High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Barite (IX-161), a Trefoil-class concrete barge designated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for barite, a yellow or white crystalline mineral found in metallic veins, resembling marble. Her keel was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (T. B7 D1, MC hull 1335) on 24 November 1943 at South San Francisco, California, by the Belair Shipyard of Barrett and Hilp. She was designated IX-161 on 7 February 1944, launched on 18 February 1944 sponsored by Mrs. S. C. Anderson, and delivered to the Navy at her builder`s yard on 31 August 1944. She was placed in service the same day.