17 to sink. Springer and Trepang contacted three targets on 30 April. The morning was very foggy, and the submarines decided to make a surface attack. Just as Springer reached a favorable firing position around noon, the fog suddenly lifted and left her exposed to a destroyer escort crossing her stern. The escort turned toward the submarine with all guns firing. Springer submerged, went deep, and rigged for silent running. Soon the first of 27 depth charges came down, and all were uncomfortably close. Speakers were knocked off the bulkhead, bulbs were smashed, and valves were lifted off their seats. When all was quiet, the submarine surfaced for a look as the fog closed in again. One more explosion was heard as Trepang sank the cargo ship Miho Maru. On the night of 2 May, Springer attacked a ship and two small escorts with a spread of four torpedoes. She heard the first explode and then saw and heard two more hits which blew up and sank the frigate Ojika. The next night, she fired a spread of torpedoes at a ship making an antisubmarine sweep and sank the Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No. 25. On 4 May, Springer sailed toward Honshū for lifeguard duty. No American pilots were sighted but, on 14 May, after watching a dogfight between a Japanese fighter and four of American carrier planes, she fished the dead enemy pilot from the water. After removing his papers, the submarine's commanding officer returned his body to the sea. The submarine concluded her patrol at Guam, on 18 May, and was refitted by Proteus. Third patrol, June – July 1945 Springer sailed to Saipan on 16 June and began her third war patrol the next day. This was a combination offensive and life guard patrol in the Tokyo Bay area. On 26 June, she rescued eight men from a downed B-29 and transferred them to . Springer and Trepang were notified that there was another crew down about distant. They raced to the scene and Springer rescued one airman while Trepang picked up seven. The airman was transferred to several days later. After an uneventful patrol in Kii Suido from 17 July to 23 July, the submarine sailed for Guam. Springer was at Guam when hostilities with Japan ceased. She departed there on 17 August and headed for the west coast of the United States. She arrived at