LinuxQuestions.org - changing usb files from read-only to readable

I just posted this in Ubuntu but that might have been the wrong place for it...

I have an old usb that I'm trying to empty/reformat. I've used the usb with oscilloscopes before and all of the captures/files I created from the oscilloscope (which I no longer have access to) are set as read-only. See below:

when I input:
computern00b@Satan:/media/user/USB$ ls

I get:
Folder1 Folder2 Folder3

when I input:
computern00b@Satan:/media/computern00b/USB$ chmod -R 0444 ./Folder1

and I got:
chmod: changing permissions of `./Folder1': Read-only file system
chmod: cannot access `./Folder1/file1': Input/output error
chmod: cannot access `./Folder1/file2': Input/output error
chmod: cannot access `./Folder1/file3': Input/output error
chmod: changing permissions of `./Folder1/file4': Read-only file system
chmod: changing permissions of `./Folder1/file5': Read-only file system
chmod: changing permissions of `./Folder1/file6': Read-only file system
chmod: cannot access `./Folder1/file7': Input/output error
chmod: cannot access `./Folder1/file8': Input/output error

etc.

How do I change these files from read-only so that I may delete them and have an empty usb? I'm from the windows world but have recently switched sides so I'm sorry if this is a simple question! I've looked for a solution on the forums and haven't found any so far.
Thanks in advance!