USS Paddle ( SS - 263 ) USS " Paddle " ( SS - 263 ) , a " Gato " - class submarine , was a ship of the United States Navy named for the paddle , a large ganoid fish of the Mississippi and its larger tributaries . " Paddle " was laid down on 1 May 1942 by Electric Boat Co . , Groton , Connecticut ; launched on 30 December 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . William M . Fechteler , wife of later Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William M . Fechteler ; and commissioned at New London on 29 March 1943 , Lieutenant Commander R . H . Rice in command . Service history . United States Navy . After trials and training , " Paddle " left New London on 8 June 1943 for the Panama Canal and Pearl Harbor , arriving on 5 July . She based at Pearl Harbor during her first two war patrols , between which she trained destroyers in antisubmarine warfare and received meteorological equipment . " Paddle " s first patrol , from 20 July – 12 September , was conducted south of Japan . She scored a hit on a large freighter in her first attack on 13 August , but alert escorts forced her down with a 13 - hour depth 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 , sinking " Ataka Maru " on 23 August . During her second war patrol , from 17 October – 9 November , " 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 " Nippon Maru " off Eniwetok , though escorting destroyer s forced her down before she could observe the damage inflicted on the tanker . After West Coast overhaul , " Paddle " sailed for her third war patrol from Pearl Harbor on 19 March 1944 , bound for the Dutch East Indies and the southern Philippines . In a brilliant night attack on 16 April , she sank two of a three - ship convoy guarded by four escorts , torpedo ing " Mito Maru " and " Hino 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 at Fremantle , Australia on 12 May . " Paddle " s fourth war patrol , from 5 June – 29 July , began with reconnaissance 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 30 June , " Paddle " repaired quickly and on 6 July attacked a small convoy , twice hitting a large freighter , and sinking 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 the Sulu Sea . On 7 September , attacked and destroyed the " Shinyo Maru " and damaged another of her convoy . " Shinyo Maru " , unmarked as a prisoner of war carrier and unknown to " Paddle " , was carrying over 750 Allied POWs from the Philippine Islands to Manila when sunk by " Paddle " . The Japanese crew and patrol boats killed all but 83 of " Shinyo Maru " s POWs before they could reach shore . One survivor died on shore , one elected to remain in the Philippines and 81 returned home . , seventeen " Survivors of the " Shinyo Maru " " remained alive in the U . S . ; fourteen survivors met at the " eighth - - and final - - survivors reunion " in Florida in 2000 . She prepared for her next patrol in Mios Woendi Lagoon , sailing on 3 October 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 1 November . Her seventh war patrol began at Fremantle 25 November and ended at Pearl Harbor on 18 January 1945 . Operating mainly in the South China Sea and west of Luzon , " Paddle " fought through heavy weather to join in sinking " Shoei Maru " and damaging an enemy destroyer . After overhaul at San Francisco , " Paddle " trained at Pearl Harbor whence she sailed on her 8th and last war patrol on 15 May . Prowling the Yellow and East China Seas , she found few substantial targets ; by this time submarine attacks had almost annihilated the Japanese merchant marine . She turned her attention to sinking floating mine s with gunfire , and sank eight schooners and picket boats . Returning to Guam 18 July , " Paddle " sailed on 13 August for lifeguard duty off southern Honshū . With the war ' s end , she sailed for Midway Atoll on 17 August . The long voyage home ended at Staten Island on 30 September . Brazilian Navy . Placed in reserve at New London , " Paddle " decommissioned on 1 February 1946 . She recommissioned on 31 August 1956 to prepare for transfer to Brazil under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program . Decommissioned and transferred on 18 January 1957 , she was simultaneously commissioned in the Brazilian Navy as " Riachuelo " ( S - 15 ) . Awards . " Paddle " received eight battle star s for World War II service ; her first seven war patrols were designated " successful . "