planes returning from bomber raids on the Japanese islands, Toro sighted dense black smoke on the horizon and, receiving reports of a downed pilot in the area, put on all possible speed to investigate the source of the smoke. Less than 20 minutes later, she picked up an Army aviator afloat in his lifeboat impressively marked by a smoke display. Minutes later, a second Army aviator jumped from his plane nearby, and again Toro had a flier on board within seven minutes of the time his parachute opened. Post-World War II service At mid-month, Japan capitulated. After destroying a number of naval mines south of Honshū, the submarine departed the area on 17 August and proceeded via Guam to Midway Island where she arrived on 27 August. On 4 September, she departed Midway and proceeded via Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal to east coast ports. She arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 31 October to prepare for inactivation. In January 1946, the rescue tug ATR-67 towed the submarine to Atlantic Reserve Fleet, New London, where on 7 February 1946, Toro was decommissioned and placed in reserve. Toro was recommissioned on 13 May 1947, and she reported for duty to Submarine Squadron 2, Atlantic Fleet, on 28 May. She conducted hunter/killer exercises, made a simulated war patrol in the Arctic Sea, and joined fleet tactical exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. On 28 November 1947, Toro sunk, as a target, the captured German submarine U-530 with a torpedo. In July 1945, after the surrender of Nazi Germany, the crew of the U-530 were interned when it surrendered in Argentina. The crew and the boat were then transferred to the United States. On 28 January 1950, Toro joined Submarine Development Group 2, and her operations helped to refine submarine tactics, weapons, and equipment. She worked in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea until July 1952, when she reported to Submarine Squadron 2 at New London and assumed new duties training submariners. During the next ten years, she combined these activities with type training and services to ships and aircraft engaged in antisubmarine warfare exercises. She also participated in Operation Springboard and made one Mediterranean cruise. She was redesignated an auxiliary submarine with hull classification symbol AGSS in July 1962 and, on 22 November 1962, as her Navy career drew to its close, she made her 11,000th dive while operating in Long Island Sound.