Selected to be transferred from Pearl Harbor, "Angler" commenced her first war patrol on 10 January 1944, her patrol to terminate at Fremantle, Australia. "Angler" encountered a Japanese convoy north of the Mariana Islands on 29 January, and attacked with torpedoes. She claimed to have sunk one ship and damaged two others, but postwar records confirmed only the sinking of "Shuko Maru". Having developed "structural noises" which prevented silent running, "Angler" turned back to Midway Island for repairs, arriving on 4 February.