page_title: USS Archerfish (SS-311)
section_title: Last two patrols, January–September 1945
hierarchical_section_title: USS Archerfish (SS-311) / World War II / Last two patrols, January–September 1945
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of the U.S. Navy Balao-class submarine USS Archerfish (SS-311) near San Francisco on 5 June 1945.
context_page_description: USS Archerfish was a Balao-class submarine. She was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the archerfish. Archerfish is best known for sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano in November 1944, the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine. For this achievement, she received a Presidential Unit Citation after World War II.
  Archerfish's keel was laid down on 22 January 1943 in the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 28 May 1943, sponsored by Miss Malvina Thompson, the personal secretary to first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The boat was commissioned on 4 September 1943, Lieutenant Commander George W. Kehl in command.
context_section_description: While her officers and crew spent the holidays at a rest and recreation camp located on Guam, Archerfish underwent refit at the island. On 10 January 1945, the submarine got underway for her sixth patrol. Enright was in command of "Joe's Jugheads", a three-submarine "wolfpack" comprising Archerfish, Batfish, and Blackfish. 
  This mission took her to waters in the South China Sea off Hong Kong and the southern tip of Formosa. She damaged one unidentified target and claimed a submarine on February 14, 1945  during this patrol which ended on 3 March, three days earlier than scheduled, due to bow-plane problems. (The submarine sinking was not confirmed until after the war.) Archerfish touched at Saipan and Pearl Harbor before arriving back in the United States at San Francisco, California on 13 March. She then proceeded to the Hunters Point Navy Yard for overhaul and drydocking.
  Following completion of the yard work, Archerfish sailed on 14 June for Oahu. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 22 June and commenced voyage repairs and training exercises. The submarine got underway on 10 July for her seventh and last war patrol, which she conducted in the area off the east coast of Honshū and the south coast of Hokkaidō, providing lifeguard services for Superfortresses striking the Japanese home islands. She was still off Hokkaidō on 15 August when word of the Japanese capitulation arrived. Archerfish was one of 12 submarines that entered Tokyo Bay on 31 August and moored alongside Proteus, near the Yokosuka Navy Yard. After the formal Japanese surrender on 2 September, Archerfish departed Tokyo Bay, bound for Pearl Harbor, and arrived there on 12 September. She was then assigned to Submarine Squadron 1 (SubRon 1) for duty and training.
caption: Archerfish undergoing a sea test on 5 June 1945 near San Francisco
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