The LARGEST Warship Sinking in HISTORY by a Submarine

welcome to a thrilling episode from the pages of World War II history today we set sail into the past Into the Heart of the Pacific Ocean in November 1944. our tale revolves around the American submarine the USS archerfish a silent Predator lurking beneath the waves and her formidable Quarry the shinano an enormous aircraft carrier the pride of the Imperial Japanese Navy this is the unforgettable story of a tense game of cat and mouse that culminated in a naval encounter That Shook the world so hold your breath as we dive deep into the tale of how the USS archerfish sank the largest warship in history foreign the initial torpedo hit the shinano carrier at the far end of the ship within the following half a minute three additional Warheads exploded against the giant aircraft carriers Hull progressing forward the immediate blasts and Swift inundation caused many men to lose their lives a good number of them asleep in their bunks as the severely damaged ship started taking on massive amounts of seawater the men below deck saw the scale of the destruction panicked and rushed upward the Torpedoes had struck about 10 feet beneath the water line leaving the commander and his officers on the bridge and upper levels in the dark about the serious blow they'd suffered a number of them had survived previous torpedo attacks on less robust vessels even as their colossal ship began to list they remained hopeful as 1944 was drawing to a close the Japanese empire on Shaky Ground was struggling to find ways to resist U.S forces closing in on the home Islands general Douglas MacArthur LED U.S troops in a firm push to reclaim the Philippines massive Boeing B-29 super Fortress bombers had begun to devastate Japan's major cities perhaps the most destructive force was the ever-present U.S Navy submarines eradicating Japanese shipping from the South Pacific yet if the Imperial Navy could build an immensely powerful warship it could perhaps temporarily halt the enemy's advancement this floating Behemoth might even halt The Liberation of the Philippines or abort the anticipated attack on Okinawa thank you the shinano carrier was originally intended to be the third in a series of colossal battleships that included the seventy thousand ton Musashi and the Yamato after suffering a debilitating loss of aircraft carriers at the Battle of Midway shinano's blueprint was altered to convert her into the biggest carrier ever built named after a province in medieval Japan the shinana was set to be seaworthy in her revamped condition by February 1945. however dwindling military prospects resulted in a rushed construction timeline overburdened Shipyard workers labored in 16-hour shifts to finish the immense warship Captain toshio Abe an alumnus of the Japanese Naval Academy was chosen to command the shinano having survived the crushing defeat at Midway where he commanded a destroyer he was a Stern blunt and highly skilled career officer his newly appointed medical officer Lieutenant Commander takamasa yasuma later characterized him as having the essence of an ancient Samurai being a man of strong resolve and clearly respected by his subordinates on the other side Joseph Francis Enright a 1933 alumnus of the U.S Naval Academy at Annapolis would become Abe's adversary given his first command of the submarine s22 immediately post Midway Enright then a lieutenant used the older sub to train novice Sailors in underwater warfare promoted to Lieutenant Commander in the spring of 1943 Enright was given command of the USS Dace embarking on his Maiden War Patrol towards the end of the year he was disappointed with his own conduct he lost multiple prime military and Merchant targets due to his hesitation to take decisive action during one instance he ignored his instinct to attack aggressively and instead chose a time-consuming textbook approach which resulted in a missed opportunity to attack the aircraft carrier shikaku on December 11th Enright returned to Midway without having launched a single shot based on his own suggestion Enright was released from his command following this he was promoted to the rank of full commander and assigned an administrative role as the executive officer of the submarine base at Midway ironically it was a poker game that revived his seafaring career during the latter part of Summer 1944 his spirits hit an all-time low his mother had unexpectedly passed away back in the United States and he found himself in a bureaucratic position unable to significantly contribute to the war effort he penned a letter to the commander of the Midway Naval Base Admiral Charles Lockwood requesting another shot at commanding a submarine but received no reply then one night Enright found himself engaged in a poker game with Captain Pace a subordinate of lockwoods impressed with enright's bold and aggressive poker style Pace inquired at the end of