Joseph F. Enright

Joseph Francis Enright (September 18, 1910 – July 20, 2000) was a submarine captain in the United States Navy. He is best known as the man who sank the Japanese aircraft carrier ''Shinano''–the "most significant single submarine sinking of World War II."Wilson, Callo p. 98

US Navy career

Enright was born in Minot, North Dakota. He graduated from United States Naval Academy in 1933, served three years on and achieved submariner's qualification in 1936. During World War II, Lieutenant Commander Enright commanded , and .

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 15Newpower, p. 186 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 charged by escort ships and withdrew from active pursuit. In the end the 49-day patrol brought no results.Galantin, p. 78 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 in September 1944.

''Archerfish'' 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 identified a surface contact away. Visual contact became possible at 2140, and by 2300 Enright identified it as an aircraft carrier protected by three destroyers.Newpower, p. 187

Enright had initially assumed the target was a tanker. Once he realized it was a carrier, he ordered it tracked "from ahead" in hopes that he could get ahead and attack from below.

At 0241, on November 29, the target turned away from ''Archerfish'' and then straight at her. At 0305, Enright ordered ''Archerfish'' to dive. At 0317 at a mere from the target, Enright fired all six available torpedoes at the carrier. He deliberately set the torpedoes to run shallow (); he not only wanted to ensure a hit in case they ran deeper than set, but also hoped to increase the likelihood of capsizing the carrier by holing it further up on its hull. Enright stayed at periscope depth to see the first two torpedoes hit ''Shinano'', then dived down to in order to escape depth charge revenge from her escorts. While rigged for silent running, Enright and his crew heard loud breaking-up noises for 47 minutes, and were certain they had sent their quarry to the bottom. It was only after the war that the carrier was identified as ''Shinano'', the long-rumored third battleship of the ''Yamato'' class. Her keel had been converted into a supercarrier while still under construction. Four of his sub's torpedoes had found their mark. Due to crew inexperience and design flaws, she struggled with damage for more than seven hours and finally capsized at 10:57. The damage was magnified because ''Shinano''s commander, Captain , had inadvertently exposed his ship's entire side to ''Archerfish'' in his haste to escape, creating an ideal firing situation for a submarine. With a full-load displacement of 72,000 tons, ''Shinano'' is the largest warship in 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 during the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender.

After the end of the war, Enright commanded Submarine Division 31 (1949–1950), (1953–1954), Submarine Squadron 8 (1954–1955), was chief of staff for the submarine force of the United States Atlantic Fleet (1955–1957) and commander of (1959–1963).

Retirement years

After retirement in 1963 Enright worked at Northrop on the OMEGA Navigation System.

He died in Fairfax, Virginia, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Awards and decorations

Notes

References

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External links

USS ''Archerfish'' tribute site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enright, Joseph Francis
1910 births
2000 deaths
United States Navy personnel of World War II
United States Naval Academy alumni
United States submarine commanders
Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States)
Recipients of the Legion of Merit
People from Minot, North Dakota
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery