April – November 1944 Following overhaul at San Francisco Gurnard departed Pearl Harbor 16 April on her fifth war patrol, bound for the eastern Celebes Sea. On this patrol she chalked up one of the highest single-patrol tonnage scores of the Pacific war, attacking the Take Ichi convoy on 6 May and sinking 6,886-ton cargo ship Tenshinzan Maru, 6,995-ton passenger-cargo vessel Taijima Maru, and 5,824-ton passenger-cargo ship Aden Maru. Nearly a hundred depth charges rained down around her but she eluded the hunters and escaped undamaged. This vital convoy carried 40,000 troops intended to oppose Gen. MacArthur in New Guinea, and the embarked units suffered losses of nearly 50 percent. Gurnard'''s next kill occurred 24 May when several torpedoes sent to the bottom the 10,090-ton tanker Tatekawa Maru. No further opportunities presented themselves; and Gurnard put in at Fremantle, 11 June 1944 with the completion of the patrol. The submarine stood out on her sixth patrol 8 July for the Banda, Molucca, Celebes, Sulu, and Mindanao Seas. After topping off at Darwin she patrolled off the Peleng Straits and damaged one merchantman before returning to Fremantle 5 September.Gurnard's seventh patrol commenced 9 October after refit. While cruising off Borneo, she detected a five-ship enemy convoy. A successful attack was pressed home 3 November at the end of an 18-hour hunt, and two torpedoes demolished cargo ship Taimei Maru. Gurnard returned to her Australian port 17 November after this victory. Eighth and ninth war patrols, December 1944 – May 1945 The submarine's eighth and ninth patrols (11 December 1944 – 1 February 1945 and 10 March – 9 May 1945) included reconnaissance off Camranh Bay and patrols with submarines and , but hunting was poor and no ships were sunk. Gurnard finished her final patrol at Pearl Harbor 9 May and put in at Mare Island, California, nine days later for a major overhaul. Following a round-trip voyage thence to Pearl Harbor and Midway, she returned to San Francisco 11 September 1945 and decommissioned there 27 November 1945.Gurnard remained in reserve until 1 July 1949 when she reported to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard for activation as an armory for naval reserve submarine training. Towed to Pearl Harbor 27 November to 9 December 1949, the submarine served there until returning under tow to Tacoma, Wash., 18 May 1953 to continue reserve training duties in that port until June 1960. She was