USS Plaice ( SS - 390 ) USS " Plaice " ( SS - 390 ) , a " Balao " - class submarine , was a ship of the United States Navy named for the plaice , one of the various American flatfish ; summer flounder . She participated in the Pacific War campaign of World War II , receiving six battle stars for her service . The United States later transferred her to Brazil in a joint cooperation program . Service history . United States Navy . " Plaice " was laid down by the Portsmouth Navy Yard , Kittery , Maine on 14 July 1943 ; launched on 15 November 1943 , sponsored by Miss Eleanor Fazzi ; and commissioned on 12 February 1944 , Lieutenant Commander Clyde B . Stevens in command . Following shakedown and training , " Plaice " got underway for the Panama Canal Zone on 15 April , and arrived Pearl Harbor on 13 May . She departed on her first war patrol in the Bonin Islands area on 3 June . " Plaice " torpedoed and sank " Hyakufuku Maru " on 30 June ; " Kogi Maru " on 5 July ; and " Submarine Chaser No . 50 " on 18 July , before returning to Midway Island . The submarine was off on her second war patrol on 17 August , this time in the Nansei Shoto area . In the early afternoon on 7 September , " Plaice " scored one torpedo hit on a " Kongō Maru " - class liner converted to an auxiliary cruiser . On 24 September , " Plaice " launched four torpedoes at a , briefly stopping its screws . Three days later she sank " Coast Defense Vessel No . 10 . " , and put three torpedoes into the side of a transport , which blossomed a bright orange flame . The patrol ended as " Plaice " drew into Midway on 7 October and got underway the following day for Pearl Harbor with . " Plaice " departed Pearl Harbor on 9 November for her third patrol in the Southwestern Japanese Empire off the coast of Shikoku and Kyūshū . On 9 December , she damaged . She patrolled the traffic lanes east of Van Diemen Strait and pulled into Guam 20 December without having sunk any ships on the patrol . The undersea raider departed Guam on her fourth patrol in the Luzon Straits - Formosa areas . " Plaice " was part of a coordinated attack group which included , , , , and . This long patrol in the face of enemy antisubmarine measures resulted in but one contact worthy of torpedo fire , a convoy of a small freighter , a medium freighter and three escorts . Three attacks resulted in but one hit . On 23 March 1945 , " Plaice " moored at Midway . The fifth patrol originated from Midway on 26 April and took " Plaice " to the Kuril Islands - Okhotsk Sea area . The first enemy contact was made on 13 May , when the submarine trailed four sea trucks and four small luggers until she opened a surface engagement with her and 40 mm guns , sinking all four sea trucks and two luggers . When all her larger ammunition had been expended , she drove the remaining two luggers toward the beach and damaged them by 20 mm and small arms fire . On 18 May , seven fishing boats came into view . The staccato of 20 mm and . 50 caliber guns tore into two of the boats and damaged them visibly . " Plaice " ended her patrol at Pearl Harbor 13 June . The sixth patrol - commencing on 18 July - took " Plaice " to the East China Sea area , but she made no enemy contacts . She picked up five survivors from an Army B - 25 Mitchell , and transferred them to a Navy patrol bomber the following day . On 15 August , Japan accepted the Potsdam Ultimatum and nine days later " Plaice " pulled into Midway . After the war was over , " Plaice " operated in the Pacific until , by directive dated November 1947 , she was placed out of commission , in reserve , at Mare Island Naval Shipyard . " Plaice " was reactivated 18 May 1963 in preparation for a five - year loan to Brazil on 7 September 1963 under the Military Assistance Program . Brazilian Navy . " Capitão - de - Fragata " ( Commander ) Abílio Simões Machado of the Brazilian Navy took command of the submarine at Oear Harbor , Hawaii , on 7 September 1963 . Commissioned in the Brazilian Navy as " Bahia " ( S - 12 ) , she was the first " Balao " - class submarine to undergo alterations st the Brazilian Navy Arsenal in Rio de Janeiro ; her hydrodynamic shape was modified with the installation of a new conning tower and periscope guide . After the completion of the modifications , " Bahia " s underwater speed increased by one knot and she was quieter when submerged . " Bahia " took part in UNITAS naval exercises and assisted in surveillance in the South Atlantic Ocean during the Cold War . She logged 140 , 503 nautical miles ( 260 , 212 kilometers ) , spending 2 , 863 hours submerged and 836 days at sea . Her loan to Brazil was extended beyond its original five - year term at regular intervals . " Bahia " was decommissioned on 19 January 1973 . She was sold to the Technology Museum of São Paulo , which intended to tow her Santos , Brazil , and convert her into a museum ship . However , these plans were not realzied , and instead " Bahia " was scrapped following a ceremony on 27 March 1973 . Awards . " Plaice " received six battle star s for her World War II service .