USS Dace ( SS - 247 ) , a " Gato " class submarine , was the first submarine of the United States Navy to be named for any of several small North American fresh - water fishes of the carp family . Her keel was laid down by Electric Boat Company of Groton , Connecticut 22 July 1942 . She was launched on 25 April 1943 ( sponsored by Mrs O . P . Robertson ) , and commissioned on 23 July 1943 , Lieutenant Commander Joseph F . Enright in command . Service history . United States Navy . World War II . 1943 . Departing New London , Connecticut on 7 September 1943 , " Dace " arrived at Pearl Harbor on 3 October , and 17 days later sailed on her first war patrol , bound for the southeast coast of Honshū and the approaches to Nagoya . On 7 November , she made her first contact with the enemy , severely damaging a freighter with torpedo s . Alert action by patrol craft prevented " Dace " from continuing her attack . She returned to Midway Island to refit from 11 December - 7 January 1944 . 1944 . On her second war patrol , " Dace " cruised the shipping lanes south of Truk . On the night of 26 January , she contacted a large tanker , closely guarded by two escorts . She fired a spread of torpedoes , heard five explosions , and broke off the contact to avoid the pursuit of the escort . The cause of the explosion remains unknown since Japanese records show no ship damaged in that area on that date . After refueling at Tulagi on 2 – 3 February , " Dace " continued her patrol close to Truk during carrier air raids there on 16 – 17 February . On 25 February , she arrived at Milne Bay , New Guinea , for refit . " Dace " put to sea on her third war patrol on 18 March , and two days later embarked a group of commandos at Langemak Bay . For the next week , she scouted the coast around Hollandia ( currently known as Jayapura ) , New Guinea , landing the commando parties and taking them back on board at night . She refueled at Manus Island on 27 – 28 March , and sailed on for her assigned patrol area . This patrol was interrupted from 10 – 16 April , when " Dace " made rendezvous at sea with and escorted her into Manus . On 13 May , " Dace " put into Brisbane , Australia , for refit . " Dace " s fourth war patrol – from 13 June – 12 August – found her refueling at Manus on 20 – 21 June , and sailing on to patrol the Mindanao coast in Davao Gulf . Many contacts were made , but most were too small to provide worthwhile targets . On 9 July , " Dace " scored at least three hits on a large transport whose two escorts dropped a total of 43 depth charge s , badly shaking up the submarine ' s crew but causing little physical damage . A daring reconnaissance mission took her into Sarangani Bay on 16 July , and ten days later , she began an epic chase . She pursued a smoke contact visible on the horizon for a full day , eight times being forced down to avoid detection by patrolling aircraft . That night , she reestablished contact , and just after midnight on 27 July , " Dace " launched her attack , firing ten torpedoes into a convoy of three merchantmen . She sent a tanker to the bottom , then was forced deep as one of the escorts tried to ram her ; the escort then began a depth charge attack . On 31 July , " Dace " sank another ship , a small freighter , and the next day received another depth charging after an attack on a well escorted freighter . With all torpedoes gone , " Dace " put in at Manus on 6 August , and sailed on to Brisbane , arriving on 12 August . " Dace " cleared Brisbane on 1 September on her fifth and most successful war patrol . She topped off her fuel tanks at Darwin , Australia on 10 September , and sailed for the exacting task of sweeping mines in Palawan Passage and Balabac Strait . From 27 September – 3 October , she put in at Mios Woendi to repair her gyrocompass , returning to her patrol area on 10 October . Four days later , she attacked a convoy of seven ships , sinking two and heavily damaging a third . She now joined in a feat of skill and courage which brought both submarines the Navy Unit Commendation . On 23 October , they contacted the Japanese Center Force approaching Palawan Passage for the attack on the Leyte landings . Since the location of this Japanese force had been a mystery for several days , the contact report flashed back by " Dace " and " Darter " was one of the most significant of the war . The two submarines closed the task force , and " Darter " attacked first , sinking and damaging . " Dace " followed with a torpedo attack that sank , then went deep to avoid the counterattacking