USS Archerfish ( SS - 311 ) USS " Archerfish " ( SS / AGSS - 311 ) was a " Balao " - class submarine . She was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the archerfish , a family of fish notable for its ability to project a powerful spout of water at its insect prey . " Archerfish " is best known for sinking the Japan ese 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 . During World War II , the boat ' s name was spelled " Archer - Fish " , with a hyphen , but when she was recommissioned in 1952 the hyphen was dropped . " Archer - Fish " 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 . World War II . " Archer - Fish " underwent shakedown training through the first part of November off the New England coast , and headed via the Panama Canal for Hawaii . She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 29 November 1943 , and joined the Pacific Fleet . First four patrols , December 1943 – September 1944 . After receiving voyage repairs and undergoing training exercises , " Archer - Fish " got underway on 23 December for her first war patrol . She paused at Midway Atoll on 27 December to refuel before proceeding to her patrol area north of Formosa . During this patrol , she attacked three ships , but scored no kills before returning to Midway on 16 February 1944 for repairs and training . The submarine stood out of Midway on 16 March 1944 on her second war patrol but encountered no Japanese targets during her 42 days at sea , mostly near the Palau Islands . She returned to the Submarine Base at Pearl Harbor , via Johnston Island , on 27 April to commence refitting . A month and a day later , " Archer - Fish " left Pearl Harbor , bound for the Bonin Islands area and her third patrol . Assigned lifeguard duty during the strikes against Iwo Jima on 4 July , she rescued a downed aviator — Ensign John B . Anderson — before returning to Midway on 15 July . After a refit alongside submarine tender and training exercises , " Archer - Fish " got underway again on 7 August to begin another patrol . After prowling the waters off Honshū for more than a month without bagging any enemy ships , the submarine returned to Pearl Harbor on 29 September after 53 days at sea . Fifth patrol , October – December 1944 : Sinking of " Shinano " . " Archer - Fish " left Hawaii on 30 October under the command of Commander Joseph F . Enright , visited Saipan on 9 November for quick voyage repairs , and departed two days later to carry out her next patrol , in which her primary mission was to provide lifeguard services for the first B - 29 Superfortress strikes against Tokyo . On 28 November , she received word that no air raids would be launched that day , giving her carte blanche to roam the waters near Tokyo Bay . That evening , lookouts spotted what looked like a tanker leaving the bay . It was later discovered that it was actually a large aircraft carrier screened by three destroyers . Enright realized that a surface attack would be suicidal ; the destroyers would blow " Archer - Fish " out of the water before he could get the sub into position . Even without the destroyers , Enright also knew the carrier was too massive for the sub ' s four - inch gun to have any effect . He ordered the carrier tracked from ahead in preparation for an attack from below . After six hours , the enemy carrier turned right back into " Archer - Fish " s path , and " Archer - Fish " got into an attack position . " Archer - Fish " fired six torpedoes . Enright deliberately set the torpedoes to run shallow ( ) so the target ' s hull would be breached on the side , which would capsize it . Even as " Archer - Fish " began to descend to avoid a depth charge attack , Enright and the crew saw the carrier was already listing to starboard . The crew also began picking up loud breaking - up noises from the target shortly after firing the last torpedo . The noises continued for 47 minutes . The patrol ended at Guam on 15 December after 48 days on station . Initially , the Office of Naval Intelligence thought that " Archer - Fish " had sunk a cruiser , believing that there weren ' t any carriers in that stretch of ocean . However , Enright had made sketches of the target , and " Archer - Fish " was given credit for sinking a 28 , 000 - ton carrier . It was only later that the Americans learned the identity of " Archer - Fish " s quarry : " Shinano " , the biggest aircraft carrier ever built at the time . It was originally the third of the s , but had been converted into a 72 , 000 - ton carrier after the Battle of Midway . Four of " Archer - Fish " s six torpedoes had hit , striking the carrier between the anti - torpedo bulge and the waterline at approximately 03 : 20 . Although the ship initially continued under way , it lost power around 06 : 00 . Due to serious design flaws and crew inexperience , the crew was unable to contain the flooding and the carrier capsized just before 11 : 00 . " Archer - Fish " received the Presidential Unit Citation , and Enright received the Navy Cross , for this action . To this day , " Shinano " is the largest warship to be sunk by a submarine . Last two patrols , January – September 1945 . While her officers and crew spent the holidays at a rest and recreation camp located on Guam , " Archer - Fish " 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 " Archer - Fish " , , and . 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 during this patrol which ended on 3 March , three days earlier than scheduled , due to bow - plane problems . ( The submarine sinking was not confirmed after the war . ) " Archer - Fish " 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 , " Archer - Fish " 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 . " Archer - Fish " 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 , " Archer - Fish " 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 . Post - war . The submarine left Pearl Harbor on 2 January 1946 , bound for San Francisco . From 8 January to 13 March , the ship ' s force carried out her preinactivation overhaul . On the latter day , she proceeded to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard where the final stages of inactivation were completed . " Archer - Fish " was decommissioned on 12 June 1946 and placed in the Pacific Reserve Group berthed at Mare Island . 