the game Joe would you command a submarine like you play poker yes sir alright Joe I appreciate your spirit the next available submarine is yours on September 24 1944 Enright was released from his desk job and took command of the USS Archer fish which had just returned from her fourth War Patrol he journeyed on his new vessel from Midway to Pearl Harbor where it was thoroughly serviced restocked and the crew was given a chance to rest and rotate under her new cap then she embarked on her fifth War Patrol on October 30th 1944. the secrecy under which the shinana was constructed was almost as vital as her Firepower if the Americans discovered her existence in Dry Dock number six of the Yokosuka Naval Shipyard on the west coast of Tokyo bay they would send their b-29s to reduce her to Rubble before she could even hit the water moreover if she could be finished and launched into battle without the Allies knowledge her unexpected appearance off the Philippines would deal a crippling blow to them the shinana was built within a massive roofed concrete enclosure her Dry Dock was inaccessible to anyone not involved in her construction the Imperial kemphe secret police roamed the construction site ensuring that the sequestered workers who lived and worked seven days a week within the site's limits didn't leave the workers were threatened with jail time or execution if they disclosed the ship's existence photography was prohibited shinano was the only major warship constructed in the 20th century that was never officially documented in photos during its building phase the carrier was a force to be reckoned with she was equipped with an 8-inch thick belt of armor above and below her water line she was armed with 16 5-inch high angle guns 145-25 millimeter cannons and 12 4.7 inch rocket launchers capable of firing up to 30 rounds in a salvo she was also Swift her four main steam turbines could generate 150 000 shaft horsepower to propel her at speeds of up to 27 knots multiple fuel tanks gave her a range of 10 000 miles with a full load displacement of 71 890 tons the shinana was the largest aircraft carrier constructed up to that point foreign with Japan's War prospects deteriorating the naval top brass demanded the shipyard to complete the Colossus four months ahead of schedule on October 5th 1944 the gigantic newcomer made a dramatic debut into her native environment at eight o'clock that morning the 5 000 ton caisson serving as a dry dock gate abruptly gave way with a thunderous crash as its Dry Dock seat yielded to the tremendous water pressure with the Bay's water level significantly higher than the dry dock floor tons of seawater flowed into the dock propelling the enormous shinano forward like a cork sending her crashing 100 feet into the Dock's head wall as 140 Mooring lines snapped as the surging water flooded the confined Dry Dock it tossed the carrier back and forth Thrice until the water levels inside and outside the dock equalized and the violent movements subsided miraculously no lives were lost although many sailors and Dock Workers on the ship and in the dry dock suffered injuries replacement workers and sailors were conscripted to take over from the injured none arrived willingly as rumors started circulating amongst the soup superstitious semen that the accident was a bad Omen branding the massive vessel is cursed when she set sail her Cruise morale reflected these fears and many of her men were unsurprised when her Destiny and theirs arrived swiftly the carrier Departed the shipyard for Builders trials on November 11th and was handed over to the Navy by civilian authorities nine days later on the same day Intelligence Officers briefed Captain Abe on reports that American submarines had departed from Saipan and Guam on November 10th and 11th seemingly heading for the home Islands to evade these threats Abe decided to leave Tokyo Harbor after sunset on November 28th setting a Southward course his route was to navigate past irosaki and tashima finally reaching the port city of Kure in the Inland sea to the west where he would load his aircraft shinano was expected to carry 20 Fighters 20 bombers and seven Scout planes she was already loaded with 50 Oka suicide planes and six shinyo suicide speed boats the Destroyers isokaze yukikaze and hamakazi accompanied the carrier if they had unexpectedly appeared off a contested Island shinano and her destroyers would have been a rude surprise to the Allies first however Abe had to arm his Fleet fully foreign the weather was perfect on the night of November 28th the nearly full moon offered excellent visibility for both sides at 10 48 PM the radar operator aboard the Archer fish detected a large surface vessel 12 miles to the Northeast Lookouts on the subs deck spotted a small bump on the horizon through binoculars the tracking crew estimated the surface contact was moving Southwest at around 20 knots after observing it