USS Archerfish ( SS-311 ) Career Ordered : Laid down : 22 January 1943 Launched : 28 May 1943 Commissioned : 4 September 1943 Decommissioned : 1968 Fate : sunk as a target Stricken : 1 May 1968 General Characteristics Displacement ,   Surfaced :   Submerged : 1 , 526 tons ( 1550 t ) , 2 , 424 tons ( 2460 t ) Length : 311.8 ft ( 95.0 m ) Beam : 27.3 ft ( 8.3 m ) Draft : 15.3 ft ( 4.6 m ) Depth limit : 400 ft ( 120 m ) Speed ,   Surfaced :   Submerged : 20.25 knots ( 37 km/h )   8.75 knots ( 16 km/h ) Propulsion : four 5400-hp  diesel engines four 2740-hp ( 2.0 MW ) electric motors , two propellers Submerged Endurance : 48 hours at 2 knots Patrol Endurance : 75 days Range : 11 , 000 nmi. ( 20 , 000 km )   surfaced at 10 knots Complement : 80 officers and enlisted Armament : ten 21 '' torpedo tubes ,   ( six forward , four aft ) ,   24 torpedoes , one 4 '' /50 deck gun , four machine guns USS Archerfish ( SS/AGSS-311 ) , a Balao -class submarine , 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 was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano in November 1944 —the largest ship ever sunk by a submarine . Archerfish ' s keel was laid down on 22 January 1943 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery , Maine . She was launched on 28 May 1943 sponsored by Miss Malvina C. Thompson , and commissioned on 4 September 1943 with Lieutenant Commander George W. Kehl in command . World War II The submarine held 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 , Archerfish got underway on 23 December for her first war patrol . She paused at Midway Island on 27 December to refuel before proceeding on 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 Pearl Harbor Submarine Base , 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 . Assigned lifeguard duty during the strikes against Iwo Jima on 4 July , she rescued one downed aviator , John B. Anderson , who later became a Rear Admiral , before returning to Midway on 15 July . After a refit alongside tender Proteus ( AS-19 ) and training exercises , Archerfish got underway again on 7 August to begin another patrol . After prowling the waters off Honshu for more than a month without bagging any enemy ships , the submarine returned to Pearl Harbor on 29 September ending 53 days at sea . Fifth patrol , October – December 1944 Archerfish left Hawaii on 30 October , visited Saipan on 9 November for quick voyage repairs , and departed two days later to carry out her next patrol on 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 . That evening , the submarine sighted a large Japanese aircraft carrier screened by three escorts leaving Tokyo Bay . After a dogged six-and-a-half-hour surface pursuit of the elusive , high-speed target , she finally obtained a position ahead of her quarry , took careful aim , and unleashed six torpedoes . Moments later , a great glowing ball of fire climbed up the Japanese ship 's side and the Americans soon heard a series of tremendous explosions while the enemy vessel disintegrated . Not until after the end of the war did the Americans learn that Archerfish had sunk the still unfinished Shinano , a 59 , 000-ton Japanese aircraft carrier , the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine . Archerfish received the Presidential Unit Citation for this action . The patrol ended at Guam on 15 December after 48 days on station . 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 . 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 during this patrol which she terminated on 3 March , three days earlier than scheduled , due to bow plane problems . 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 1945 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 Honshu and the south coast of Hokkaido , providing lifeguard services for B-29 Superfortress bombers striking the Japanese home islands . She was still off Hokkaido 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 the tender Proteus ( AS-19 ) , near the Yokosuka Navy Yard . After the Japanese surrender ceremony on board battleship Missouri ( BB-63 ) 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 for duty and training . The submarine left Pearl Harbor on 2 January 1946 , bound for San Francisco . From her arrival on 8 January until 13 March the ship 's force was busy carrying out her preinactivation overhaul . On the latter day , she proceeded to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard where the final stages of inactivation were completed . Archerfish was decommissioned on 12 June 1946 and placed in the Pacific Reserve Group berthed in the Mare Island Naval Shipyard . 1952 – 1955 On 7 January 1952 , because of the necessity of augmenting the Fleet resulting from the communist invasion of South Korea , the submarine began preparations for reactivation . 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 the Mare Island Naval Shipyard under her own power for a restricted availability to have the damage corrected . The repairs were completed on 27 May 1952 , and Archerfish held shakedown off the West Coast . She then transited the Panama Canal and joined the Atlantic Fleet on 3 July . Attached to Submarine Squadron 12 , she operated out of Key West , Florida , visiting such places as Santiago , Cuba , 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 The submarine was reactivated at New London in July 1957 , placed back in commission on 1 August , and again joined Submarine Squadron 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 USS Sea Tiger in the 1958 movie Operation Petticoat for the underwater and distance scenes and shots . ) 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 operation `` Sea Scan '' on 18 May . On the cruise , the submarine visited Portsmouth , England ; Hammerfest and Bergen , Norway ; Faslane , Scotland ; Thule , Godthaab , and Julianehaab , 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 Operation `` 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 Operation `` Sea Scan '' in the eastern Pacific area , with stops in Pearl Harbor and Midway Island , 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 Island 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 Operation `` 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 , Washington , 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 For the remaining three and one-half years of her Navy career Archerfish continued carrying out various research assignments throughout the eastern Pacific region . 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 Snook ( SSN-592 ) on 19 October 1968 . Awards Archerfish received seven battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation for her World War II service . See also See USS Archerfish for other ships of the same name . References This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . 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