Air Mail like None Other

Of all the submarine stories I have ever read, this one ranks with the most unusual. In 1959, the world was still reacting to the Soviet advances in space. The Navy had invested a significant amount of money on the Regulus Missile system as a way to counter Soviet threats. In the background, the Polaris program was about to come on line and change everything. But this story involves another use for the Regulus that is really just a foot note in history.

The story comes from the Postal Service Historic Library and shows an amazing feat that certainly should have a place in history. For the first time in history, mail was delivered using a missile fired from a navy submarine.

The USS Barbero was a Balao class submarine that was a veteran of World War II. She was converted in 1955 allowing her…