through the distance in darkness Commander Enright believed the sighting to be a Japanese oil tanker escorted by a single ship eager to redeem himself he immediately set off in Hot Pursuit on the surface around the same time Abe's deck officer was reporting that their ship's radar had detected an Allied radar signature the frequency and pulse rate suggest it's an American submarine radar no bearing the officer informed his captain in response Abe instructed all Personnel on Deck to remain vigilant reflecting on the recent report of a group of U.S submarines leaving Saipan and Guam he speculated to his Navigator Captain Nakamura that at least seven submarines were tailing them Abe suspected only one of this hypothetical group was using its radar aiming to trick the Japanese into thinking there was only a single submarine undoubtedly he plans to act as a decoy at some point to divert our screening destroyers once that's done his comrades can approach the shinano unimpeded we must stay vigilant against such a ruse Muse the perceptive Skipper meanwhile Enright began questioning if his Target was indeed a tanker would an Oiler be large enough to be detected by radar from a full 12 miles away he was aware that the enormous Battleship Musashi had been sunk in the recent Battle of laity Gulf but her twin the Yamato had survived with moderate damage could it be the Yamato he was pursuing it had taken more American torpedo planes and dive bombers to sink the Musashi than the Japanese had employed in their entire assault on Pearl Harbor Enright would have felt some relief knowing that the shinano's armor was only half as thick as the 16-inch layer of Steel protecting the Yamato however he was aware of a major enemy Shipyard at Yokosuka on Tokyo bay could this be a new vessel discussing with his executive officer Lieutenant Commander Bob bobzinski he drafted his preliminary attack strategy first we'll move off the track to the West that will position the Target down Moon from us and those dark clouds over the land to the Northwest will tend to conceal our dark Hull from their Lookouts after closing to five miles he would let the leading escort pass then he would surge forward and launch an attack Enright communicated this plan to his deck officer who called through the hatch all hands to Battle Stations torpedo just before 10 pm a lookout on the Japanese carrier's deck yelled Periscope starboard bow however when the Ensign overseeing the lookout saw nothing through his binoculars he dismissed the report attributing it to two waves colliding Captain mikami Abe's executive officer had concerns about the carrier's watertight compartments like all aboard he was aware they were navigating Waters swarming with American submarines because of the rush to deploy The shinano Standard air pressure tests to confirm the compartment's watertight Integrity had been canceled by the high command as the officer responsible for the untested watertight doors he was apprehensive they might not withstand a sudden influx of seawater from a torpedo hit he was also anxious about the unusual design of the internal corridors running through the ship instead of a typical single main passageway the shinano had been constructed with two primary internal routes the crew had not had time to practice Escape procedures in case of an emergency should the ship sink a substantial proportion of the crew could easily become lost and trapped below decks moreover only eight of the carrier's 12 boilers were functioning and of these all only six were in use once again the haste to make her seaworthy had bypassed the completion of necessary tasks with just eight boilers she could only reach speeds of 21 knots insufficient for launching planes unless there was a robust headwind the rush to get her afloat had led to numerous system malfunctions but there was nothing obeying mikami could do once they received their orders defying the high command's will was inconceivable for an officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy a Bay's Destroyer escorts had recently participated in the Battle of Lady Gull during this extensive conflict both Kamikaze and isokazi had lost their radar and sonar capabilities all three destroyers had sustained varying levels of battle damage and their Crews were fatigued still there had been no time for rest or repairs Abe would maintain a Southward course until well away from the Japanese Coastline then shift Southeast as though heading for Formosa eventually he would turn Due West and head for Kure to collect the rest of her aircraft oddly enough despite the remarkable success of the U.S Navy's submarine arm over the past two years a bay had a low opinion of American Torpedoes his views were based on his study of older Torpedoes captured during the Philippines conquest and it never crossed his mind that the Americans might have improved their torpedoes before setting sail Abe had