The USS Odax (SS-484) was a Tench-class submarine, the only ship of the U. S. Navy to be named for odax, a brilliantly colored parrot fish. She was laid down in 1944, launched and commissioned in 1945. Throughout the 1940s, the ship provided services to the Fleet Training Group, worked with the Fleet Sonar School, and became the first GUPPY submarine after conversion. In the 1950s, the submarine served with the Operational Development Force and Fleet Sonar School in Key West. After a new conversion, she deployed to the Mediterranean Sea with the Sixth Fleet in 1958. During the 1960s, the submarine was part of Exercise UNITAS, underwent an overhaul in 1968, and was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea for NATO operations. In 1970, the submarine was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for participating in NATO operations and received her second Battle Efficiency "E." In 1972, the USS Odax was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and transferred to Brazil. As a consequence of asbestos being used virtually everywhere on the Navy ships, a large number of veterans were routinely exposed to the toxic mineral and developed asbestos-related diseases decades after service.
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