1952 – 1955 . During the Korean War , many inactive Navy vessels were recommissioned . " Archer - Fish " was chosen for recommissioning on 7 January 1952 . At some point in preparations for reactivation , her name changed slightly : the hyphen was dropped and she became Archerfish . She was recommissioned on 7 March and reported for duty to the Pacific Fleet on 26 March . The next day she sailed for three weeks of shakedown training out of San Diego , California . However , a fire broke out in her maneuvering room on 28 March , and the ship returned to Mare Island under her own power for a restricted availability to have the damage corrected . With repairs complete on 27 May , " Archerfish " held shakedown off the West Coast . She then transited the Panama Canal and joined the Atlantic Fleet on 3 July . Attached to SubRon 12 , she operated out of Key West , Florida , visiting such places as Santiago and Guantanamo Bay , Cuba ; Port - au - Prince , Haiti ; San Juan , Puerto Rico ; and Trinidad , British West Indies . The vessel departed Key West on 25 April 1955 and proceeded to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for decommissioning . After completing her inactivation overhaul , the ship was towed to New London , Connecticut , and was decommissioned on 21 October 1955 . Oceanographic work , 1958 – 1964 . " Archerfish " was reactivated at New London in July 1957 , placed back in commission on 1 August , and again joined SubRon 12 at Key West . On 13 January 1958 , she got underway for a cruise under the technical supervision of the Navy Hydrographic Office . On this deployment , she visited Recife , Brazil , and Trinidad . Upon completion of that mission she provided services for the fleet training commands at Key West and Guantanamo Bay . ( In this time , she also portrayed the in the 1959 movie " Operation Petticoat " for the underwater and distance scenes and shots . ) On 2 October 1959 , approximately 15 miles southwest of Key West , over Vestal Shoal , " Archerfish " bottomed at . Commander George F . Bond and Chief Engineman Cyril Tuckfield safely completed a 52 - second , 302 - foot buoyant ascent from the forward escape trunk . Both men received the Legion of Merit in 1960 for establishing the feasibility of deep submarine escape by locking out . In early 1960 , " Archerfish " was chosen to participate in Operation " Sea Scan " , a scientific study of marine weather conditions , water composition , ocean depths , and temperature ranges . She entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in January to be specially equipped for this new mission . During this time , the vessel was redesignated an auxiliary submarine , with hull classification symbol AGSS - 311 . Embarking a team of civilian scientists , she commenced the first phase of " Sea Scan " on 18 May . On the cruise , the submarine visited Portsmouth , England ; Hammerfest and Bergen , Norway ; Faslane , Scotland ; Thule , Godthaab , and Julianehab , Greenland ; Belfast , Northern Ireland ; and Halifax , Nova Scotia , before mooring at New London on 3 December . After six weeks of upkeep , " Archerfish " got underway on 20 January 1961 for the Pacific phase of " Sea Scan " , transited the Panama Canal on 6 February , and proceeded via San Diego to Hawaii . She left Pearl Harbor on 27 March . During her operations the submarine visited Yokosuka and Hakodate , Japan , Hong Kong ; Subic Bay , Philippines ; Bangkok , Thailand ; Penang , Malaya ; Colombo , Ceylon ; and Fremantle , Australia , and closed out 1961 moored at Yokosuka . Phase two of Operation " Sea Scan " continued during the early months of 1962 with operations in the western Pacific area and port calls at Sasebo , Japan , Guam , and Cebu City , Philippines . Early in March , the submarine completed phase two and proceeded via Pago Pago to Pearl Harbor . On 27 April she entered the San Francisco Naval Shipyard for overhaul . After completion of overhaul , the submarine moved to San Diego for a two - week upkeep . She then commenced phase three of " Sea Scan " in the eastern Pacific area , with stops in Pearl Harbor and Midway Atoll , and returned to San Diego for the Christmas holidays . " Archerfish " departed San Diego on 10 January 1963 , bound for Yokosuka , where she began a three - week upkeep period . Following two and one - half months of operations she returned to the United States for a brief visit to San Francisco , California , before reentering Pearl Harbor early in May . Late May and most of June were devoted to surveying off the northwest coast of the United States and Canada , with port calls in Portland , Oregon ; Seattle , Washington ; and Vancouver , British Columbia . The submarine was back in Yokosuka for drydocking in July and August before beginning three months of continuous surveying in the mid - Pacific , broken only by brief fueling and upkeep stops at Midway and Pearl Harbor . She departed Yokosuka on 25 November for an extended cruise to the southern hemisphere , arrived in Australia in mid - December and took a three - week holiday in Newcastle and Sydney . From the latter port , " Archerfish " traveled to Guam for a two - week upkeep in late January 1964 and finally reached Pearl Harbor on 5 March . Departing Pearl Harbor on 30 March , the ship continued " Sea Scan " operations in the eastern Pacific . She visited San Francisco in April and Vancouver , in May before returning to Pearl Harbor on 25 May , ending the third phase of " Sea Scan " . " Archerfish " began an extended fourth and final phase of Operation " Sea Scan " when she left Pearl Harbor on 17 June and headed for the eastern Pacific . She made port calls during July at Seattle and Olympia , Washington , and returned to Pearl Harbor on 19 August for a three - week upkeep and drydocking before undertaking a cruise to the South Pacific . The submarine sailed on 9 September for the Fiji Islands . After briefly touching Suva , she headed for Auckland , New Zealand , for an 11 - day visit . Her next stop was Wellington , New Zealand , but she left New Zealand on 19 October and arrived in Yokosuka on 6 November . She got underway again on 27 November to continue survey operations in the Caroline Islands area . After spending New Year ' s Eve in Guam , the ship sailed for Subic Bay , Philippines , where she closed the year in upkeep . 1965 – 1968 . During the remaining three and a half years of her Navy career " Archerfish " carried out various research assignments in the eastern Pacific . In early 1968 , " Archerfish " was declared unfit for further naval service and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 May 1968 . She was sunk off San Diego as a torpedo target by the submarine ( SSN - 592 ) on 19 October 1968 . Awards . " Archer - Fish " received seven battle star s and a Presidential Unit Citation for her World War II service .