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. Archerfish is best known for sinking the Japanese 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.

Archerfish'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

Archerfish underwent shakedown training through the first part of November off the New England coast, and headed for Hawaii via the Panama Canal. 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, Archerfish got under way 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 Taiwan. 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, Archerfish left Pearl Harbor, bound for the Bonin Islands area and her third patrol. She was assigned lifeguard duty during the strikes against Iwo Jima on 4 July, and rescued downed aviator Ensign John B. Anderson before returning to Midway on 15 July.

After a refit alongside submarine tender Proteus and training exercises, Archerfish got under way again on 7 August to begin another patrol. She prowled the waters off Honshū for more than a month without bagging any enemy ships, and returned to Pearl Harbor on 29 September after 53 days at sea.

Fifth patrol, October–December 1944: Sinking Shinano

Archerfish 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 nearTokyo 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 Archerfish out of the water before he could get the sub into position. Even without the destroyers, Enright also knew that the carrier was too massive for the sub's four-inch gun to have any effect. He ordered that the carrier be tracked from ahead in preparation for an attack from below. After six hours, the enemy carrier turned right back into Archerfish's path, and Archerfish got into an attack position. Archerfish submerged and fired six torpedoes. Enright deliberately set the torpedoes to run shallow (10 ft or 3 m) in hopes of capsizing the target by holing it higher up on its hull. He also wanted to increase the chances of a hit in case the torpedoes ran deeper than set. Even as Archerfish descended to 400 ft (120 m) to avoid a depth charge attack, Enright and the crew saw that 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 Archerfish had sunk a cruiser, not believing that there were any carriers in that stretch of ocean. However, Enright had made sketches of the target, and Archerfish was given credit for sinking a 28,000-ton carrier.

It was only after the war that the Americans learned the identity of Archerfish's quarry: Shinano, the biggest aircraft carrier ever built at the time. It was originally the third of the Yamato-class battleships, but had been converted into a 72,000-ton supercarrier after the Battle of Midway. Four of Archerfish's six torpedoes had hit, striking the carrier between the anti-torpedo bulge and the waterline at approximately 03:20. The damage was magnified by the fact that Shinano had turned south just minutes before Enright loosed his torpedoes, thus exposing her entire side to Archerfish—a nearly ideal firing situation for a submarine. The ship initially continued under way, but it lost power around 06:00. The crew were unable to contain the flooding due to serious design flaws and inexperience, and the carrier capsized just before 11:00. Archerfish 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, Archerfish 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 Archerfish, Batfish, and Blackfish. 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 on February 14, 1945  during this patrol which ended on 3 March, three days earlier than scheduled, due to bow-plane problems. (The submarine sinking was not confirmed until after the war.) Archerfish 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, Archerfish 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. Archerfish 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, Archerfish 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.