nine-ship convoy, and early on the 3rd came within firing range. A spread of four torpedoes damaged a tanker, but crossed Ray'''s line of fire preventing a coup de grâce. On 18 March Ray intercepted two Chidori-class torpedo boats and a patrol craft, fired six torpedoes, and dived deep. The submarine's crew heard an explosion. An intense depth charge attack followed. Ray escaped after sunset. The submarine ended her patrol at Fremantle. Fourth war patrol, April–June 1944 SS-271 departed Fremantle on 23 April for her fourth patrol. Her hunting ground was the Davao Gulf-Molucca Passage area. On the afternoon of 21 May, she spotted a nine-ship convoy escorted by surface ships and seaplanes. Ray surfaced that night, pursued the convoy, and attacked early the next morning. She fired six "fish" at a large transport and an overlapping smaller cargo vessel sinking transport Tempei Maru and causing undetermined damage to the freighter. A spread fired from Rays stern tubes resulted in hits on a tanker, and possibly a minelayer. During the ensuing confusion, Ray escaped by running at flank speed on the surface. Overtaking the disorganized convoy, during a tropical squall the next day, Ray fired on two radar contacts scoring hits. When the weather cleared, Ray saw one ship whose stack was going under and whose bow was rising from the water. The second was enveloped in a cloud of smoke and her decks awash. Ray dived deep to escape Japanese patrol aircraft, and the sinking was never confirmed by captured records. As no further suitable contacts were found, the submarine returned to Fremantle, arriving on 14 June. Fifth war patrol, July–August 1944 Her fifth patrol, 9 July to 31 August 1944, in the South China Sea and off the Philippines, drew blood on 18 July when Ray sank the tanker Janbi Maru. During the engagement, the submarine fired 22 torpedoes during six separate runs on the tanker which fired at Ray with her deck gun. Ray returned to Fremantle to reload, before returning to sea on 28 July. At the south entrance to Makassar Strait, SS-271 intercepted a convoy of three ships and sank the cargo ship Kōshū Maru. Nine days later, she scored damaging hits on a transport and sank cargo ship Zuisho Maru. On 18 August, off northern Balabac Strait, Philippines, Ray closed a large convoy protected by surface escorts and planes, fired six "tin fish" at