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USS Paddle (SS-263)
Encyclopedia
USS Paddle (SS-263), a Gato-class
submarine
, was a ship of the United States Navy
named for the paddle
, a large ganoid fish of the Mississippi and its larger tributaries.
Paddle was laid down on 1 May 1942 by Electric Boat Co
., Groton, Connecticut
; launched on 30 December 1942; sponsored by Mrs. William M. Fechteler, wife of later Chief of Naval Operations
Admiral
William M. Fechteler; and commissioned at New London
on 29 March 1943, Lieutenant Commander
R. H. Rice in command.
and Pearl Harbor
, arriving on 5 July. She based at Pearl Harbor during her first two war patrols, between which she trained destroyers in antisubmarine warfare and received meteorological equipment.
Paddles first patrol, from 20 July–12 September, was conducted south of Japan
. She scored a hit on a large freighter in her first attack on 13 August, but alert escorts forced her down with a 13-hour depth charge
attack. Enemy search planes damaged her slightly on 19 August with 7 bombs dropped as she patrolled submerged off the coast of Japan, but she repaired damage quickly and struck back, sinking Ataka Maru on 23 August.
During her second war patrol, from 17 October–9 November, Paddle took station off Nauru
to provide continuous weather reporting for the carrier
task force attacking the Gilbert
and Marshall Islands
to cover the Tarawa landings
. She also guided, by radio, Army bombers in to raid Tarawa and attacked Nippon Maru off Eniwetok, though escorting destroyer
s forced her down before she could observe the damage inflicted on the tanker.
After West Coast overhaul, Paddle sailed for her third war patrol from Pearl Harbor on 19 March 1944, bound for the Dutch East Indies
and the southern Philippines
. In a brilliant night attack on 16 April, she sank two of a three-ship convoy guarded by four escorts, torpedo
ing Mito Maru and Hino Maru No. 1. Breaking off to reload her tubes, Paddle returned to attack a tanker, which had joined the group, and engaged escorting destroyers and aircraft. She ended her patrol at Fremantle, Australia on 12 May.
Paddles fourth war patrol, from 5 June–29 July, began with reconnaissance of the eastern approaches to Davao Gulf
guarding against a Japanese sortie during the U.S. landings on Saipan
. Damaged by bombs in the Celebes Sea
on 30 June, Paddle repaired quickly and on 6 July attacked a small convoy, twice hitting a large freighter, and sinking before being forced down by other escorts.
After refit at Fremantle, Paddle made her fifth patrol, from 22 August–25 September, encountering few contacts in her assigned area in the Sulu Sea
. On 7 September, attacked
and destroyed the Shinyo Maru
and damaged another of her convoy. Shinyo Maru, unmarked as a prisoner of war
carrier and unknown to Paddle, was carrying over 750 Allied POWs from the Philippine Islands to Manila
when sunk by Paddle. The Japanese crew and patrol boats killed all but 83 of Shinyo Marus POWs before they could reach shore. One survivor died on shore, one elected to remain in the Philippines and 81 returned home. , seventeen "Survivors of the Shinyo Maru" remained alive in the U.S.; fourteen survivors met at the "eighth -- and final -- survivors reunion" in Florida in 2000.
She prepared for her next patrol in Mios Woendi
Lagoon, sailing on 3 October for lifeguard off Balikpapan
. During brief offensive periods, she sank two oil-laden sea trucks and a schooner
by gunfire, then returned to Fremantle on 1 November.
Her seventh war patrol began at Fremantle 25 November and ended at Pearl Harbor on 18 January 1945. Operating mainly in the South China Sea
and west of Luzon
, Paddle fought through heavy weather to join in sinking Shoei Maru and damaging an enemy destroyer.
After overhaul at San Francisco, Paddle trained at Pearl Harbor whence she sailed on her 8th and last war patrol on 15 May. Prowling the Yellow
and East China Sea
s, she found few substantial targets by this time almost annihilated the Japanese merchant marine. She turned her attention to sinking floating mine
s with gunfire, and sank eight schooners and picket boats.
Returning to Guam
18 July, Paddle sailed on 13 August for lifeguard duty off southern Honshū
. With the war's end, she sailed for Midway Atoll
on 17 August. The long voyage home ended at Staten Island
on 30 September.
under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. Decommissioned and transferred on 18 January 1957, she was simultaneously commissioned in the Brazilian Navy
as Riachuelo (S-15).
service; her first seven war patrols were designated "successful."
Gato class submarine
The United States Navy Gato class submarine formed the core of the submarine service that was largely responsible for the destruction of the Japanese merchant marine and a large portion of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II...
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
, was a ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
named for the paddle
Paddlefish
Paddlefish are primitive Chondrostean ray-finned fishes. The paddlefish can be distinguished by its large mouth and its elongated, spatula-like snout, called a rostrum, which is longer than the rest of the head...
, a large ganoid fish of the Mississippi and its larger tributaries.
Paddle was laid down on 1 May 1942 by Electric Boat Co
Electric Boat Corporation
The General Dynamics Electric Boat is a division of General Dynamics Corporation. It has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy for over 100 years....
., Groton, Connecticut
Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....
; launched on 30 December 1942; sponsored by Mrs. William M. Fechteler, wife of later Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...
Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
William M. Fechteler; and commissioned at New London
Naval Submarine Base New London
Naval Submarine Base New London is the United States Navy's primary submarine base, the "Home of the Submarine Force", and "the Submarine Capital of the World".-History:...
on 29 March 1943, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
R. H. Rice in command.
United States Navy
After trials and training, Paddle left New London on 8 June 1943 for the Panama CanalPanama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
and Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, arriving on 5 July. She based at Pearl Harbor during her first two war patrols, between which she trained destroyers in antisubmarine warfare and received meteorological equipment.
Paddles first patrol, from 20 July–12 September, was conducted south of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. She scored a hit on a large freighter in her first attack on 13 August, but alert escorts forced her down with a 13-hour depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
attack. Enemy search planes damaged her slightly on 19 August with 7 bombs dropped as she patrolled submerged off the coast of Japan, but she repaired damage quickly and struck back, sinking Ataka Maru on 23 August.
During her second war patrol, from 17 October–9 November, Paddle took station off Nauru
Nauru
Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...
to provide continuous weather reporting for the carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
task force attacking the Gilbert
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...
and Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
to cover the Tarawa landings
Battle of Tarawa
The Battle of Tarawa, code named Operation Galvanic, was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region....
. She also guided, by radio, Army bombers in to raid Tarawa and attacked Nippon Maru off Eniwetok, though escorting destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s forced her down before she could observe the damage inflicted on the tanker.
After West Coast overhaul, Paddle sailed for her third war patrol from Pearl Harbor on 19 March 1944, bound for the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
and the southern Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. In a brilliant night attack on 16 April, she sank two of a three-ship convoy guarded by four escorts, torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
ing Mito Maru and Hino Maru No. 1. Breaking off to reload her tubes, Paddle returned to attack a tanker, which had joined the group, and engaged escorting destroyers and aircraft. She ended her patrol at Fremantle, Australia on 12 May.
Paddles fourth war patrol, from 5 June–29 July, began with reconnaissance of the eastern approaches to Davao Gulf
Davao Gulf
Davao Gulf is a gulf found in Mindanao in the Philippines. It has an area of 308,000 hectares. Davao Gulf cuts into the island of Mindanao from Celebes Sea. It is surrounded by all four provinces in the Davao Region. The largest island in the gulf is Samal Island. Davao City, on the gulf's west...
guarding against a Japanese sortie during the U.S. landings on Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
. Damaged by bombs in the Celebes Sea
Celebes Sea
The Celebes Sea of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east by the Sangihe Islands chain, on the south by Sulawesi, and on the west by Kalimantan in Indonesia...
on 30 June, Paddle repaired quickly and on 6 July attacked a small convoy, twice hitting a large freighter, and sinking before being forced down by other escorts.
After refit at Fremantle, Paddle made her fifth patrol, from 22 August–25 September, encountering few contacts in her assigned area in the Sulu Sea
Sulu Sea
The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.Sulu Sea contains a number of...
. On 7 September, attacked
Shinyo Maru Incident
The Shinyo Maru Incident occurred in the Philippines on September 7, 1944 during the Pacific theater of World War II. In an attack on a Japanese convoy by the American submarine USS Paddle, 687 Allied prisoners of war were massacred by the Japanese or killed when their ship, the SS Shinyo Maru was...
and destroyed the Shinyo Maru
Shinyo Maru
Shinyo Maru was a Japanese Cargo steamer during the Second World War. She was one of the hell ships, used to transport prisoners of war. She had served under a number of other names under a long career.-Career:...
and damaged another of her convoy. Shinyo Maru, unmarked as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
carrier and unknown to Paddle, was carrying over 750 Allied POWs from the Philippine Islands to Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
when sunk by Paddle. The Japanese crew and patrol boats killed all but 83 of Shinyo Marus POWs before they could reach shore. One survivor died on shore, one elected to remain in the Philippines and 81 returned home. , seventeen "Survivors of the Shinyo Maru" remained alive in the U.S.; fourteen survivors met at the "eighth -- and final -- survivors reunion" in Florida in 2000.
She prepared for her next patrol in Mios Woendi
Mios Woendi
Mios Woendi is the name of an island and was a forward base for United States Navy during World War II. The US Navy code word for the base located in Schouten Islands, was Stinker...
Lagoon, sailing on 3 October for lifeguard off Balikpapan
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...
. During brief offensive periods, she sank two oil-laden sea trucks and a schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
by gunfire, then returned to Fremantle on 1 November.
Her seventh war patrol began at Fremantle 25 November and ended at Pearl Harbor on 18 January 1945. Operating mainly in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
and west of Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, Paddle fought through heavy weather to join in sinking Shoei Maru and damaging an enemy destroyer.
After overhaul at San Francisco, Paddle trained at Pearl Harbor whence she sailed on her 8th and last war patrol on 15 May. Prowling the Yellow
Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...
and East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...
s, she found few substantial targets by this time almost annihilated the Japanese merchant marine. She turned her attention to sinking floating mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
s with gunfire, and sank eight schooners and picket boats.
Returning to Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
18 July, Paddle sailed on 13 August for lifeguard duty off southern Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
. With the war's end, she sailed for Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
on 17 August. The long voyage home ended at Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
on 30 September.
Brazilian Navy
Placed in reserve at New London, Paddle decommissioned on 1 February 1946. She recommissioned on 31 August 1956 to prepare for transfer to BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. Decommissioned and transferred on 18 January 1957, she was simultaneously commissioned in the Brazilian Navy
Brazilian Navy
The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...
as Riachuelo (S-15).
Awards
Paddle received eight battle stars for World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
service; her first seven war patrols were designated "successful."