rest and refit there alongside the submarine tender . Second and third war patrols, December 1943–April 1944 Raton departed Milne Bay on her second war patrol— conducted from 11 December 1943 to 25 January 1944 — bound for the Mindanao–Celebes–Halmahera area. On 24 December 1943, she attacked a Japanese convoy of four merchant ships and two destroyers in Morotai Strait, sinking the merchant ship Heiwa Maru and damaging an auxiliary aircraft carrier. On 2 January 1944, Raton encountered two Japanese tankers escorted by a northwest of Faland Island on the Palau shipping lane. She scored hits on one tanker, but then the Japanese escorts interrupted her attack. Raton departed the patrol area on 19 January 1944 and reached Fremantle, Australia, on 25 January 1944 for refit by the submarine tender . Raton conducted her third war patrol from 18 February to 14 April in the Java Sea, the Karimata Strait, and the South China Sea. The submarine sank the only two ships Raton contacted during the patrol. Fourth war patrol, May–June 1944 Raton′s fourth patrol began on 19 May when she got underway for a patrol area in the South China Sea and Java Sea, which provided good hunting. On 23 May 1944, she intercepted two small intercoastal cargo ships north of the Tambelan Islands and sank both with her deck gun. That same evening, she contacted the Japanese fast convoy Hi-63, which consisted of three transports and four destroyers. She sank the destroyer , and damaged a transport. On 27 May 1944, Raton′s logbook reported: "0615 (H) Ship shaken up considerably by either two underwater explosions or by striking submerged object. People in forward torpedo room thought we had struck something or had been struck by something." This turned out to be two torpedoes fired by the submarine . Lapon was looking for a Japanese submarine passing through the area and mistook Raton for that submarine. Lapon′s commanding officer checked fire on the second set of torpedoes realizing he was not shooting at an enemy submarine. Later dry-dock inspection of Raton showed dents where the torpedoes hit. This is the only known friendly fire incident in World War II between two U.S. submarines. On 28 May 1944, Raton sighted and tracked a Japanese Type L submarine, but was unable to attack due to an unfavorable firing angle. On 6 June 1944, a bright moonlit night allowed Raton to sight