1 US Sub Sinks a Japanese Supercarrier - Sinking of Shinano Documentary

Merry Christmas everyone and thanks for watching this video and all our videos in 2022. There’s no sponsor for this one and things are looking a bit tougher on YouTube going into 2023, so if you enjoyed this video and want to see us keep making more (and hopefully not be so reliant on sponsorships in future) please consider supporting us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/historigraph - it really does make a difference. Other US Pacific Submarine Videos: The Submarine that Invaded Japan - The Incredible USS Barb: https://youtu.be/kviX-W-rjBI How Allied Submarines Crippled Japan in WW2 https://youtu.be/m5e0Tor2kMg When Five Ships were Sunk in 30 minutes - Ramage's Rampage https://youtu.be/ZnB82cT1LQI

Imagine winning the tons competition by sinking only one ship. That's just insane.

Commander Enright: "a cautious and uncertain skipper" also Commander Enright: drives his boat ten feet under an enemy ship

Commander Enright sinks largest naval ship in the war and wins the combined tonnage patrol record Gimli: "That still only counts as one!"

What intrigues me is that the supercarrier was sunk near it's own coast. They didn't even leave that far from the home islands, and they were already stalked by a submarine. This puts a lot of perspective on how dire Japan's situation was, as they can't even navigate in their own home waters without stressing the possibility of being watched.

I just love that the US didn't believe that the Archerfish sank something that huge. Goes to show how unbelievably large the Yamatos were

This was a monumental Achievement, as to this day Shinano is still the largest warship to be sunk in combat and largest ship to be sunk by submarine.

One thing I find funny is that the US Navy didn't believe that the Archerfish had sunk a carrier as large as the Shinano and credited it with sinking a light carrier with a displacement of 27,000 tons. It wasn't until after the war and the US got its hands on the Japanese archives that confirmed the Shinano existed that the Navy retroactively credited the Archerfish and her captain with sinking her and awarding Captain Enright the Navy Cross.

I am a Navy veteran and served on submarines while I was on active duty. Part of our initial training pipeline included a fair amount of submarine history. This incident is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what American submarine warfare was able to inflict upon the Japanese Navy during WWII. Something like 2/3rds of all Japanese tonnage sunk by the US Navy was sunk by our submarines. Wild!

An "unremarkable captain" maybe, but kudos to him for having the strength and courage to admit that he wasn't performing to the required level and relinquishing command of his previous boat, seemingly putting the lives of his crew ahead of his own career and ambition. That act could have spelled the end of any chance of him ever commanding again. But it didn't, and he went on to better things.

I read the book "Archerfish". Not only did it sink the Shinano but performed admirably during the Cold War as a spy ship as well.

Be Joseph Enright: > patrol continuously > didn't achieve any success 99.9% of the time > sunk one ship > become top 1 of the entire war > leaves

Imagine living and fighting on a WWII submarine. The hot, sweaty fear and ominous noises that were sonar, torpedos and depth charges. Mad respect

Impressive display of patience, holding his course after losing track of the Shinano. And what a payoff: one lone submarine sinks a carrier with just six torpedoes / four hits. It's not surprising he wasn't believed at first. Enright: "I just sank a Japanese aircraft carrier." Pacific Command: "Sure you did. And I'm flying to Mars this afternoon."

I love the story of this and how originally Pacific Command said they sank a battleship first until it was found the Captain had made a drawing of the carrier through the periscope, that he had originally throw in the bin. It wasn’t until one of the crew members had saved it from the bin because in training he was told to never throw anything out that they were able to prove it was in fact a carrier they sank.

You told me everything I needed to know about the sub captain when you said he relieved himself of command. That is a good Naval Officer.

How is there not a Hollywood movie made about this and the Archerfish captain? It has everything. The journey from a captain who was unsure of himself to sinking a critical ship and achieving greatness.

Capt. Abe requested a delay to address serious concerns. I think his only real mistake was following orders to take Shinano to sea. This guy was set up for failure. Mad respect to Capt. Enright for not giving up on the hunt!

The entire Shinano affair is just mindboggling. The IJN convert her from Battleship to carrier but don't have the pilots-the whole reason for moving her was due to lack of aircover- yet they insisted on following through with finishing her as a carrier for a naval air arm that no longer existed. They have the largest carrier in the world at that time and they make it a support hub for the other carriers(again which also lack pilots), then in typical IJN fashion, they continue to ignore even basic antisubmarine warfare precautions and when transferring it between ports for final work, most of the damage control wasn't operational, all the bulkheads are open and she's running her lights like a cruise ship...

My father in law was a submariner in WW2. USS Shad, SS-235. He did two missions with that boat then one more on another. A Sub Captain was their luck. Any sub Commander who could both go out, complete the patrol and return his command to harbor was a good one in my book. Thousands of ways to die, very few ways to live and damn few to be successful. Iron men among the elite! all of them. RIP Bill