sternly instructed his Destroyer commanders not to deviate from their positions close to the carrier if I judge that an escort has left her assigned position I will signal for her immediate return the signal will be made by shinano's red truck light which will be turned on and off for about 10 seconds I strongly suggest that you do not necessitate this signal at 10 45 PM a phone call from the lookout Bridge had senior officers scrambling for their binoculars the lookout supervisor informed mikami of an unidentified object about nine miles off the starboard bow quickly up to the lookout Bridge commanded Abe as the officers strained to discern the outline of the unknown vessel in the darkness a lookout Cried Out Captain obey esokaze she's left formation she's rushing towards the unidentified ship the lead Destroyer had veered from her screening position directly ahead of the carrier and was speeding towards the intruder at her top speed of 35 knots just as the men on archerfish's conning Tower realized their target was a large aircraft carrier and not a tanker a lookout informed Enright Skipper the lead Destroyer I think she's headed our way as the Americans rushed to secure General quarters Enright was puzzled by the site of the carrier suddenly flashing a bright red light atop her main Mast initially he thought it was a signal for the Destroyer to fire but a lieutenant shouted she's turning Skipper she's turning away the submariners were further confused to see the Destroyer which was only three miles away by then returned towards the carrier aborting what could have been a successful attack saved by Abe's caution the Americans resumed their pursuit of the target with the shinano cruising at 20 knots and the archerfish laboriously maintaining her top surface speed of just over 19 knots the carrier would have progressively widened the gap between them had her speed not been reduced by her anti-submarine zigzag pattern reflecting on his past EXP variants when ignoring his instincts led to a missed opportunity to sink the shokaku Enright decided to focus on predicting the carrier's path he and Bob chinsky concurred that the carrier's current 210 degree southwesterly heading was her base course she was bound to Veer to her Port as part of her submarine evasion tactics but eventually she would likely swing back to the right onto her presumed base course if the archerfish maintained the 210 degree southwesterly course after the carrier turned away she would manage to pull ahead of the shinano as the distance between the two vessels widened the carrier's crew would lose sight of the sub and presumably assume they had outrun her if the Japanese later veered back onto the 210 Southwest Corps as anticipated they would then be heading back towards the submarine given the multitude of American Subs operating in the waters around Japan the airwaves were teeming with their radio transmissions and radar signals with such an abundance of Wireless signals from various directions a bay had stopped reacting to them moreover his hastily assembled ship lacked the necessary equipment to determine the distance or bearing of intercepted broadcasts this meant that Enright could use his radar to track the carrier without alerting her for the same reason he could safely use his radio so he dispatched a coded message to Lockwood back at Pearl Harbor informing him of the archerfish's current location and activities and those of her intended target in case another sub was better positioned to intercept the shinano despite his intense desire to take down the massive carrier Enright refused to be greedy or selfish Abe remained convinced that he was being pursued by a group of subs and that the one they had cited was attempting to distract the escorts from their valuable charge as a result he was infuriated at isokazi's Captain shintani both for disobeying direct orders and for falling for the ploy Abe mentally noted to severely reprimand or court-martial his subordinate later the captain was also certain that a solitary submarine armed with substandard American Torpedoes would never be able to deliver a fatal blow to the shinano however he feared a group of submarines might achieve it he also believed the Raiders were tracking him on radar but dismissed this as inconsequential since his Superior speed would allow him to outrun them at 11 22 PM the Machinery divisions Chief Lieutenant Commander Miura observed that one of the main shaft bearings was overheating operating on only six of her 12 boilers the carrier's top speed was barely faster than a surface submarine the faulty shaft bearing reduced the warship's speed to just 18 knots her slight speed advantage had evaporated as a bay weighed this situation he also acknowledged that now having veered away from the sub they had spotted and lost sight of it there were two possibilities either he had outpaced the craft before being forced to reduce his