over to allow Batfish′s crew two weeks of rest. The refit was extended, but finally, on 10 May 1944, Batfish departed Pearl Harbor for Midway Atoll and additional training. While she was at Midway, Lieutenant Commander John K. “Jack” Fyfe relieved Merrill of command. Third war patrol On 26 May 1944, Batfish departed Midway Atoll to patrol an area covering the southern coasts of Kyushu, Shikoku, and Honshu. The weather was excellent. On 10 June 1944, she attacked and thought she had sunk a Japanese cargo ship in use as a training ship, but the kill was not confirmed. Retaliatory depth-charge attacks by Japanese planes and patrol boats failed to damage Batfish, and she continued her patrol. On 18 June 1944 she sighted two Japanese ships, a coastal cargo ship and a small, but heavily laden, tanker. Although within sight of the coast of Honshu, Batfish closed in for the kill and claimed to have sunk the cargo ship. On 22 June 1944, Batfish sighted a large Japanese cargo ship steaming independently down the Japanese coast. She fired three of her bow torpedo tubes at the ship, but all three passed astern of her. As the first target rounded Andakino Point and headed away, a larger Japanese cargo ship, Nagaragawa Maru, passed her on an opposite course. Batfish fired four torpedoes from her stern tubes at Nagaragawa Maru, allowing her to make a quick escape out to sea. Nagaragawa Maru sank by the stern. However, a Japanese patrol boat immediately gave chase to Batfish, forcing her to dive to avoid depth charges. Unfortunately, Batfish′s nautical charts were not accurate: They showed depths of in the area, but Batfish grounded on an underwater volcanic peak at a depth of . Batfish rapidly eased backwards and upwards, but endured a tense eight hours punctuated by more than 50 depth charges before she could surface and survey her damage. The depth charges had caused none, but the grounding had jammed the starboard sound head, reducing her underwater listening capabilities, and had bent the starboard propeller shaft and propeller. Nevertheless, Batfish continued her patrol. She sighted a Japanese convoy on 28 June 1944, but before she could reach a suitable attack position, the Japanese attacked her with torpedoes and aerial bombs, forcing her to let the convoy escape. However, she picked up another contact on 29 June 1944, a Japanese convoy with a cargo