Allied Warships

Paddle (SS-263)

Submarine of the Gato class

USS Paddle during the war.

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Gato
Pennant	263
Built by	Electric Boat Co. (Groton, Connecticut, U.S.A.)
Ordered	9 Sep 1940
Laid down	1 May 1942
Launched	30 Dec 1942
Commissioned	29 Mar 1943
End service
History	Decommissioned 1 February 1946. Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Recommissioned 31 August 1956. Decommissioned and transferred to Brazil 18 January 1957 being renamed Riachuelo (S-15). Riachuelo was deleted from the Brazilian Navy in March 1968. Sunk as a target.

Commands listed for USS Paddle (263)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	T/Cdr. Robert Henry Rice, USN	20 Jul 1943	10 Dec 1943
2	T/Lt.Cdr. Byron Horne Nowell, USN	10 Dec 1943	27 Sep 1944
3	Lt.Cdr. Joseph Paul Fitz-Patrick, USN	27 Sep 1944	18 Jul 1945

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Notable events involving Paddle include:

19 May 1943
In thick fog, USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. R.H. Rice, USN), is grounded off New London, Connecticut. She sustained minor damage to the rudder and one propeller.

9 Jun 1943
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. R.H. Rice, USN) departed New London, Connecticut for the Panama Canal Zone.

21 Jun 1943
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. R.H. Rice, USN) transited the Panama Canal.

5 Jul 1943
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. R.H. Rice) arrived at Pearl Harbor.

20 Jul 1943
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. R.H. Rice) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol south of Japan.

13 Aug 1943
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. R.H. Rice) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese troop transport Hidaka Maru (5486 GRT) off the south coast of Honshu, Japan in position 34°42'N, 136°13'E.

23 Aug 1943
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. R.H. Rice) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant passenger/cargo ship Ataka Maru (5248 GRT, former Italian Ada) off Hamamatsu, Japan in position 34°37'N, 137°53'E.

12 Sep 1943
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. R.H. Rice) ended her 1st war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

17 Oct 1943
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. R.H. Rice) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Nauru and in the Marshall Islands area.

9 Nov 1943
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. R.H. Rice) ended her 2nd war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She is now sent to the Mare Island Navy Yard to solve the problems with her engines and general overhaul.

19 Mar 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. Byron Home Nowell) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 3rd war patrol, and was ordered to patrol south of the Philippines.

12 May 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. B.H. Nowell) ended her 3rd war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.

1 Jun 1944
HMAS Adelaide (A/Capt. J.C.D. Esdaile, OBE, RAN) conducted exercises off Fremantle with the submarines USS Jack (T/Cdr. A.E. Krapf, USN) and USS Paddle (T/Cdr. B.H. Nowell, USN). (1)

5 Jun 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. B.H. Nowell) departed from Fremantle for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol south of the Philippines.

6 Jul 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. B.H. Nowell) torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer Hokaze (1215 tons, offsite link) north-west of Halmahera off Sangi Island in position 03°24'N, 125°28'E.

29 Jul 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. B.H. Nowell) ended her 4th war patrol at Fremantle.

18 Aug 1944
HMAS Adelaide (A/Capt. L.E. Tozer, RAN) conducted gunnery exercises off Fremantle. On completion of which she joined USS Isabel (Lt. E.G. Zacher, USNR) for conducted exercises with the submarines USS Mingo (T/Lt.Cdr. J.R. Madison, USN) and USS Paddle (T/Cdr. B.H. Nowell, USN). (2)

22 Aug 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. B.H. Nowell) departed from Fremantle for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Sulu Sea.

7 Sep 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. Byron Home Nowell) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Shinyo Maru (2634 GRT, which carries 750 American POW's on board) and damaged the Japanese tanker Eiyo Maru No.2 (5061 GRT) off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines in position 08°11'N, 122°40'E.

The Eiyo Maru No.2 is beached at Sindagon Point in position 08°10'N, 122°40'E; and was damaged beyond repair.

25 Sep 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. B.H. Nowell) ended her 5th war patrol at Mios Woendi.

3 Oct 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. Joseph P. Fitz-Patrick) departed from Mios Woendi for her 6th war patrol, and was ordered to patrol off Balikpapan.

9 Oct 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Fitz-Patrick) sank a Japanese sailing vessel with gunfire in Makassar Strait in position 01°20'S, 117°36'E.

1 Nov 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Fitz-Patrick) ended her 6th war patrol at Fremantle.

25 Nov 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Fitz-Patrick) departed from Fremantle for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

8 Dec 1944
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Fitz-Patrick) and USS Hammerhead teams up to sink the Japanese merchant tanker Shoei Maru (2854 GRT) in the South China Sea in position 03°50'N, 111°30'E. The two submarines share the kill.

18 Jan 1945
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Fitz-Patrick) ended her 7th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She is now ordered to San Francisco for a major overhaul.

15 May 1945
With her overhaul completed USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Fitz-Patrick) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 8th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Yellow and East China Seas.

8 Jun 1945
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Fitz-Patrick) sank two small Japanese vessels with gunfire in the East China Sea in position 33°40'N, 126°27'E.

27 Jun 1945
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Fitz-Patrick) sank a small Japanese vessel with gunfire in the Yellow Sea in position 37°27'N, 123°47'E.

2 Jul 1945
While operating in the Yellow Sea USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Fitz-Patrick) sank two small Japanese vessels with gunfire in position 38°28'N, 124°18'E and three small Japanese vessels in position 38°40'N, 124°03'E.

18 Jul 1945
USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Fitz-Patrick) ended her 8th war patrol at Guam.