speed or the enemy Commander had intentionally continued on the 210 degree course to the Southwest hoping to get ahead of the shinano anticipating her to swing back toward the sub Abe was hoping that the boat they had seen was alone and hence posed no significant threat to the carrier regardless he had no choice but to return to his original heading to reach his destination Enright was still perplexed by the odd behavior of the Destroyer could it have deviated from its attack route because it was an American ship could the nearby U.S third Fleet have planned a surprise Landing or bombardment of the Japanese Mainland surely if this were the case the commanders of the various American submarines in the area would have been informed it was just before midnight when Enright was jolted out of his thoughts as his radar operator appeared through the top hatch and reported we've hit the jackpot Skipper according to the radar the targets made a drastic change of course almost directly west the range is 13 000 yards bearing 0-60 true and his angle on the bow is 40 Port Enright and his officers huddled around the plotting table to calculate the carrier's approach and plan their attack run as Enright climbed back up the ladder to the bridge patting the rosary beads in his pocket the Japanese warships were clearly visible in the bright Moonlight after more quick calculations Enright told Bob shinsky will stay on course 210 degrees until we reach a track nine miles south and parallel to his track then change course to 270. he can't remain on a zig 60 degrees off that track for long if he wants to maintain a decent distance along his base course so he may head our way at any moment at exactly midnight bobzinski ordered the Helmsman come right to course 270 degrees parallel his course flank speed unaware that a malfunctioning shaft bearing was slowing the shinano the Americans believed she could still outpace them Enright was haunted by visions of the shukaku escaping him the previous year and was petrified this carrier would do the same before long though he saw the target had slowed allowing his hopes to Surge his attack plan hinged on the ship returning to her base course of 210 degrees when she did the archerfish would be in an optimal position with the carrier heading directly towards her if Enright approached the Japanese on the surface they would detect him but if he submerged his boat would lose speed and the carrier might evade him he had to continue his passive shadowing approach and hope for the carrier to steer in his Direction Enright was considering how the moon was due to set at 4 30 a.m and then he would lose the Moonlight required for a torpedo attack soon after the sky would start to lighten Illuminating the sub in sunlight and revealing her location to the enemy he was staring despondently at his wristwatch it was 2 56 a.m on November 29 1944 when he looked through his binoculars for the hundredth time he saw his prayers had been answered the carrier was turning in his Direction she returned to her heading of 210 degrees Southwest his Quarry and her escorts were now barreling directly toward him at 305 the archerfish submerged and readied herself for the attack um as the Archer fish balanced at a depth of 60 feet Enright ordered fill the tube set the torpedo depth to 10 feet this uncommonly shallow depth setting confused some crewmen but Enright recalled a past conversation with rear Admiral Freeland Dobbin Dobbin had suggested that torpedo strikes on a carrier should be just below the water line as the heavy Flight Deck when flooded high in the hull could destabilize the ship and make her prone to capsize and sink quicker than lower deck flooding he was also aware that his Mark 14 Torpedoes had a tendency to run deeper than their set depths so a 10-foot depth setting would account for both factors during the next shift a 30 degree turn to Port as commanded by a tense Abe inadvertently positioned his ship broadside to the submarine as Enright waited for the carrier to cross his path he took the opportunity to closely observe her through the attack Periscope her silhouette did not match any in the identification manual prompting him to hastily sketch her profile looking at the drawing Ensign Gordon Crosby noticed the ship's unique rounded bow designed to reduce wind resistance and commented the Japanese don't have anything like that to hell they don't I'm looking at it retorted Enright archerfish had to dip beneath Periscope depth when a destroyer directly passed over her jostling the submarine with its prop wash fortunately for the Americans This Destroyer was among those with dysfunctional sonar due to recent battle damage and it unknowingly cruised away from the sub the close call with the Destroyer made Enright launch his attack about a minute later than planned but the carrier still dominated The periscope's View as he commanded fire one four firing plungers