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N7KTP > NAVNET 23.08.04 07:49l 91 Lines 5316 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 1109_N7WE
Read: GUEST
Subj: USS PADDLE (SS-263)
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Sent: 040823/0323Z @:N7WE.#WWA.WA.USA.NA #:1109 [Bremerton] $:1109_N7WE
From: N7KTP@N7WE.#WWA.WA.USA.NA
To : NAVNET@USA
USS Paddle: Fearless hunter of enemy vessels
By FRED MILES WATSON - Managing Editor – Northwest Navigator
USS Paddle (SS-263), named after a large ganoid fish of the
Mississippi and its larger tributaries, was built by Electric Boat Co.,
Groton, Conn., and was commissioned at New London, Conn., March 29,
1943, with Lt. Cmdr. R H. Rice in command.
A Gato class boat, Paddle displaced 1,526 tons, surfaced and 2,
424-tons submerged. 5he was nearly 312 feet in length and had a draw of
15 feet, 3-inches. On the surface she reached a top speed of 20 knots
and submerged made nearly nine knots. A total of 60 men served in
Paddle and she was outfitted with one, 3-inch gunMount, two .50cal.
machine guns and 10, 21-inch torpedo tubes.
After sea trials and training, Paddle departed New London June 8,
1943 for the Panama Canal and on to Pearl Harbor arriving July 5. For
her first two war patrols she was based out of Pearl Harbor. In between
those first two patrols she trained destroyer crews in antisubmarine
warfare and received meteorological equipment.
Her first patrol began on July 20 just south of Japan where she
made a hit on a large freighter Aug. 13, but enemy escorts forced her
down with a 13-hour depth charge attack. Enemy search planes damaged
her slightly Aug. 19 with seven bombs dropped as she patrolled sub-
merged off the coast of Japan, but she repaired damage quickly and
struck back, sinking the passenger cargo ship Ataka Maru on Aug. 23.
During her second war patrol, that started on Oct. 17, 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 an enemy tanker off Eniwetok, though escorting
destroyers forced her down before she could observe the damage
inflicted on the tanker.
After a West Coast overhaul, Paddle sailed for her third war
patrol from Pearl Harbor March 19, bound for the Dutch East Indies and
the southern Philippines. In a brilliant night attack of April 16th,
she sank two of a three-ship convoy guarded by four escorts, torpedoing
Mito Maru and Hino Maru No.1. Paddle then had break off to reload her
torpedo tubes and returned to attack a tanker, which had joined the
group. The submarine then engaged escorting destroyers and aircraft.
She ended her patrol at Fremantle, Australia, May 12.
Paddle's fourth war patrol began June 5, and placed her with
reconnaissance duty 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 June 30, her crew repaired her quickly
and on July 6 was back on patrol and attacking a small convoy; twice
hitting a large freighter, and sinking the enemy destroyer Hokaze
before being forced down by other escorts.
After a refit at Fremantle, Paddle made her fifth patrol from Aug.
22 to Sept. 25, encountering few contacts in her assigned area in the
Sulu Sea. On Sept. 7 she sent the cargo ship Shinyo Maru to the bottom
and damaged another vessel. She prepared for her next patrol in the
Mios Woendi Lagoon, sailing Oct. 3, 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 Nov. 1.
Paddle's next patrol, her seventh, began at Fremantle Nov. 25 and
ended at Pearl Harbor on Jan. 18, 1945. During this patrol she operated
mainly in the South China Sea and west of Luzon. Paddle fought through
heavy weather to join sister ship USS Hammerhead (SS364) in sinking the
tanker Shoei Maru and damaging an enemy destroyer.
Following this patrol she sailed for the West Coast and an
overhaul at San Francisco. Later she worked up at Pearl Harbor and
departed on her eighth and final war patrol on May 15.
Patrolling the Yellow and East China Seas she found few substan-
tial targets, she and her sister submarines having taken its toll on
the Japanese merchant marine. For maritime safety the submarine focused
on sinking floating mines with gunfire, and later, sank eight schooners
and picket boats.
Returning to Guam on July 18, Paddle enjoyed a brief respite and
then sailed to waters off southern Honshu for lifeguard duty. With the
announcement of the end of hostilities with Japan she set a course for
Midway on Aug. 17. This was followed by the long voyage home via Hawaii
and the Panama Canal which ended at Staten Island on Sept. 30.
Paddle was placed in reserve at New London and was decommis-
sionedFeb.1, 1946. She was recommissioned Aug. 31, 1956 to prepare for
transfer to Brazil under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. She was
decommissioned and transferred Jan. 18, 1957, she was simultaneously
commissioned in the Brazilian Navy as Riachuelo (S-15).
She went on to serve the Brazilian Navy until March of 1968 when
she was deleted from their register of ships, and she was then stricken
from the U.S. Navy Register on June 30, 1968 and later sunk as a
target.
USS Paddle (SS-263) was awarded eight battle stars for her World
War II service.
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