USS Paddle (SS-263) Ship's Log 



Report a Historic Event
YearDateHistorical Events
1942May 1Keel laid down by the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.
 Dec 30Launched.
1943Mar 29Commissioned with LCDR. R. H. Rice in command.
 Jun 8After trials and training, Paddle left New London, CT. for the Panama Canal and Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Jul 5Paddle arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Jul 20Paddle's 1st war patrol, was conducted South of Japan.
 Aug 13Paddle scored a hit on a large freighter in her first attack, but alert escorts forced her down with a 13-hour depth charge attack.
 Aug 19Enemy search planes damaged Paddle slightly with 7 bombs dropped as she patrolled submerged off the coast of Japan, but she repaired the damage quickly.
 Aug 23Paddle sunk the passenger-cargo ship Ataka Maru.
 Sep 12Paddle ended her patrol at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Oct 17During her 2nd war patrol, Paddle took station off Nauru to provide continuous weather reporting for the carrier task force attacking the Gilberts and Marshalls to cover the Tarawa landings.
1944Mar 19After a West Coast overhaul, Paddle sailed for her 3rd war patrol from Pearl Harbor, HI., bound for the Dutch East Indies and the southern Philippines.
 Apr 16In a brilliant night attack, Paddle sank 2 of a 3 ship convoy guarded by 4 escorts, torpedoing Mito Maru and Hino Maru No. 1.
 May 12Paddle ended her patrol at Fremantle, Australia.
 Jun 5Paddle's 4rh war patrol, began with reconnaissance of the Eastern approaches to Davao Gulf guarding against a Japanese sortie during the U.S. landings on Saipan.
 Jun 30Damaged by bombs in the Celebes Sea, Paddle repaired quickly.
 Jul 6Paddle attacked a small convoy, twice hitting a large freighter, and sinking the destroyer Hokaze before being forced down by other escorts.
 Jul 29Paddle returned to Fremantle, Australia.
 Aug 22After refit at Fremantle, Australia, Paddle made her 5th war patrol, encountering few contacts in her assigned area in the Sulu Sea.
 Sep 7Paddle sent the cargo ship Shinyo Maru to the bottom and damaged another of her convoy. The cargo ship, Shinyo Maru, unmarked as a POW carrier and unknown to the Paddle, was carrying 750+ Allied POWs from the P.I. to Japan, when sunk by the Paddle.
 Sep 7(Cont'd.) The Japanese crew and patrol boats killed all but 83 of the Shinyo Maru's POWs before they could reach shore. One survivor died on shore, one elected to remain in the P.I. and 81 returned home via Australia.
 Sep 7(Cont'd.) As of 2006, seventeen "Survivors of the Shinyo Maru" remain alive in the U.S.
 Sep 25Paddle ended her 5th war patrol.
 Oct 3Paddle prepared for her 6th war patrol in Mios Woendi Lagoon, sailing for lifeguard off Balikpapan. During brief offensive periods, Paddle sank 2 oil laden sea trucks and a schooner by gunfire.
 Nov 1Paddle returned to Fremantle, Australia.
 Nov 25Paddle's 7th war patrol began at Fremantle, Australia. Operating mainly in the South China Sea and west of Luzon, Paddle fought through heavy weather to join Hammerhead in sinking the tanker Shoei Maru and damaging an enemy destroyer.
1945Jan 18Paddle ended her patrol at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 May 15After overhaul at San Francisco, CA., Paddle trained at Pearl Harbor, HI., whence she sailed on her 8th and last war patrol. Prowling the Yellow and East China Seas she found few substantial targets.
 May 15(Cont'd.) Paddle and her sisters having by this time almost annihilated the Japanese merchant marine. She turned her attention to sinking floating mines with gunfire, and sank 8 schooners and picket boats.
 Jul 18Paddle returned to Guam, Marianas Island.
 Aug 13Paddle sailed for lifeguard duty off southern Honshu.
 Aug 17With the war's end, Paddle sailed for Midway Atoll.
 Sep 30The long voyage home via Hawaii and the Panama Canal ended at Staten Island, NY.
1946Feb 1Decommissioned and placed "In Reserve" at New London, CT.
1956Aug 31Paddle was recommissioned to prepare for transfer to Brazil under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program.
1957Jan 18Decommissioned and transferred to the Brazilian Navy.
1968Mar 1Struck from the Naval Register.