were depressed at eight second intervals the crew quickly Reloaded tubes and two more Torpedoes were launched Enright kept his eyes on the Periscope observing the first two explosions on the ship's Hull and was taken aback by the Swift list of the vessel he fought the urge to continue watching and as more strikes sounded he ordered take her down to 400 feet prepare for depth charge attack rubbing his Rosary he glanced at his watch it was 3 22 am on November 29 1944. on shinano's bridge Captain Abe was considering how the impending Dawn would expose his ship to b-29s when his Air Attack thoughts were Shattered by the first torpedo slamming into his Stern in Eight Second intervals three more ripped open massive breeches along the length of his starboard Hull the initial torpedo hit an empty fuel storage tank and the ship's refrigeration unit causing instant flooding the second devastated the starboard outboard engine room which also flooded the third tore into the number three fire room instantly killing all men on duty there and flooding both number one and number seven fire rooms the last Mark 14 penetrated the starboard air compressor room causing instant flooding there and to the number two damage control station this final strike also ruptured the starboard ready fuel tank despite his familiarity with the sensation of torpedo detonations Abe maintained his composure stubbornly believing that American Torpedoes were not potent enough to sink his vessel he declared with steady Assurance were under torpedo attack gentlemen Battle Stations everyone I need damage control status reports immediately check for casualties let's get moving however his confidence wavered when he glanced through the Bridge's front window and saw the oceans slanted Horizon shinana was already listing rushing to the lower levels mikami experienced firsthand the severity of the damage air forced out by the inundation of seawater whistled through the corridors of the ship maintaining his balance became increasingly difficult as the list Amplified to 13 degrees despite the tireless efforts of the pump Crews after ascertaining that the pump operators were doing everything they could he navigated through the knee-deep oil covered seawater to the number one damage control station here he received a call from ABE we're trying to reach shiono point the captain stated do everything you can to stabilize the ship efforts to save the ship were Complicated by the hysteria of Civilian Barbers laundry workers and conscripted Korean laborers who couldn't comprehend instructions shouted in Japanese their Terror was well founded as Miura later recounted the Torpedoes penetrated the hull like fists through a paper screen as the ocean forcefully poured in the water pressure exacerbated the damage inflicted by the explosions wrecking compartment after compartment shenano's continued speed of 18 knots Amplified the water pressure significantly more than if she had been stationary only moments after Abe's call to mikami the ship's pumps gave out Abe then announced over the loudspeaker for so in all hands to assemble on the flight deck amidst the chaos however he made a critical error he had meant to say kuhin all civilians in an effort to remove non-military Personnel from The Busy lower decks as his crew worked to save the ship instead numerous Sailors and officers who would soon have been trapped below started heading topside this unintended slip ended up saving hundreds of lives returning to the bridge mikami presented his dire report to the captain it's as bad as it gets Captain we took four hits three of them in the Citadel The Citadel was the ship's core housing the boilers engines steering apparatus Electronics communication gear and ammunition stores the Torpedoes could not have been more effectively aimed astonishingly Abe still held on to the belief that shinano could survive with composure he ordered a message transmitted to Yokosuka Naval Station shinano torpedoed at 0317 X position 108 miles bearing 198 degrees from omezaki light the Americans were now under two destroyers the sound of depth charges plunging into the sea audible what the submariners didn't realize was that these attacking warships had no functioning sonar a fact that became apparent as they counted 14 depth charge detonations over a 15-minute period none came close to the archerfish they're clueless to our whereabouts and right breathed a sigh of relief echoing the sentiment of his entire crew Whispering thank God for 20 minutes the sailors listened to the fading sounds of depth charges and the disintegration of the carrier as the crew's realization of their Triumph donned the submarine resonated with jubilant shouts celebratory yells and the rustle of countless congratulatory pats on the back yet a reflective silence descended as they started to fully grasp the enormity of their achievement they were Heroes but this hard-earned