afternoon by the destroyer 's counterattacks and cleared the area at 1855. Two attacks were made on a four-ship convoy on 24 January. One hit was registered on a Japanese merchant ship from the first attack while the spread fired at the other merchant ship sank Chosen Maru. Two days later, she made a fruitless attack on two freighters, and the submarine returned to Pearl Harbor, via Midway, for refit. Tenth patrol: April – May 1944 Sturgeons next assignment was in the Bonin Islands area from 8 April until 26 May and included plane guard duty near Marcus Island during aircraft carrier strikes there. On 10 May, she attacked a convoy of five merchant ships and two escorts. She made two hits on a small freighter before the escorts and an enemy plane forced the submarine to go deep. Sturgeon finally came to periscope depth and trailed the convoy until the next morning when she made an end-around run and fired four torpedoes at a freighter. Three hits put Seiru Maru under in two minutes. The submarine swung around and fired her bow tubes at another ship. Two hits were recorded; and, when last seen, the target was dead in the water, smoking heavily. The submarine began plane guard duty on 20 May and rescued three airmen before heading for Midway two days later. Eleventh patrol: June – August 1944 Sturgeon sailed for the Nansei Shoto on 10 June to begin her last war patrol. Only two worthy contacts were made, and they were heavily escorted. The first was an eight-ship convoy which she attacked on 29 June. Four torpedoes were fired at a large ship. Four hits on the 7,089-ton passenger-cargo troopship sent her up in flames and to the bottom. This sinking had a sizeable influence on the battle for Okinawa, as the ship was carrying 5,600 troops of the 44th Independent Mixed Brigade that were on their way to the Island. On 3 July, Sturgeon sighted a nine-ship convoy accompanied by air cover and numerous small escorts. She registered three hits on the cargo ship Tairin Maru that blew her bow off and holed her side. She rolled to starboard and sank. The submarine went deep and avoided the 196 depth charges and aerial bombs that were rained down upon her. She evaded the escorts and returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 August. 1944–1948 Sturgeon was routed