destroyer s . Continuing to track their target , hoping for a chance to finish off " Takao " , the two submarines worked through treacherous Palawan Passage . " Darter " ran aground , and " Dace " stood by . With the area full of searching enemy ships , " Dace " took " Darter " s men off , then fired torpedoes at her to destroy her . Before she had completed her work , she went deep to avoid a patrolling Japanese aircraft , which obligingly bombed " Darter " . " Dace " sailed on for Fremantle , Western Australia , arriving on 6 November . " Dace " cleared Fremantle on 2 December on her sixth war patrol . She scouted along the Singapore - Hong Kong shipping lane , then sailed on to mine the channel between Palau Gambir and the mainland . Finishing that task on 16 December , " Dace " heard loud explosions from the mined area late in the afternoon , indication of a job well done . Three days later , while preparing to attack an eight - ship convoy , " Dace " was violently shaken by four depth charges or bombs . She went deep , hitting bottom , and while waiting there for the escorts to break off their attack , she was bumped , turned , scraped , and clanked along the bottom by the strong current . Somehow the enemy did not detect her for all this noise , and the sub was able to surface later , repair minor damage , and sail on to patrol farther north . On 28 December , she sank " Nosaki " and damaged a freighter in the same convoy . She put in at Saipan for fuel on 17 January 1945 , and reached Pearl Harbor on 28 January . 1945 . After a West Coast overhaul , " Dace " sailed from Pearl Harbor on 25 May 1945 on her seventh war patrol . She fueled at Midway on 29 May , and entered her patrol area in the Kurile Islands on 7 June . Battle Stations Surfaced on two Japanese ships both sunk through gun action . 1 Luger and 1 Sea truck on June 8 . Again , the next day two Japanese ships were taken out , a freighter and a destroyer . Here , she sank two sailing ships by gunfire , then headed into the Sea of Okhotsk . On 10 June , she detected a large freighter and a small tanker sailing through the fog . Coming into attacking position , " Dace " saw the convoy also included three escorts , but continued to close the freighter , firing her first spread at only . She swung to fire at the tanker as the freighter exploded and sank , then was confronted by an escort apparently planning to ram . " Dace " launched a torpedo " down the throat " of the escort , and plunged deep . A severe depth charging followed , after which " Dace " fired again at the escort . She returned to Midway on 25 July , and sailed on to Saipan on 13 August , preparing for her eighth war patrol . She was there when the war ended . Post - war . With the end of hostilities , " Dace " was ordered back to Pearl Harbor , and on 5 October 1945 arrived at New London . She was placed in commission in reserve at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 15 January 1946 , and was towed to New London , where she was placed out of commission in reserve on 12 February 1947 . Recommissioned on 8 August 1951 , " Dace " operated from New London along the Eastern Seaboard and in the Caribbean Sea until placed in commission in reserve at New London on 31 December 1953 . She was placed out of commission in reserve at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 15 January 1954 for extensive modernization , then was recommissioned on 22 October 1954 . After training men of the Marina Militare , she was decommissioned at New London on 31 January 1955 , and transferred the same day to Italy under the Military Assistance Program . Italian Navy . Ex - " Dace " was commissioned in the " Marina Militare Italiana " ( Italian Navy ) as " Leonardo da Vinci " ( S - 510 ) . Originally to be lent to Italy for five years , this arrangement was extended by five years in 1959 and extended for yet another five years , twice . Together with " Enrico Tazzoli " ( S - 511 ) ( ex - ) , " da Vinci " formed the backbone of Italian submarine strength in the late 1950s and 1960s . " Dace " was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 October 1972 and returned to the United States Navy ; " Leonardo da Vinci " was deleted from the Italian Navy the following year . Fate . Ex - " Dace " was sold for scrapping on 1 April 1975 Awards . In addition to the Navy Unit Commendation , " Dace " received seven battle stars during her seven war patrols , the last five of which were designated as " successful . " She is credited with having sunk 28 , 689 tons of Japanese shipping .