USS Barney (DD-956/DDG-6) was a Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She was the third Navy ship named for Commodore Joshua Barney USN (1759–1818).
Her original designation was DD-956. On 23 April 1957, it was decided to build her as a guided missile destroyer.
Barney was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey on 10 August 1959, launched on 10 December 1960, sponsored by Mrs. Harry D. Wortman, and commissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 11 August 1962.
1960s
After outfitting at Philadelphia, the guided missile destroyer put to sea on 27 September to conduct pre-shakedown qualification tests off the Virginia Capes and missile firings at Roosevelt Roads near Puerto Rico. At the conclusion of that mission, she arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, on 8 December and remained there until the end of the year. Barney embarked upon her shakedown cruise on New Year's Day 1963 and returned to Norfolk on 20 February 1963 for availability alongside a destroyer tender before moving north to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in mid-March for a post shakedown overhaul. The guided missile destroyer completed the overhaul on 31 May and began normal operations out of Norfolk with the 2nd Fleet. That fall, she headed for the Mediterranean Sea for a five-month cruise with the 6th Fleet. During that deployment, she made port visits and conducted training operations with units of the 6th Fleet and with ships of Allied navies. The warship returned to Norfolk in March 1964 and resumed operations with the 2nd Fleet.
In September 1964, she returned to sea to participate in a series of NATO exercises. Those evolutions continued into November when Barney headed back to Norfolk. Type training and 2nd Fleet operations carried her into the New Year. On 15 February 1965, she embarked upon her second tour of duty in the Mediterranean. For the next five months, the warship steamed the length and breadth of the "middle sea" in the screen of a fast carrier task force. She visited a number of ports in France, Italy, and Turkey and participated in a bilateral, American French, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise, Operation "Fairgame III." Barney returned to Norfolk on 12 July 1965. Second Fleet operations out of Norfolk kept her busy for the remainder of 1965 and the first two months of 1966. Those evolutions included a tour of duty at Key West, Florida, early in January as school ship for the Fleet Sonar School. On 1 March, Barney entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard to begin her first regular overhaul.
Repairs complete, the guided missile destroyer put to sea on 26 September to conduct ship's qualification tests and missile firings. On 7 November, she began a month of post overhaul refresher training out of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Following that, the warship conducted a missile firing exercise on the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Range located near Puerto Rico and a gun shoot at Culebra Island. After a visit to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, Barney returned to Norfolk on 19 December and remained in the Hampton Roads area for the rest of 1966.
In mid February 1967, the warship departed Norfolk bound for the Far East and her only cruise in the combat zone during the Vietnam War. That deployment lasted almost exactly seven months. On the outbound voyage, she stopped at Mayport, Florida; Guantánamo Bay; the Panama Canal Zone; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Midway Island; Guam in the Marianas; and at Subic Bay in the Philippines. While off Vietnam, Barney served in various ways. She performed duty as sea air rescue controller, interdicted Viet Cong seaborne logistics, and shelled targets ashore in both North and South Vietnam. On several occasions, the guided missile destroyer came within range of enemy shore batteries. She suffered no hits, but a member of her crew was wounded, lost his leg, by a shell fragment from a near miss. The warship also visited Hong Kong and ports in the Philippine Islands and in Japan.
Reversing her outbound itinerary—and adding a stop at Okinawa--Barney returned to Norfolk on 19 September 1967 and began a post deployment leave and upkeep period. Following the standdown time, the warship resumed operations along the Atlantic seaboard. That occupation continued until early in March 1968 when Barney departed Norfolk for her third deployment with the 6th Fleet. Exercises and port visits constituted her main fare as they had in the past. The warship concluded her assignment with the 6th Fleet on 12 July when she departed Pollença Bay, Mallorca, to return to Norfolk. She reentered her homeport on 22 July 1968.
After completing the usual post-deployment standdown, Barney resumed 2d Fleet operations out of Norfolk. Those operations included the annual winter exercise in the West Indian waters in January 1969 and ASW exercises off the coast of Florida late in February and early in March. She returned to Norfolk on 5 March 1969 to prepare for overseas movement. The guided missile destroyer stood out of Norfolk again on 1 April, bound for European waters. Later that month before Barney joined the 6th Fleet, she participated in a trilateral ASW exercise with American, Spanish, and Portuguese warships. That operation was followed by hunter killer exercises in cooperation with . Between 14 and 22 May, the guided missile destroyer visited Portsmouth, England, for the naval review celebrating the 20th anniversary of NATO. She resumed hunter-killer exercises on 22 May and continued them until 2 June when she entered the Mediterranean.
Immediately upon joining the 6th Fleet, Barney took part in a bilateral ASW exercise with other units of the fleet and ships of the French Navy. She then visited several ports before joining in an amphibious exercise conducted at Sardinia early in August. More port visits and a carrier screening exercise followed. Finally, on 28 September, she was relieved by at Pollença Bay, Mallorca. On the 30th, Barney headed back to the United States and arrived in Norfolk on 10 October. The customary leave and upkeep period followed. On 1 December 1969, the guided missile destroyer entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard to begin regular overhaul.
1970s
Barney completed repairs in June 1970. After post-repair trials, she departed Norfolk on 7 July for refresher training in the West Indies. That assignment lasted until September when she began missile exercises. Those, however, were cut short by an urgent need for her presence in the eastern Mediterranean in response to the Jordanian crisis that resulted when open fighting erupted between the Jordanian Army and PLO guerillas. Barney departed Norfolk on 23 September and arrived on station with Task Group (TG) 60.1 on 7 October. Built around carrier , TG 60.1—with Barney in the screen—cruised the eastern Mediterranean until the crisis abated early in November. The guided missile destroyer operated with the 6th Fleet for about another month during which time she visited Spanish, Italian, and Maltese ports. On 8 December 1970, she departed Rota, Spain, to return to the United States. She tied up at Norfolk on the 15th and began post deployment and holiday standdown.
Resuming normal operations at and out of Norfolk on 15 January 1971, she underwent various efficiency inspections and got underway frequently for multiship exercises, type training, and single ship drills. She remained so occupied through the summer and into the fall. In October, Barney began preparations for another tour of duty with the 6th Fleet. On 1 December, the warship stood out of Norfolk wearing the pennant of the Commander, Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 2. She joined the 6th Fleet at Rota on the 9th and, for the next six months, cruised in the Mediterranean in company with other ships of the 6th Fleet, most frequently in a task group built around John F. Kennedy. The guided missile destroyer visited ports on the European, African, and Middle Eastern shores of the "middle sea." She frequently engaged in intelligence surveillance missions directed at Soviet ships in the area. She also participated in at least one bilateral exercise—with of the Royal Navy—as well as in a number of unilateral exercises with other units of the 6th Fleet. On 22 June, she departed the Mediterranean to return home. Barney arrived back in Norfolk on 29 June 1972. After the normal leave and upkeep period, she resumed operations out of Norfolk. It was announced that Barney would be relieving a destroyer currently on operations in Vietnam, with operations to begin in January 1973. However, during the prep period for this deployment, Nixon's "Vietnamization" plan had begun to be implemented. This had Barney's deployment order 'frozen'. During this 'freeze' period the decision to deploy Barney to Nato force beginning in July 1973 was ordered. This change of deployment orders allowed for the implementation of the power plant conversion from 600 PSI operation to 1200 PSI, and the conversion of fuel from 'black oil' to Navy distillate. Those evolutions continued until 8 November when work began to convert her main propulsion plant to the use of Navy distillate fuel.