On Parche’s third war patrol, 10 September to 2 December, 1944, one of the longest of the war, was unproductive. Spending 86 days on patrol, 49 in her areas in the San Bernadino Strait and south of Formosa, the boat made only one contact worthy of torpedoes but this could not be developed. The patrol was however broken up with a trip to Saipan, escorting the Sailfish whose transmitter was out of order. The Parche returned to Midway on December 2, 1944 for a refit.

On December 11th, 1944 Commander Ramage was relieved as Commanding Officer by the Executive Officer, Lt. Cmdr. Woodrow W. McCrory. Parche conducted extensive training operations from the 19th to the 29th of December. After being refueled and loaded with stores and ammunition the ship got underway on 30 December, 1944 for rotating patrol in the Nanusi Shote. Heavy weather dogged her on the approach to her area, causing some material damage, but on 11 January, 1945 she sighted her first convoy, three small Maru's and five escorts.

Going to surface battle stations, the sub started in for the last ship in the column, hoping to be able to pick one off by gunfire. As soon as she was sighted, though, the convoy escorts formed a line of bearing, with all their firepower concentrated on the submarine while the other ships fled. Since it was apparent that the gamble would not be worth the risk, Parche turned away at full power, chased by the five pesky escorts, who scored a small caliber hit in the deck causing superficial damage.

An alarming knock developed in the superstructure, and it soon became imperative to remove the cause, since the noise would give away the submarines position if she were detected underwater. The noise was finally found to be the bulkhead forward of the forward loading hatch, which had broken loose and was buckling in and out. Lt. J. H. Hennessy, Jr., and R. J. Van Eperen, MoMM1c, cut the plate out in about an hour, working under water half of the time as the submarine ran on the surface precariously close to the enemy shore line. Just as the job was finished, radar contacts were picked up and the boat dived as an aircraft contact closed. Parche headed for a new area covering the north-south routes to Naha, 60 miles west of Yokoate Shima, a tiny volcanic island 150 miles northeast of Okinawa.

A Nissin Maru type tanker (19,500 tons) and a freighter were discovered at anchor in Naze Ko on 19 January 1945. And in spite of the difficulties present, Parche's skipper decided to try a surface attack. To get within a decent firing range, the sub would have to go at least a mile inside the 100 fathom curve, leaving her little depth for diving in case she would be discovered. Coastal defense guns had been reported at the harbor, and an airfield was only six miles away.

Just at sunset the boat worked her way in at periscope depth to a firing position and fired six bow tubes at the tanker for five distinct hits. Swinging around, she fired four torpedoes at the freighter for two possible hits. Blowing her tanks Parche came to the surface and bent on emergency speed to clear the area. The Japanese were all evidently asleep, however, for none offered any obstacle to the Parche's get-away.

The next afternoon, 20 January 1945, two planes were sighted circling ten miles away. Suspecting a convoy, Parche headed in that direction, sighting the tops of four ships at 1530. Unable to close for a submerged attack, she began trailing until a half hour before sunset, when she surfaced and began patrolling their estimated track. A contact report brought the Blueback and the Seafox up to intercept the convoy, but its speed enabled the Japanese to slip out of the trap.

On the 22nd of January the ship returned to Naze Ko, where both her previous targets could be seen, evidently grounded in shallow water.

Just before diving on the morning of 7 February a single ship, the 984-ton OKINOYAMA MARU was sighted, and Parche eagerly closed to attack, even though the small size of the ship, 10 to 12 foot seas, and bad visibility made an attack difficult. Four torpedoes were fired for one hit, and the little freighter began going down by the stern. Seven minutes later it disappeared, headed straight down stern first to the bottom of the ocean.

While running on the surface on 10 February 1945, a detail was on deck converting fuel ballast tanks to main ballast tanks. A short quick swell from the port side washed over the deck knocking Ensign J. M. Holleran overboard. Throwing over a life ring, the boat swung around to pick him up. It was thought that all four men who had been on deck with Ensign Holleran had returned to the bridge, but H. P. Leffler, MoMM2c, had gone back down from the bridge to get the last man, R. J. Van Eperen, MoMM1c, who was just aft of the conning tower. Just after sighting Ensign Holleran on the port bow, a lookout reported the two men overboard. Throwing over another life ring, several lookouts and both periscopes were directed to watch the two as Ensign Holleran was picked up. However the two were lost from view, and although the area was searched for five hours, nothing could be found except the life rings.