.

On 25 May, she was attacked by two kamikazes while on patrol 35 miles northwest of Okinawa. One was shot down, but the other broke through the barrage and struck Barry below her bridge. Twenty-eight of her crew were wounded by shrapnel. The explosion of the plane's gasoline tanks and bomb ignited fuel oil escaping from Barry's ruptured tanks. The fire threatened the forward magazine which could not be reached to flood. At 1340, 40 minutes after the plane struck, the commanding officer gave the order to abandon ship. Barry's boats were lowered and all hands safely cleared the side.

At 1500, the water had risen until the forward magazine was covered, minimizing the danger of explosion. A skeleton crew, together with parties from Sims and Roper then reboarded Barry and the last fires were extinguished at 0630 the next day.

Barry was towed to the anchorage at Kerama Retto 28 May, and was found too extensively damaged to warrant repair or salvage. Stripped of useful gear, she was decommissioned 21 June 1945. Later in the day, she was towed from the harbor of Kerama Retto to be used as a decoy for the kamikazes. At 1845, while under tow, two Nakajima Ki-43 kamikazes attacked, coming in low over the surrounding land. One plane hit Barry and the other hit her escort, LSM-59, sinking both ships. LSM-59 sank in thirteen minutes with two dead and eight wounded, while Barry settled to six inches of freeboard and sank the next morning despite salvage efforts.

• Presidential Unit Citation (as a unit of TG 21.14)
• American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp
• American Campaign Medal with one battle star
• European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two battle stars
• Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one battle star
• World War II Victory Medal

Barry was possibly the only U.S. Navy ship to receive battle stars for all three area campaign medals.

• Brown, David. Warship Losses of World War Two. Arms and Armour, London, Great Britain, 1990. ISBN 0-85368-802-8.
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/248.htm