status only slowly sank in at 6 10 AM Enright cautiously guided his vessel to Periscope depth but despite clear visibility in the morning sunlight saw nothing in all directions weary he headed for his bunk at 10 55 a sailor roused him to report Captain sonar and everyone else heard a deep rumbling explosion from a distance the duty officer said he believes it was our Target sinking the skipper smiled and returned to sleep an hour after the attack Abe finally confronted the harsh reality of the situation he had been defeated by a vessel a mere fraction of the size of his own the underestimated American Torpedoes had inflicted fatal wounds on his carrier her list was now 20 degrees and her speed had slowed to 10 knots at 6 am he ordered a course change to the Northwest aiming to beach the shinano off Cape ushio water streamed in through numerous small internal leaks that had been left unattended due to rushed Shipyard work leading crew members to desperately form bucket brigades still the water level kept Rising at 8 AM Abe ordered the flooding of the outboard Port boiler rooms in a desperate attempt to counterbalance the list briefly the carrier seemed to write herself but soon the Deluge from the four massive breaches in the starboard Hall began to make her list Once More by 9 am she was immobilized in listing at 20 degrees men aboard the shinano who had long suspected their ship was cursed now strained to ascend hoping to reach the deck before she capsized Kamikaze and isakaze made a futile attempt to tow the carrier to shallow water but with a combined weight of merely 5 000 tons they stood no chance against the 72 000 ton vessel further weighted down by thousands of tons of seawater at 10 18 Abe issued the universal command to abandon ship on board yukikaze Captain tarachi instructed his executive officer Lieutenant do not rescue any Sailors who are crying or pleading for help such weak Spirits cannot contribute to the Navy save only those who remain calm and brave many more men succumbed to the Sea than were saved Abe was among the 1435 men who perished with their vessel the shinano holds the record for the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine she met her end 17 hours into her inaugural Voyage on Wednesday November 29 1944 65 miles off the coast of Honshu one of Japan's main islands foreign archerfish reached Guam on December 15th after her crew disembarked Commander John corbus the local subordinate commands operations officer stunned Enright by stating I'm sorry Joe but Navy intelligence can't confirm your claim of sinking a carrier they insist there was no carrier in Tokyo bay so how could you have sunk one would you be willing to settle for a cruiser Enright and his crew adamantly expressed that they would not settle for anything less than the recognition of the trophy they knew they had claimed Enright still possessed the pencil sketches he had made of the shinano he handed them to corbus who included them in the Patrol report sent to Naval intelligence in Pearl Harbor upon seeing the unique bulbous Clipper bow that Enright had drawn the Intelligence Officers realized that his kill had been the suspected third Super warship of the Yamato class converted into an aircraft carrier however the intelligence team significantly underestimated her weight at 28 000 tons further confirmation came from an intercepted Japanese radio transmission dated November 29th shinano sunk post-war the United States technical mission to Japan interviewed surviving Japanese Naval personnel and based on the information from these interrogations upgraded the size of Archer fish's Conquest to 70 755 tons in recognition of his victory Enright was awarded the Navy cross and his submarine received a presidential unit citation in peacetime Archer fish served as an oceanographic research vessel and was decommissioned on May 1st 1968. later that year the Navy used her as a Target in the test firing of an experimental torpedo launched by the nuclear submarine snook the USS Archer fish was towed several miles off the coast of San Diego and anchored the new torpedo splitter in two ending the career of one of America's greatest submarines thanks for watching Remember to like And subscribe see you soon foreign

Channel: Hidden History

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Keywords: hidden history, submarines, The LARGEST Warship Sinking in HISTORY by a Submarine, uss archerfish, shinano, shinano carrier, shinano carrier footage, japan, Japanese navy, imperial Japanese navy, mark felton, dark seas, ww2, wwii, world war 2, subarine, american submarine, submarines ww2, the silent service, American submarines ww2, submarines japan, submarines Pacific, Joseph Enright, archerfish, archerfish submarine, archerfish ww2, archerfish shinano, shinano sinking, warships

Id: WB5Itsi7vhM

Length: 36min 17sec (2177 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 15 2023