First patrol will not have much to encounter for some of the boats. Others will do nothing but find all the invasion forces. You don't say where you are going for your patrol, but the boats sent to CamRanh Bay should enventually find something. Hainan won't in Tonkin bay, but might just south of the Island. Formosa by the Pescadores and also Formosa itself in the same area will be where the Lingayen Gulf groups come from. On the north side of Luzon near Aparri and toward Babuyan Islands you'll catch the initial landings from the 8-12, and on the East side there is one in the middle of the month in Lamon Bay. There are several groups on the southeast side near Lagonoy and Albay Gulfs and near the San Bernardino Strait. You will not find much merchant traffic other than friendlies fleeing the area, some escorted, some not. Most of the S-Boats were not trusted to be able to do much, and were generally assigned "quiet" areas, but that's not to say that an H8K won't find you and depth charge you ceaselessly... For the most part, it is very boring because the US did not comprehend how to properly use submarines, and instead of putting them in traffic lanes, instead put them in close-to-shore locations, where ASW efforts were effortless for the enemy... Kind of like the Japanese did with their submarines also... but that's for another story and mod...
