On 1 June, however, fortune began to favor the submarine. That evening, she encountered the 861-ton "Mikamisan Maru" hugging the coast of Honshū near Shirlya. "Tench" stalked her quarry until 0700 the next morning when she caught the cargoman about one-half mile (900 m) off shore. In a surface attack, the submarine scored two torpedo hits on "Mikamisan Maru" and sent her to the bottom. Two days later, "Tench" scored a single hit amidships on the 517-ton "Ryujin Maru" which proved sufficient to sink her. For five days, the submarine worked her way back and forth across the strait, dodging enemy patrols and picket boats but without finding suitable targets. Then, on 9 June, she came across the biggest game of her wartime career: the 2857-ton freighter "Kamishika Maru". "Tench" sank the merchantman in a submerged attack and spent the rest of the day evading spirited and persistent enemy retaliation. The following day, she dispatched an enemy tanker, the 834-ton "Shoei Maru Number Six" in another submerged attack. Again, the Japanese patrol force went after the submarine with everything it had, but failed even to come close.