Key Points and Summary – The sinking of the Japanese supercarrier Shinano by the U.S. submarine USS Archerfish in November 1944 remains the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine.
-Originally a Yamato-class battleship, the Shinano was secretly converted into a massive carrier, but its construction was rushed, leaving critical watertight systems untested.
-On its maiden voyage, it was intercepted by the Archerfish, commanded by the once-disgraced Joseph Enright. In a textbook attack, Enright fired four torpedoes that struck the carrier.
-The progressive, unstoppable flooding that followed doomed the giant vessel, a major morale blow to Japan.
Shinano: The Story of the Biggest Aircraft Carrier Sunk By a Submarine
My grandfather served on submarines in World War Two. He perfected his undersea craft as a petty officer on The USS Skate and USS Seahorse – two famous American subs which mainly sank Japanese merchant shipping while avoiding anti-submarine escort ships at all times.
The Skate and Seahorse were high on the list of total tonnage sank during the war. I don’t think his subs ever engaged a Japanese aircraft carrier though.
But the sailors on the boat that sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano were also expert and courageous.
Sneaking into a battle group with all of the different ships protecting the Shinano was one difficult mission.
The Shinano was the largest ship sunk by a submarine in World War Two and maybe in history. This is the story of its demise. Warfare History Network has a great article about the sinking of the Shinano.
More About the Shinano
The Shinano super aircraft carrier was built in secrecy to hide it from B-29 bombers. The ship was laid down in 1940 and planned to be a Yamato-class battleship, but Japan lost four of its early fleet carriers at Midway in 1942.
Japan needed a carrier that could improve naval morale and take the lead in large capital ships that could bring destruction to the U.S. Navy.
While the Shinano was being completely fitted out as a carrier in 1944, it was sunk by the USS Archerfish submarine in 1944.
The Archerfish was given a new lease on life after Midway after its fourth war patrol and was sent to Pearl Harbor for maintenance and replenishment.
The Archerfish’s Commander Had an Interesting Back Story
The Archerfish’s new commander, Joseph Francis Enright, was a curious character. He had little success at the beginning of the war and almost gave up his career as a skipper of submarines. His boat, the USS Dace, once had an opportunity to sink the Japanese carrier Shokaku, but he did not dazzle in command and was considered too cautious.
The Shokaku escaped without Enright firing a single torpedo. Enright went back to a desk job, but then his fortune changed.
Enright was a great poker player. He knew when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em and he impressed a captain who lost a lot of money to Enright. This captain figured that if Enright had nerves of steel during his poker playing, he could still be a valuable commander, so the cardsharp was given command of Archerfish.
Japan wanted building of the Shinano to be a secret and they pulled out all the stops to hide the construction – including placing a roof over the hulking ship. No photographs were taken during assembly and the workers were sworn to secrecy.
The Shinano Was a Floating Beast
“The carrier was a formidable weapon. She was fitted with an eight-inch-thick belt of armor above and below her water line. She bristled with 16 5-inch, high-angle guns; 145 25mm cannons; and 12 4.7-inch rocket launchers capable of firing salvos of up to 30 projectiles. She was also fast. Her four main steam turbines could produce 150,000 shaft horsepower to push her along at up to 27 knots. Multiple fuel tanks gave her a range of 10,000 miles. With a full-load displacement of 71,890 tons, Shinano was the biggest aircraft carrier built up to that time. Not until 1961, when the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise was launched, would any carrier exceed her in size,” according to the Warfare History Network.
The Shinano was going to be an amazing carrier with that kind of armor, firepower, and speed. This was something that could make a difference in the Pacific – just what the Japanese needed as the Americans were taking the upper hand by attacking and winning on island after island.
A Huge Amount of Kamikaze Instruments of War
The Shinano deployed “20 fighters, 20 bombers, and seven scout planes,” but more important to add to its dangerous firepower, it had 50 Ohka kamikaze planes and six Shinya kamikaze boats.
On November 28, 1944, the Archerfish was on patrol near the Japanese port city of Kure. Then the radar operator aboard the Archerfish got a blip and crewmembers went up top to check out the horizon with binoculars. It was a clear night and they spotted a ship about 12 miles away.
The contact was going about 20 knots. Enright thought he was spying an oil tanker with one escort ship.
Meanwhile, Japanese spotters on the Shinano were scanning the sea too and figured out they spotted a submarine in the distance.
The Japanese captain, Toshio Abe, thought that this was only one submarine of seven that was trailing the carrier and he figured that the Archerfish was a decoy to draw out the Japanese destroyers while the other American subs would come in to attack his carrier.
Was This a Battleship?
Enright, as the sub got closer, then thought he might have a Japanese battleship on his hands. That got his adrenaline pumping.
This was a chance to show his old commander that he indeed could prove his worth as a skipper with a battleship sinking.
Enright prodded everyone to battle stations and ordered his sub to sail under some dark clouds that would hide the illumination from the moon and fool the Japanese look outs. He made it five miles from the Shinano. But then the Japanese spotted the Archerfish’s periscope.
The Shinano had another problem. Since the ship was built so fast, it did not have a fully-tested watertight system between bulkheads. Even one strike from a torpedo could send in a flood of sea water. And it could only make around 20 knots because some the boilers were not in service, again because of the rush to construction.
The Archerfish had a top speed of 19 knots and it was doing its best to keep up with the Shinano. The American crew realized that Shinano was steaming at 210-degree southwesterly heading. The Archerfish was ready to hide in the front of the carrier when it made its next zig-zag move. The Archerfish kept using its radar and Abe was confused by all the radio contact from other American subs around Japan. Then the Shinano headed due west and 13,000 yards away. Enright ordered a parallel course at flank speed.
The Shinano turned toward the Archerfish and its Mark 14 torpedoes were ready. Enright ordered a torpedo depth of 10-feet. Then a Japanese destroyer passed directly over the Archerfish. Was this attack on the carrier going to be successful?
Two of the torpedoes hit the Shinano. The carrier listed to one side quickly. Two more torpedoes took off to the stricken the Japanese vessel. Those two hit as well. The captain sent all hands to the flight deck. Meanwhile, the Japanese destroyers were dropping numerous depth charges on the Archerfish. Abe tried to beach the carrier before it sunk. He attempted to fix the list by counterflooding. That didn’t work and it was time to abandon ship and down it went.
Enright was awarded the Navy Cross and the sub was earned a Presidential Unit Citation. It was a textbook maneuver that also required some great seamanship from the captain and his crew.
The Japanese never recovered from the loss of the huge Shinano and this was a morale killer that showed U.S. submarines helped turn the tide during the war – embarking on a trail to ultimate naval victory.
About the Author: Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for US Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former US Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
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