1960s U.S Navy Dixie hat, named to sailor from U.S.S BARTON.

U.S.N Dixie hat with the original owners details.

The hat says it belonged to a sailor named Chunko, T. J., Navy service number 534 30 81, serving on the destroyer USS Barton (DD-722), dated 10 June 1963. In 1963 the Barton was in the Atlantic Fleet and spent that summer in the Mediterranean.

What each marking means

• U.S.S. Barton (DD-722): an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer launched in 1943 that served until 1968. "DD" means destroyer and 722 is her hull number.
• 10 June 63: probably the date he marked or was issued the hat. The ship was then part way through a deployment. Crew records list a Mediterranean deployment from April to October 1963. At the end of it, in August 1963, Barton and Borie made a goodwill tour of the Baltic Sea in support of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson's Scandinavian tour. Her captain at the time was George Dewey Wiemer Jr., from August 1961 to October 1963.
• Chunko T. J.: sailors stencilled their kit with surname first, then initials, so his first name begins with T.
• 534 30 81: a Navy enlisted service number. It is the right format for the period. By World War II the first digit gave a recruiting code and the last six were a personal identifier. The first three digits identified the recruiting station, recorded in a Navy "Master Service Number Book". I could not find a public key to decode 534 to a place.
• Vietnam: the Barton never served there. From April 1965 she was flagship of Reserve Destroyer Squadron 30 in Philadelphia. She was decommissioned on 30 September 1968 and sunk as a target on 8 October 1969.