How one American submarine ended Japan's largest warship is a story told entirely from the after-action record. On November 29, 1944, IJN Shinano — converted from a Yamato-class battleship into the largest aircraft carrier built anywhere in the world — capsized and sank seven hours after four torpedoes struck her hull. She never launched a single aircraft in combat.
USS Archerfish, commanded by Commander Joseph F. Enright, was assigned to a lifeguard station off the Japanese coast when she picked up Shinano's task group on radar the night of November 28, 1944. Rather than dive or disengage, Enright shadowed the formation on the surface at maximum speed for hours before firing six torpedoes at 3:17 AM. Incomplete watertight compartmentalization and an undertrained crew turned four hits into a total loss.
Built from U.S. Navy war patrol records, Imperial Japanese Navy loss accounts, and established postwar naval history.
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