a large cargo carrier. A torpedo spread was fired from the stern tubes, but they all passed ahead of the ship due to an error in her estimated speed. The ship ended her first war patrol when she returned to Mariveles Bay on 25 December. Second patrol: December 1941 – March 1942 Sturgeon was at sea again on 28 December 1941 en route to the Tarakan area, off the coast of Borneo. A tanker was sighted southwest of Sibutu Island on 17 January 1942, but all three torpedoes missed and the ship escaped. On the night of 22 January, Sturgeon was alerted by that a large convoy was headed her way in Makassar Strait. A few minutes later, her sonar picked up the pings of ships dead astern. She submerged and fired four torpedoes at a large ship, with two explosions following. The submarine was then subjected to a two and one-half-hour depth charge attack by two destroyers which caused no damage. She next sighted an enemy transport and four destroyers off Balikpapan on 26 January. Sturgeon fired a spread from her forward tubes which resulted in a large explosion on the transport, and her screws stopped turning. No post-war record of a sinking could be found, but the transport was believed damaged. Three days later, she made two hits on a tanker. On the morning of 8 February, Sturgeon found herself on the track of an enemy invasion fleet headed toward Makassar City. She submerged to avoid detection by several destroyers and a cruiser, as they passed overhead, but was able to report the movement of the convoy to Commander, Submarines Asiatic Fleet. The submarine retired from her patrol area two days later, when she was ordered to Java, Netherlands East Indies. She arrived at Soerabaja on 13 February; but, as the Japanese were advancing upon that base, the ship proceeded to Tjilatjap. After embarking part of the Asiatic Fleet Submarine Force Staff, Sturgeon and sailed for Fremantle, Western Australia, on 20 February, as escorts for and . Third patrol: March – May 1942 Sturgeon remained there, from 3 to 15 March, when she departed to again patrol off Makassar City. On 30 March, she sank the cargo ship Choko Maru. On 3 April, one of her torpedoes caught a 750-ton frigate directly under the bridge, and she was officially listed as probably sunk. She then fired three torpedoes