USS ''Paddle'' (SS-263), a
''Gato''-class submarine, was a ship of the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
named for the
paddlefish
Paddlefish (family Polyodontidae) are a family of ray-finned fish belonging to order Acipenseriformes, and one of two living groups of the order alongside sturgeons (Acipenseridae). They are distinguished from other fish by their titular elongla ...
.
Construction and commissioning
''Paddle'' was
laid down
Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship.
Keel laying is one o ...
on 1 May 1942 by the
Electric Boat Company
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
at
Groton,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
;
launched on 30 December 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Goldye S. Fechteler, wife of later
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William M. Fechteler; and
commissioned at
Naval Submarine Base New London
Naval Submarine Base New London is the primary United States Navy East Coast submarine base, also known as the "Home of the Submarine Force." It is located in Groton, Connecticut directly across the Thames River from its namesake city of New L ...
in
New London
New London may refer to:
Places United States
*New London, Alabama
*New London, Connecticut
*New London, Indiana
*New London, Iowa
*New London, Maryland
*New London, Minnesota
*New London, Missouri
*New London, New Hampshire, a New England town
** ...
, Connecticut, on 29 March 1943.
Service history
United States Navy
After
trials
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...
and training, ''Paddle'' left New London on 8 June 1943 for the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
and
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
, arriving on 5 July. She was based at Pearl Harbor during her first two war patrols, between which she trained
destroyers in
antisubmarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are ty ...
and received
meteorological equipment.
''Paddle''s first patrol, from 20 July to 12 September 1943, 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
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Intern ...
to cover the
Tarawa landings. She also guided, by radio, Army bombers in to raid Tarawa and attacked ''Nippon Maru''
off
Eniwetok
Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with i ...
, though escorting
destroyers forced her down before she could observe the damage inflicted on the tanker.
After
United States West Coast
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. ...
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
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. In a brilliant night attack on 16 April, she sank two of a three-ship convoy guarded by four escorts,
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
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
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Austral ...
on 12 May.
''Paddle''s fourth war patrol, from 5 June–29 July, began with reconnaissance of the eastern approaches to
Davao Gulf
Davao Gulf is a gulf situated in the southeastern portion of Mindanao in the Philippines. It has an area of or about 520,000 hectares. Davao Gulf cuts into the island of Mindanao from the Philippine Sea. It is surrounded by all five provinces in ...
guarding against a Japanese sortie during the U.S. landings on
Saipan. Damaged by bombs in the
Celebes Sea
The Celebes Sea, (; ms, Laut Sulawesi, id, Laut Sulawesi, fil, Dagat Selebes) or Sulawesi 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 b ...
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
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...
carrier and unknown to ''Paddle'', was carrying over 750 Allied POWs from the Philippine Islands to
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
when sunk by ''Paddle''. The Japanese crew and patrol boats killed all but 83 of ''Shinyo Maru''s POWs before they could reach shore. One survivor died on shore, one elected to remain in the Philippines and 81 returned home.
She prepared for her next patrol in
Mios Woendi
Mios Woendi island is an island in the Schouten Islands
of Papua province, eastern Indonesia. It lies in Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) off the northwestern coast of the island nation of Papua New Guinea.
Description
The island is in a ...
Lagoon, sailing on 3 October for lifeguard off
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. Balikpapan is the city with the largest economy in Kalimantan with an estimated ...
. 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
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...
and west of
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
, ''Paddle'' fought through heavy weather to join in sinking ''Shoei Maru'' and damaging an enemy destroyer.
After overhaul at
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, ''Paddle'' trained at Pearl Harbor whence she sailed on her 8th and last war patrol on 15 May. Prowling the
Yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the ...
and
East China Seas, she found few substantial targets; by this time submarine attacks had almost annihilated the Japanese
merchant marine. She turned her attention to sinking floating
mine
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
* Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
...
s with gunfire, and sank eight schooners and picket boats.
Returning to
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
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.
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
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. Decommissioned and transferred on 18 January 1957, she was simultaneously commissioned in the
Brazilian Navy
)
, colors= Blue and white
, colors_label= Colors
, march= "Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship ''Cisne Branco''
, mascot=
, equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious war ...
as ''Riachuelo'' (S-15). ''Riachuelo'' was stricken in March 1968 and sunk as a target around 30 June 1968.
Awards
''Paddle'' received eight
battle star
A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...
s for
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
service. Her first seven war patrols were designated "successful."
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paddle (Ss-263)
Gato-class submarines
Ships built in Groton, Connecticut
1942 ships
World War II submarines of the United States
Gato-class submarines of the Brazilian Navy
Ships sunk as targets
Maritime incidents in 1968