USS Sand Lance ( SS - 381 ) USS " Sand Lance " ( SS - 381 ) , a " Balao " - class submarine , was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sand lance , a member of the " ammodytidae " family . Her keel was laid down on 12 March 1943 by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard . She was launched on 25 June 1943 sponsored by Mrs . Edith Burrows , and commissioned on 9 October 1943 at Portsmouth , New Hampshire , with Commander Malcolm Everett Garrison in command . " Sand Lance " conducted training exercises out of New London , Connecticut , until 18 December 1943 when she sailed for the Panama Canal . She transited the canal on 30 December and reached her base of operations , Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , on 17 January 1944 . On 8 February , she got underway for the first of her five war patrols . She stopped at Midway Island for fuel , then headed for the Kuril Islands . First War Patrol . Before entering her patrol area off Paramushiro on 24 February , she passed through two typhoons and encountered fields of slush ice and patches of drift ice . " Sand Lance " encountered her first victim , " Kaika Maru " , taking shelter from a blizzard in the lee of Paramushiro ' s southeast point . Her well - aimed torpedo es sent that enemy cargo ship to the bottom . Though her number - one periscope had been heavily damaged by drift ice , she pressed home attacks on a convoy on the night of 2 March and 3 March , sinking the 4521 - ton cargo ship " Akashisan Maru " , and damaging other ships . A ship sunk by SS - 381 on 3 March 1944 was the Soviet merchant ship " Byelorussia " On the night of 12 March and 13 March , " Sand Lance " was running on the surface toward Honshū when a marauding airplane forced her to submerge . At about 0200 , she came up to periscope depth and found herself in the midst of a Japanese convoy , consisting of five merchantmen and three heavily - armed warships . " Sand Lance " had only six torpedoes remaining , but she made them count . She loosed four from the stern tubes and two from the bow tubes . All six hit the mark . Two of the four stern torpedoes hit a merchantman and the other two ripped into a light cruiser , while the two from the bow tubes smashed into another freighter . At least two of the ships went to the bottom , light cruiser " Tatsuta " and cargoman " Kokuyo Maru " , carrying over 1 , 000 enemy troops . For her success , " Sand Lance " underwent a 16 - hour , 100 - depth charge pounding from the accompanying destroyer s . Finally , she was able to head home . She arrived in Pearl Harbor on 23 April 1944 . The successes of her maiden war patrol brought " Sand Lance " a Presidential Unit Citation . Second War Patrol . " Sand Lance " spent her second war patrol in the vicinity of the Marianas Islands and terminated it on the eve of the American invasion of those islands . She contributed to the success of that campaign by depriving the defending Japanese of the war material carried by five ships . On 3 May 1944 , just north of Saipan , she torpedoed and sank the 3129 - ton cargo ship " Kenan Maru " . Eight days later , she damaged " Mitakesan Maru " , a 4441 - ton passenger cargo ship , while evading the bombs from an attacking enemy plane . " Sand Lance " sent the 4291 - ton freighter " Koho Maru " to the bottom on 14 May off Apra Harbor , Guam , and found two more targets off Saipan on 17 May . This last attack , the sinking of " Taikoku Maru " and " Fukko Maru " , exhausted her supply of torpedoes , and she headed south to Fremantle , Australia , arriving on 5 June 1944 . Third War Patrol . The submarine put to sea on 3 July to patrol the Molucca Sea and Celebes Sea . She sank the converted gunboat " Taiko Maru " on 14 July and damaged another ship in the same attack . Four days later , she received a good shaking from fast patrol craft while trying to press an attack on a large transport in the Sulu Islands . " Sand Lance " did not find another target until 1 August when she damaged a freighter south of Lombok Island . Two days later , she barely escaped the bombs of a plane which almost caught her in the shallow waters of Amoesang Bay . She sped back through the entrance to the bay and the safety of deeper water . More bombs exploded astern on the morning of 6 August as she stalked some small freighters along the coast of Celebes . The force of the explosion lifted her several feet and damaged her port shaft . Soon , the submarine had two additional problems , enemy escorts bearing down on her and a torpedo running hot in one of her stern tubes . " Sand Lance " came up to and fired the torpedo . Eight seconds later , it exploded prematurely , adding to the damage to her stern . Fortunately , the explosion apparently convinced the Japanese that they had destroyed the submarine , for " Sand Lance " received no further attacks . She surfaced after dark , but the damaged gear could not be repaired . Forced to make the voyage back to Fremantle on one shaft , she made port on 19 August . On 10 September , she headed east for Pearl Harbor and , from there , on to Mare Island Naval Shipyard , where she arrived on 1 November . Fourth & Fifth War Patrols . Repairs were completed by 13 March 1945 when she sailed back to Pearl Harbor . On her fourth war patrol from 10 April to 6 June 1945 , " Sand Lance " encountered only one target , an unidentified coastal freighter which she torpedoed on 14 May . She departed from her patrol area , along the coasts of Honshū and Hokkaidō , and returned to Midway Island on 6 June . One month later , she sailed from Midway on her fifth and last war patrol . She fueled at Saipan , then took up lifeguard station for the bombers raiding the Japanese home islands . Hostilities ceased on 15 August , and , on the next day " Sand Lance " made for San Francisco , California , via Midway and Pearl Harbor . She entered the San Francisco Naval Shipyard at Hunter ' s Point on 7 September for inactivation overhaul . " Sand Lance " decommissioned at San Francisco on 14 February 1946 . Post - World War II Service . " Sand Lance " remained inactive until designated for loan to the Brazilian Navy under the terms of the Military Assistance Program . After reconditioning , she recommissioned at Pearl Harbor on 6 April 1963 with Commander Carl H . Sebenius Jr . , in command . She departed Pearl Harbor on 24 June and made San Francisco on 1 July to embark officers and men of the Brazilian Navy for training . The training was completed by 7 September 1963 when she was decommissioned and loaned to Brazil . The boat , now known as " Rio Grande do Sul " ( S - 11 ) ( variously misspelled in American records as " . . . de Sol , " " . . . del Sol , " & c . ) , served for eight years in the Brazilian Navy . On 13 May 1972 , Brazil purchased ex - " Grampus " ( SS - 523 ) from the United States , decommissioned " Rio Grande do Sul " ( S - 11 ) , and commissioned ex - " Grampus " as " Rio Grande do Sul " ( S - 11 ) . On 15 September 1972 , Brazil returned ex - " Sand Lance " ( at least on paper ) , and promptly purchased it back for US $ 55 , 000 on 12 October . Upon that purchase , " Sand Lance " was struck from the Naval Vessel Register . Brazil cannibalized ex - " Sand Lance " for parts ; within three years the boat was reduced to scrap . Honors and awards . " Sand Lance " ( SS - 381 ) earned five battle star s and a Presidential Unit Citation ( US ) for World War II service .