History
United States
Name	USSPaddle (SS-263)
Namesake	Paddlefish
Builder	Electric Boat Company,Groton, Connecticut[1]
Laid down	1 May 1942[1]
Launched	30 December 1942[1]
Commissioned	29 March 1943[1]
Decommissioned	1 February 1946[1]
Recommissioned	31 August 1956[1]
Decommissioned	18 January 1957[1]
Stricken	30 June 1968[2]
Fate	Transferred toBrazil unmodified, 18 January 1957[1]
History
Brazil
Name	Riachuelo (S–15)
Acquired	18 January 1957[1]
Stricken	March 1968
Fate	Sunk as a target around 30 June 1968[1]
General characteristics
Class & type	Gato-classdiesel-electricsubmarine[2]
Displacement	1,525tons (1,549t) surfaced,[2] 2,424 tons (2,460 t) submerged[2]
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft	17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion	4 ×Hooven-Owens-Rentschler (H.O.R.)diesel engines drivingelectrical generators[3] 2 × 126-cellSargobatteries[4] 4 × high-speedAllis-Chalmerselectric motors withreduction gears[3] two propellers[3] 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced[3] 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged[3]
Speed	21 kn (39 km/h) surfaced,[5] 9 kn (17 km/h) submerged[5]
Range	11,000nm @ 10 kn (20,000 km @ 19 km/h) surfaced[5]
Endurance	48 hours @ 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged,[5] 75 days on patrol
Test depth	300 ft (90 m)[5]
Complement	6 officers, 54 enlisted[5]
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes 6 forward, 4 aft 24 torpedoes[4] 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun[4] Bofors 40 mm andOerlikon 20 mm cannon

USSPaddle (SS-263), aGato-classsubmarine, was a ship of theUnited States Navy named for thepaddlefish.

Paddle waslaid down on 1 May 1942 by theElectric Boat Company atGroton,Connecticut;launched on 30 December 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Goldye S. Fechteler, wife of laterChief of Naval OperationsAdmiralWilliam M. Fechteler; andcommissioned atNaval Submarine Base New London inNew London, Connecticut, on 29 March 1943.

Aftertrials and training,Paddle left New London on 8 June 1943 for thePanama Canal andPearl Harbor,Hawaii, arriving on 5 July. She was based at Pearl Harbor during her first two war patrols, between which she traineddestroyers inantisubmarine warfare and receivedmeteorological equipment.

Paddle's first patrol, from 20 July to 12 September 1943, was conducted south ofJapan. She scored a hit on a large freighter in her first attack on 13 August, but alert escorts forced her down with a 13-hourdepth 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, sinkingAtaka Maru on 23 August.

During her second war patrol, from 17 October–9 November,Paddle took station offNauru to provide continuous weather reporting for thecarrier task force attacking theGilbert andMarshall Islands to cover theTarawa landings. She also guided, by radio, Army bombers in to raid Tarawa and attackedNippon Maru^[6] offEniwetok, though escortingdestroyers forced her down before she could observe the damage inflicted on the tanker.

AfterUnited States West Coast overhaul,Paddle sailed for her third war patrol from Pearl Harbor on 19 March 1944, bound for theDutch East Indies and the southernPhilippines. In a brilliant night attack on 16 April, she sank two of a three-ship convoy guarded by four escorts,torpedoingMito Maru andHino 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 atFremantle, Australia on 12 May.

Paddle's fourth war patrol, from 5 June–29 July, began with reconnaissance of the eastern approaches toDavao Gulf guarding against a Japanese sortie during the U.S. landings onSaipan. Damaged by bombs in theCelebes Sea on 30 June,Paddle repaired quickly and on 6 July attacked a small convoy, twice hitting a large freighter, and sinkingHokaze 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 theSulu Sea. On 7 September,attacked and destroyed theShinyo Maru and damaged another of her convoy.Shinyo Maru, unmarked as aprisoner of war carrier and unknown toPaddle, was carrying over 750 Allied POWs from the Philippine Islands toManila when sunk byPaddle. The Japanese crew and patrol boats killed all but 83 ofShinyo 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 returned toMios Woendi Lagoon on 25 September 1944 and then prepared for her next patrol, sailing on 3 October for her sixth patrol, engaged in search and rescue duty in the waters offBalikpapan.^[7] During brief offensive periods, she sank two oil-laden sea trucks and aschooner by gunfire, then returned to Fremantle on 1 November.^[7]

Her seventh war patrol began at Fremantle 25 November and ended at Pearl Harbor on 18 January 1945. Operating mainly in theSouth China Sea and west ofLuzon,Paddle fought through heavy weather to joinHammerhead in sinkingShoei Maru and damaging an enemy destroyer.

After overhaul atSan Francisco,Paddle trained at Pearl Harbor whence she sailed on her 8th and last war patrol on 15 May. Prowling theYellow andEast China Seas, she found few substantial targets; by this time submarine attacks had almost annihilated the Japanesemerchant marine. She turned her attention to sinking floatingmines with gunfire, and sank eight schooners and picket boats.

Returning toGuam 18 July,Paddle sailed on 13 August for lifeguard duty off southernHonshū. With the war's end, she sailed forMidway Atoll on 17 August. The long voyage home ended atStaten Island on 30 September.

Placed in reserve at New London,Paddle decommissioned on 1 February 1946. She recommissioned on 31 August 1956 to prepare for transfer toBrazil under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. Decommissioned and transferred on 18 January 1957, she was simultaneously commissioned in theBrazilian Navy asRiachuelo (S-15).Riachuelo was stricken in March 1968 and sunk as a target around 30 June 1968.

Paddle received eightbattle stars forWorld War II service. Her first seven war patrols were designated "successful."

• Wright, C. C. (2005). "Question 17/03: Replacement of US Submarine Diesel Engines".Warship International.XLII (4):431–434.ISSN 0043-0374.
•  This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.

• Photo gallery ofPaddle at NavSource Naval History

• 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

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from November 2024
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use dmy dates from November 2024
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships