Shinano: The Sinking of Japan's Secret Supership [Hardcover]

Joseph F. Enright (Author), James W. Ryan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shinano was the largest warship in history to be sunk by a submarine, and Enright was the skipper of the sub that sank it. This firsthand account, based on Enright's recollections and statements by American and Japanese veterans of the action, can be recommended without hesitation as a WW II naval classic. While the basic story is simple, its unfolding is as complexly gripping as a chess match between grandmasters. The opponents: Commander Enright and his counterpart, Capt. Toshio Abe, commander of Shinano. On November 29, 1944, the aircraft carrier, escorted by three destroyers, was only 17 hours into its maiden voyage when four perfectly placed torpedoes, launched by Enright's Archer-Fish, sent it to the bottom near the entrance to Tokyo Bay. The meticulously unfolding narrative, told alternately from the points of view of the plotting-room and periscope of Archer-Fish and the captain's bridge aboard Shinano, is mainly concerned with Enright's struggle to gain position ahead of the zigzagging carrier and maneuver into an elusive firing-window that would be open only for a few seconds. Coauthor Ryan's previous books include Who Killed the Red Baron? Photos. Military Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Enright was captain of USS Archer-Fish when it torpedoed Shinano in November 1944. Both his first-person account of the operation and his candid analysis of his development as a submarine commander will be particularly interesting to naval buffs. The U.S. perspective is balanced by a reconstruction of Shinano 's first and last vogage from accounts by Japanese survivors. The work would have benefited from an opening chapter placing the operation in the context of the Pacific War. It also tarnishes Enright's achievement by exaggeration. Shinano may have been the largest aircraft carrier of World War II; it was not a "supership," or even an attack carrier. It was intended to operate as a support ship for fleet operations. This does not diminish the U.S. triumph. Military Book Club main selection.Dennis E. Showalter, History Dept., Colorado Coll., Colorado Springs
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (March 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031200186X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312001865
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,475,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shinano, The sinking of Japan's Secret supership, April 11, 2000

By 

Jeff Akers (Cataula, Ga.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shinano: The Sinking of Japan's Secret Supership (Hardcover)

I had the honor of receiving a copy of this book directly from Joe Enright in September of 1990 prior to his relocation to Georgia. I had always been interested in World War II aviation and had not given the submariners much thought. If you like true war drama then this is your book. I read this book with great vigor. It was almost impossible to put down. The way the book is structured adds to the drama. One chapter from the American perspective and the next from the Japanese. Tom Clancy is quoted as saying, "A brilliant snapshot of the war at sea, and the men who fought it." Find this book and give it a read!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Great War Stories of WWII, July 27, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Shinano: The Sinking of Japan's Secret Supership (Paperback)

It's funny how I came upon Capt. Enright's book, SHINANO. Sometime in the 1980's I became a little bit of an addict to the submarine simulation war game, SILENT SUB II. Trying to be as realistic as possible, this now-technically-outdated computer game acquaints you with famous World War II submarines and their courageous skippers as you become more familiar with its naval encounters.

As a result of this familiarity, I ended up reading Richard O'Kane's books, WAHOO and CLEAR THE BRIDGE! (buying both from Amazon.Com). Talking to a friend of mine about O'Kane's books, I received a borrowed copy of SHINANO and became more impressed with Enright's work than any other war story I have read to date.

The very story itself, even without literary excellence, is an incredible one. The Shinano was, and remains to this day, one of the most remarkable war vessels ever constructed. At a displacement weight of over 75,000 tons, she was the biggest ship ever built to that time, with 18" guns that could hurl 4,000 pound projectiles over 25 miles. A battleship-converted-to-carrier, the Shinano was the hope of the Japanese military machine to reverse the war fortunes of an entire nation. On her maiden voyage she was escorted by three battle-savvy destroyers and manned by a crew of thousands. Her skipper, Capt. Abe, was one of the most experienced officers in the Japanese fleet. Who could have ever foretold that she would sink within days of leaving drydock?

To this day, the sinking of the Shinano by Enright's U.S.S Archerfish in 1944 remains the biggest submarine "kill" on record. That one lone submarine could track a carrier, so well protected, sink her with four well-placed, but inferior American torpedos, and so readily leave the scene untouched, has to be one of the most remarkable naval encounters in history. I have no idea why this story has never been committed to film. The inane, fictional submarine stories that have been filmed since the 40's do not even begin to compare with this real-life, historical drama.

On a developmental note, Enright went through great pains to seek out Japanese survivors of the Shinano after the war. His writing style grabs you from the open pages of the book, alternating chapters between the American and Japanese perspective as the chronology of events unfold. The suspense never lets up; in fact, I read the entire book in one sitting -- something that I, for one, rarely ever do.

However, all is not war glory: you are able to sympathize with the Japanese perspective, and you realize the extent to which ordinary sailors (just as soldiers) become pawns in the tragedy of war. This balanced view of the conflict brings a kind of nobility and equinimity to the book that I find rare in war tales.

If you like historical war stories, you'll find Joseph Enright's book among the very best in its class.

Greg Caton
[e-mail]
July 27, 1997

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT WAY TO LEARN ABOUT THE THIRD MEMBER OF THE "YAMATOS", March 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shinano: The Sinking of Japan's Secret Supership (Paperback)

Capt. Enright's account of the night he sank the largest Japanese aircraft carrier ever built is superb! The way he expresses the Japanese side of the sinking is magnificent as well.