under water before she was swallowed by smoke and flame. These victims were later identified as 5,652-ton Havre Maru and 2,825-ton Kashimasan Maru. An airplane and five escorts tried to box in the submarine and dropped over 50 depth charges, but she escaped damage. Pintado and her sisters in the wolfpack had all but destroyed the convoy which was attempting to reinforce Japanese defenses of the Marianas. While escorts rescued many of the 7,000 troops whose ships had gone down, they had lost weapons, tanks, and equipment. This greatly weakened Japan's defensive capability in the Marianas for the impending American invasion of Saipan. Pintado then headed for the Marshall Islands, arriving Majuro 1 July for refit. Second patrol, July – September 1944 Her second war patrol took the submarine to the East China Sea. On 6 August she sank 5,401-ton cargoship Shonan Maru and damaged another target in a Formosa-bound convoy, before scampering away through a downpour of exploding depth charges. On 22 August Pintado spotted an 11-ship convoy guarded by three escorts. After dark she moved into the center of the convoy, passing a scant from an escort, to attack Tonan Maru No. 2, a former whale factory which Lt. Comdr. Clarey, as executive officer of , had helped to sink in Kavieng Harbor, Bismarck Archipelago, 10 October 1942. Since then the Japanese had raised the ship and towed her to Japan where she was repaired and converted to a tanker. Two spreads of torpedoes from the submarine left the monster ablaze and sinking and damaged two other tankers. Tonan Maru (19,262 tons) was one of the largest merchant ships sunk by an American submarine during World War II. Following lifeguard station duty off Japan, Pintado turned eastward 1 September and arrived Pearl Harbor on 14 September. Third patrol, October 1944 – January 1945 On Pintado'''s third war patrol, Lt. Comdr. Clarey commanded a wolfpack which included and . The group departed Pearl Harbor 9 October heading for the South China Sea. Meanwhile, General Douglas MacArthur was preparing to return to the Philippines. When his troops landed on Leyte 20 October, the Japanese Navy struck back with all its force in a "go for broke" attempt to smash the invasion. The result was the Battle for Leyte Gulf. As the Americans turned back the Japanese offensive, Clarey's submarines sped toward Luzon Strait to attack the Northern Japanese Force which