Joseph F . Enright Joseph Francis Enright ( born September 18 , 1910 in Minot , North Dakota - died July 20 , 2000 in Fairfax , Virginia ) was a submarine captain in the United States Navy . November 29 , 1944 USS " Archer - Fish " commanded by Enright sank Japanese aircraft carrier " Shinano " - the largest vessel ever sunk by a submarine , " most significant single submarine sinking of World War II . " Enright graduated from United States Naval Academy in 1933 , served three years on USS " Maryland " and achieved submariner ' s qualification in 1936 . During World War II lieutenant commander Enright commanded USS " O - 10 " , USS " Dace " and USS " Archer - Fish " . Enright assumed command of the newly built USS " Dace " on July 23 , 1943 and in October sailed out on her first war patrol into busy Japanese waters . On November 15 an Ultra message alerted him to intercept aircraft carrier " Shōkaku " ; Enright located the target and " made a timid approach , abandoning the effort as daylight approached " . He then found another target , a tanker , but was depth charge d by escort ships and withdrew from active pursuit . In the end the 49 - day patrol brought no results . Enright took the blame for failure : " I was responsible for an unproductive patrol and request to be relieved by an officer who can perform more satisfactorily " . Admiral Lockwood granted the request and demoted Enright to administrative duties ashore . After half a year at Midway submarine base , Enright requested to be given another submarine command and received " a rare second chance " , command of USS " Archer - Fish " , in September 1944 . " Archer - Fish " left Pearl Harbor on October 30 , 1944 and reached Saipan on November 9 . For the next two weeks the submarine provided search and rescue support to American aviators in the areas of planned air strikes . On November 28 , when the submarine was patrolling south from Nagoya , radar operator identified a surface contact 12 miles away . Visual contact with " Shinano " became possible at 2140 , and by 2300 Enright identified four escort ships protecting the carrier . At 0241 November 29 the target turned away from " Archerfish " and then straight at her . At 0317 at a mere 1 , 400 yards from the target , Enright fired all six available torpedoes at " Shinano " . Enright stayed at periscope depth to see first two torpedoes hit " Shinano " , then dived down to escape revenge from her escorts . " Shinano " struggled with damage for more than seven hours and finally capsized , becoming the largest vessel of World War II ( and , as of 2010 , in all history ) to be sunk by a submarine . The action earned Enright his Navy Cross . On September 2 , 1945 , Enright and his crew , along with eleven other submarines , were honored with the task of protecting USS " Missouri " during the signing of Japanese Instrument of Surrender . After the end of World War II Enright commanded Submarine Division 31 ( 1949 – 1950 ) , USS " Fulton " ( 1953 – 1954 ) , Submarine Squadron 8 ( 1954 – 1955 ) , has been chief of staff for the submarine force of the United States Atlantic Fleet ( 1955 – 1957 ) and commander of USS " Boston " ( 1959 – 1963 ) . After retirement in 1963 Enright worked at Northrop on the OMEGA Navigation System . He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery .