wolfpack nicknamed "Joe’s Jugheads" which also included the submarines and , with Archerfish′s commanding officer designated as the wolfpack commander. On 7 January, Blackfish made contact with Batfish, and the two of them shaped a course for Guam in the Mariana Islands. On 9 January they arrived at Guam, and Blackfish moored there to the port side of the submarine tender . On 10 January 1945, with Blackfish′s voyage repairs complete and Archerfish having joined the group, the three submarines departed Guam for their patrol area. Blackfish made landfall at Batan Island in the Philippine Islands north of Luzon on 16 January 1945 amid rough seas and low viability. On 17 January 1945, a large wave struck Blackfish, causing a significant amount of water to pour through her conning tower hatch into her conning tower, but she carried on despite the flooding. On 18 January, she conducted lifeguard duties in the area in support of U.S. airstrikes. In the late afternoon that day, she spotted a Japanese sampan. Sellars considered firing two torpedoes at the sampan, but ultimately decided against it because of the improbability of getting an accurate shot and because he did not want to give away Blackfish′s position in the area. While searching for downed aviators on 19 January 1945, Blackfish sighted several other small Japanese sailing ships, but Sellars again decided not to attack them because of similar considerations, and because bad weather made a successful attack unlikely. While Blackfish moved through calm seas on 23 January 1945, she sighted a small Japanese vessel. She attempted to open fire on it with her guns at a range of , but the guns misfired. Blackfish brought her 20-millimeter guns and .50-caliber machine guns to bear and scored several damaging hits before leaving the area at high speed. During her high-speed withdrawal, her main electric motor burned out, and rough seas over the next several days prevented its repair until 25 January 1945. Blackfish cruised near Hong Kong on 28 January 1945 and spotted numerous junks and small fishing trawlers. Sellars noted that he believed "many of these trawlers and junks may be Chinese in this particular area," but "the actions of these vessels do not indicate peaceful fishing. They patrol in pairs...fishing seems to be their secondary occupation. Undisputedly they are fishing for the Jap[anese], if fishing at all. We will shoot them all if we can.”