Daniel E. Barbey
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Vice Admiral Daniel Edward Barbey (23 December 1889 – 11 March 1969) was an officer in the United States Navy who served in World War I and World War II.
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[edit] Naval career through World War I
Born in Portland, Oregon, Barbey was appointed to the Naval Academy in 1908. He graduated and was commissioned an Ensign in June 1912. Assigned to the armored cruiser California following graduation, Barbey served there until May 1914 when he was transferred to Lawrence. He remained on Lawrence until October 1916, serving first as engineering officer and subsequently as executive officer and commanding officer. While on Lawrence, Barbey was promoted to Lieutenant (jg) on 8 June 1915.
Detached from Lawrence, Barbey joined the gunboat Annapolis as engineering officer, receiving a Letter of Commendation from the Secretary of the Navy during the ship's service in Mexican waters.
From December 1917 until May 1918, he assisted with the fitting out of destroyer Stevens. Following her commissioning on 24 May, he assumed the duties of executive officer. Promoted to Lieutenant on 8 June 1918, Barbey remained on board Stevens until December.
[edit] Interwar assignments, 1919-1940
In January 1919, Barbey was assigned to the Naval Base at Cardiff, Wales and, beginning in July of that year, served as Naval Port Officer at Cardiff. Transferred to duty at U.S. Naval Headquarters in London, he served in that assignment until November 1919 when he reported for duty as Naval Port Officer, Constantinople, Turkey.
In October 1920, he was assigned additional duty as an aide on the staff of Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol, Commander U.S. Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters and High Commissioner to Turkey. Relieved of his duties as Naval Port Officer in July 1921, he continued as aide and flag secretary to Admiral Bristol. During this time, Barbey served as the U.S. delegate on the Allied Commission for the Control of Trade with Turkey and also acted as an observer with the Russian Army in the Crimea.
Following his return to the U.S. in February 1922, he joined Capella. In June of that year, Barbey reported to Oklahoma as assistant engineering officer, and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on 15 October. After departing Oklahoma in June 1923, he spent two years as Officer in Charge of the Portland Navy Recruiting Station until reporting to Cincinnati in June 1925. He had duty as Cincinnati's engineering officer until being reassigned in August 1926.
From February 1927 through June 1928, Barbey was executive officer on Ramapo. After spending three years as Aide to the Superintendent of the Naval Academy, Barbey returned to sea duty in June 1931, assuming command of Lea. After two years in command of Lea, Barbey reported to Mare Island Naval Ammunition Depot in California in July 1933, and was promoted to Commander that September. His title changed to Inspector of Ordnance in Charge, Barbey served at Mare Island until February 1935, when he was reassigned to the battleship New York as first lieutenant and damage control officer. In April 1936, he rejoined Ramapo as commanding officer.
Barbey commanded Ramapo for only two months before becoming Commander of Destroyer Division 17. Holding that command until June 1937, Barbey next was assigned to the Bureau of Navigation's War Plans Section in Washington, DC. During this assignment, he wrote mobilization plans that would be used during the coming war.
[edit] World War II
Promoted to Captain in February 1940, he left the Bureau of Navigation in May to command New York. Reassigned in January 1941, Barbey departed New York to assume the duties of Chief of Staff to Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs, Commander Service Force Atlantic Fleet.
From May to December 1942, Barbey served on the staff of Admiral Ernest King, Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet. Advanced to the rank of Rear Admiral in June, he organized and became head of the Navy's first Amphibious Warfare Section and engaged in developing and evaluating designs for landing craft.
He reported for duty as Commander, Amphibious Force, Southwest Pacific Force and Commander, Amphibious Force, Seventh Fleet on 8 January 1943. Arriving in Port Stephens, Australia with less than a dozen officers, he turned a small training command into a major amphibious operation. By June, the Seventh Amphibious Force was ready for its first combat mission. Redesignated Commander, Seventh Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet, he led the Seventh Amphibious Force in landings at Kiriwina and Woodlark Islands (Operation Chronicle), Lae, Finschhafen, Arawe and Cape Gloucester during the latter half of 1943. By 1944, the Seventh Amphibious Force had stepped up its activities, taking part in some 20 landings, including New Guinea, Schouton Islands, Molucca Islands, and the Philippines. Advanced to Vice Admiral on 9 December 1944, Barbey commanded 30 assaults over the following year, mostly in the Philippines and Borneo. Barbey led Allied naval forces at the final amphibious operation of the war, the landings at Balikpapan, Borneo on 1 July 1945.
[edit] Post-war assignments
Following the end of World War II, Barbey continued to serve as an amphibious commander. He remained with the Seventh Amphibious Force, having additional duty as Commander Seventh Fleet from November 1945 to 8 January 1946. In March 1946 he became Commander Amphibious Forces Atlantic Fleet, holding this post until September when he was named Commander Fourth Fleet. Barbey traveled to the Far East as Chairman of the Joint Military Board in February 1947, reporting on strategic requirements in that area. He returned to the U.S. the following month, becoming Commandant of the Tenth Naval District and Commander Caribbean Sea Frontier.
After more than three years in that post, Barbey was transferred to the 13th Naval District. His last active duty assignment, he assumed the duties of Commandant in September 1950.
[edit] Retirement and last years
Admiral Barbey was transferred to the retired list on 30 June 1951. He died in Bremerton, Washington on 11 March 1969.
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This article includes information collected from the Naval Historical Center, which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain. |
