Patrolling close to Japan's coast, Kingfish sighted a three-ship convoy and fired a three-torpedo spread at the last freighter, scoring one hit.

Unable to determine the extent of the damage due to an uncomfortably efficient barrage of depth charges (lasting 18 hours), Kingfish successfully outwitted her attackers and cleared the area.

Going deep for the inevitable depth charging, Kingfish reloaded her tubes and continued scouting shipping lanes.

The last string of depth charges bashed in the main induction piping, allowing a huge bubble to escape to the surface; this apparently caused the enemy to think the ship had sunk.

Kingfish cautiously surfaced, cleared the area and set course for Pearl Harbor, arriving 9 April with a grateful crew.

Eight days later he sailed for her fourth war patrol, this one to the Babuyan Channel, north of the Philippines, off southern Formosa, and near Manila.

Kingfish was ordered to depart the patrol area due to lack of enemy activity and to report to Fremantle, Australia, for refit.

The first entailed planting mines in enemy shipping lanes; the second involved the secret and successful landing of a party of Allied personnel and equipment on the northeast coast of Borneo.

Continuing on her patrol, Kingfish sank a gunboat by gunfire and damaged a tanker with torpedoes 9 October off Sibutu Islands.

Having navigated brilliantly through extremely dangerous waters and having outwitted the enemy escort vessels, Kingfish headed for Pearl Harbor with a proud record, arriving 26 January 1944.

Since this patrol was also unfruitful due to the lack of worthwhile targets, Kingfish received orders to return to Midway, arriving there 19 June.

On 24 October, the day Kingfish entered her patrol area, she spotted freighter Ikutagawa Maru and sent her to the bottom off Chichi Jima Retto.

For the remainder of the patrol Kingfish was assigned the additional task of "lifeguard" duties for carrier air strikes.

However, late in March Kingfish experienced the great pleasure of rescuing four downed aviators from a British task force.

Leaving the area, Kingfish debarked the British aviators at Saipan and set course for Pearl Harbor, arriving 25 April.