Class: Forrest Sherman Destroyer
Launched: October 1, 1955
At: Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
Commissioned: September 7, 1956
Length: 424 feet
Beam: 45 feet
Draft: 22 feet
Displacement: 4,050 tons
Armament: Three 5-inch/54 caliber guns; one 8-tube ASROC launcher and six torpedo tubes
Address:
USS Barry
707 Riverside Drive, S.E.
Pier 2
Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5038
Events Coordinator 202-433-3091
Quarterdeck 202-433-3377
http://www.history.navy.mil/
Latitude: 38.871581, Longitude: -76.996299
USS Barry is one of only three remaining Forrest Shermans. She is the third ship to bear the name of the illustrious Revolutionary War naval hero, Commodore John Barry. She supported the 1958 Marine and Army airborne unit landing in Beirut, Lebanon. In 1962, she was a member of the task force that quarantined Cuba in response to evidence that Soviet missiles had been installed on the island.
Barry earned two battle stars for her service during the Vietnam conflict. She was credited with destroying over 1,000 enemy structures. In the early 1970s she was homeported in Athens, Greece as part of the Navy's forward deployment program. Barry was decommissioned in 1982. She began her new career as a permanent public display ship in 1984. She is also used for training and shipboard familiarization, and as a ceremonial platform.[1]
[1] Historical Naval Ships Visitor’s Guide http://hnsa.org/ships/barry.htm
I have a fond place in my heart for Naval Ships from my childhood excursions to the USS Intrepid, now called the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in NYC. I think my affinity for the Navy in general can be attributed to my mother's love of dressing me in nautical themed outfits. I don't know how many sailor-eque jumpers and skirt sets I had as a child!
My most poignant memory of a visit to the Intrepid was when my mother rounded up me, my two older step brothers, and a family friend's daughter into a cab and hauled us out to Pier 66 where we ate hot dogs and posed for pictures (my mother has a Polaroid from that day in the big blue family photo album). One of my brothers thought it would be a great idea to torture me by saying the ship was haunted right before we boarded. It was a wrap after that. My mother had to drag me through the boat and I demanded to leave when we had to climb down the first dark, narrow stairway.On last Thursday's field trip I did better with the narrow stairways although that childhood fear of being chased around a dark ship by ghoulish seamen did linger in the back of my mind.
Since 1984, the destroyer has lie moored in the Anacostia River and serves as a distinctive attraction for visitors to the hisoric area with some of her internal areas opened for visitors to tour. Some of the areas open for viewing include the machine repair shop, the crew berthing room, the ward room, the mess deck, the bridge and hte combat information center (CIC).
In the article "Archives, Memory and Culture", Kenneth E. Foote argues the idea that archives as collective memory " more than a metaphor and is supported by theories that would view collections of documents and material artifacts as means of extending the temporal and spatial range of communication. Archives, along with other communicational resources such as oral and ritual tradition, help to transfer information—and thereby sustain memory—from generation to generation." Historical Naval Ships preserve and translate cultural messages about the United States' militarism, patriotism and nationalism. Military veterans tend to be a fiercely proud patron group of sea museums.
Aside from the veneration and gratitude for past military service how do these floating artifacts function to support the Nation's temporal and spatial range of communication about victories and battles fought long ago? For me, the USS Barry and USS Intrepid are time capsules and an excellent exemplar of the importance of archives and archival space. I do however feel that it is important to interrogate and be suspicious of what the objects we collect and display communicate about our shared values including who's stories are told and not told. I'm curious if the countries the U.S. fought against in wars past have similar archival displays? Off to do more research before I get too political. Peace!
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I have a fond place in my heart for Naval Ships from my childhood excursions to the USS Intrepid, now called the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in NYC. I think my affinity for the Navy in general can be attributed to my mother's love of dressing me in nautical themed outfits. I don't know how many sailor-eque jumpers and skirt sets I had as a child!
My most poignant memory of a visit to the Intrepid was when my mother rounded up me, my two older step brothers, and a family friend's daughter into a cab and hauled us out to Pier 66 where we ate hot dogs and posed for pictures (my mother has a Polaroid from that day in the big blue family photo album). One of my brothers thought it would be a great idea to torture me by saying the ship was haunted right before we boarded. It was a wrap after that. My mother had to drag me through the boat and I demanded to leave when we had to climb down the first dark, narrow stairway.On last Thursday's field trip I did better with the narrow stairways although that childhood fear of being chased around a dark ship by ghoulish seamen did linger in the back of my mind.
Since 1984, the destroyer has lie moored in the Anacostia River and serves as a distinctive attraction for visitors to the hisoric area with some of her internal areas opened for visitors to tour. Some of the areas open for viewing include the machine repair shop, the crew berthing room, the ward room, the mess deck, the bridge and hte combat information center (CIC).
In the article "Archives, Memory and Culture", Kenneth E. Foote argues the idea that archives as collective memory " more than a metaphor and is supported by theories that would view collections of documents and material artifacts as means of extending the temporal and spatial range of communication. Archives, along with other communicational resources such as oral and ritual tradition, help to transfer information—and thereby sustain memory—from generation to generation." Historical Naval Ships preserve and translate cultural messages about the United States' militarism, patriotism and nationalism. Military veterans tend to be a fiercely proud patron group of sea museums.
Aside from the veneration and gratitude for past military service how do these floating artifacts function to support the Nation's temporal and spatial range of communication about victories and battles fought long ago? For me, the USS Barry and USS Intrepid are time capsules and an excellent exemplar of the importance of archives and archival space. I do however feel that it is important to interrogate and be suspicious of what the objects we collect and display communicate about our shared values including who's stories are told and not told. I'm curious if the countries the U.S. fought against in wars past have similar archival displays? Off to do more research before I get too political. Peace!
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