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Concept
Joseph F. Enright
Summary
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."
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 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 charged 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 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.
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.
Official source
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