http://ussbluegill.org
USS Bluegill (SS-242) WW2
Other Life Stories:
Captain Eric Lloyd Barr, Jr., 1912-2010
"'He took us out there and he brought us back and that alone is saying a
lot', one of Barr's
crew said . . . during the 35th anniversary
reunion."
[See newspaper article for 1980 reunion.]
Eric Lloyd Barr, Jr., as an infant, as a child on his Grandfather's Yacht, as a Midshipman aboard USS Wyoming (BB-32), as a CDR aboard Bluegill in Class "A" uniform and on deck at sea. First four photos courtesy of Eric Barr and fifth courtesy of Ray (Basil) Phipps.
Left photo: CAPT Eric Barr in July 1999 at a joint meeting of the Nimitz Silver Dolphin Chapter of USSVWWII and Philips C. Stryker, Jr., Base of USSVI. Right photo: CAPT Barr and Patrick St. Romain, the webmaster, in December 1999 at a Christmas party of the same two Sub Vet groups. Photos courtesy of Pat St. Romain
CAPT Eric Barr and George Folta being interviewed by Darryl Rehr at USS Cavalla in July 2000 for Rehr's documentary The Silent Service. Left Photo: George Folta (left) and Eric Barr (right). Right photo: Darryl Rehr (left) and Erick Barr (right). Photos courtesy of Neal Stevens.
The following Biography of Eric Lloyd Barr, Bluegill's WW2 Captain is available to download if you have Adobe Acrobat Reader. Please be patient with the long loading times. Biography of Eric Lloyd Barr, Bluegill's WW2 Captain 84 KBytes, 4 pages. Document courtesy of Patrick St. Romain and Eric Barr
The Old Man
Taken from
J. Read Gwyer's
THE STORY OF THE USS BLUEGILL, SS 242 AND HER CREW
I thought back to when I met The Old Man.
It was late summer 1943, and I had been assigned to
the BLUEGILL, a submarine being built by Electric
Boat Company in New London, Connecticut.
When I met the prospective commanding officer,
normally referred to as The Old Man, I wasn't
impressed. In fact I was discouraged, for I mentally
compared him to the other submarine "skippers" I
had met. His work khakis were neatly pressed and
spotless, as if he had just sat at his desk all day. He
was of medium height and build, and his hands were
delicate and appeared soft, but what really shocked
me was his boyish face with rosy cheeks and topped
with close cropped hair. Gawd, I thought, I must be
older than he. I quickly realized, however, that The
Old Man was all business, understandable, for he
had come from a long line of seafaring men. He lived
by the Navy Regulations, customs, and traditions,
and he told me he expected the same behavior from
his officers and crew.
It was in the submarine attack trainer that I
started to develop respect for The Old Man. My
battle station was in the conning tower at the torpedo
data computer. The Old Man knew exactly how he
wanted his attack fire control party to function, and
he was explicit in his guidance and orders. While in
sub school I had watched other pre-commissioning
crews in the attack trainer, and in comparison I now
realized that this middle sized man was a giant in capabilities.
It wasn't until we had our ship's party, just
prior to commissioning, that I got to know The Old
Man socially. No longer was he stand-offish. Instead
he was laughing and congratulating his crew
and stopping at each table to share a drink with them.
There were too many tables- - he became slightly
tipsy before the night was over- - but we knew he
was proud of his "boat" and crew.
After six war patrols in the Pacific the
BLUEGILL returned to Mare Island Naval Shipyard
in California. The Old Man's submarine had a
distinguished record for sinking and damaging many
ships.
Also he was only one of six skippers that
made all patrol runs with the sub he put in commission.
Looking back I realize how much I owe this
man. Only he had a visual picture of what was happening
on the sea's surface during our torpedo attacks,
for only he was looking through the periscope.
It was on his mental calculations that our lives depended.
His timing had to be perfect. Should we
stay at periscope depth a few seconds longer in order
to get a better solution for a torpedo firing or dive
deeper to lessen the damage from the enemy depth
charges. Our mission was to sink enemy ships; his
responsibility was to save a submarine and the 76
humans aboard. Many times he called it very close,
but we survived. I thank God for assigning me to a
submarine that had a baby faced rosy cheeked Old
Man.
Read the rest of J. Read Gwyer's THE STORY OF THE USS BLUEGILL, SS 242 AND HER CREW.
Obituary dated 21 August 2010