Customer Reviews

Shinano: The Sinking of Japan's Secret Supership

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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!

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 Trying to be as realistic as possible, this now-technically-outdated computer game acquaints you with famous World War II submarines and their courageous skippers as you become more familiar with its naval encounters.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

caton@ifu.net

July 27, 1997

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.

I read this book while I was underwater in the Pacific
Ocean and Sea of Japan so I am inherently attracted to it.
It has been about seven years since I read it but I'll
try my best to give an accurate review. It is an account
of the sinking of the worlds largest ship by the
USS Archerfish (a submarine) during later part of W.W.II told
by the CO at the time, Joseph Enright. Japan had converted
the last of the Yamato class battleships, the Shinano, to an
aircraft carrier. The Shinano was the worlds largest aircraft
carrier and remained so until the USS Enterprise, CVN 65 was
commissioned in 1961. This story chronicles the events of the
fateful night and next morning that led to its sinking. Ironically
credit for its sinking was not given to the captain and
crew of the Archerfish until long after the war was over.
Japanese efforts to keep its existence secret had been extensive.
The U.S. had no idea such a ship existed. U.S. Intelligence was
so sure it did not exist that they told Cmdr. Enright what he sank
was an oil tanker and not an aircraft carrier. Paranoia
about U.S. Intelligence and submarine operations proved to
be the Shinano's demise. Short cuts taken to get the ship out of Yokusuka and underway left the ship poorly prepared for sea, much less any concerted damage control effort. Undue caution on part of the Shinano's commanding officer helped the Archerfish and its crew sink this threat to American servicemen before she could fire a shot in anger. All in all the book is well written and keeps your interest. The Japanese point of view is also told, information being obtained from survivors of the sinking. I highly
recommend this book to those of you with an interest in W.W.II
naval history.

Frank L. Lamb
Ex Submariner, USS Guardfish SSN 612

During the years before the outbreak of World War II, the Japanese navy constructed two super-battleships, the Yamato and Musashi. There was a secret third ship, the Shinano, that was to be included in this class. However, with the rise of the aircraft carrier, it was decided to convert the Shinano from a battleship to a carrier. Measuring almost 900 feet in length, Shinano was the largest aircraft carrier in the world, and she held that distinction until the United States launched the USS Enterprise in the 1960s. Cloaked in secrecy, the conversion took place. Crewmembers were threatened with imprisonment or execution if they muttered even the slightest words about the existance of Shinano. Due to the extreme secrecy of her construction, many essential tests, which would later prove to be fatal, were not conducted on Shinano. For example, the watertight integrity of the bulkheads and seals were never tested properly.

An ocean away, Captain Joseph F. Enright and his submarine Archer-fish, were leaving for the boat's fifth war patrol. Captain Enright had been haunted by the memory of failing to sink an enemy carrier earlier in the war while serving as commander of the submarine Dace. Feeling inadequate as a commander, he asked to be relieved of command. After serving at the American submarine base on Midway island as a relief crewman, he finally got his chance to command his own boat again, and he was determined to make sure that he didn't repeat his earlier mistakes this time around. Taking up his patrol station along the main Japanese island of Honshu, Archer-fish awaited action. This particular area of ocean had become known as the "hit parade", due to the large number of sinkings by American submarines. On Tuesday, November 28, 1944, Archer-fish sighted a large enemy vessel with four escorts. This proved to be Shinano. Unable to run at maximum speed due to only eight of her twelve boilers being lit, and also suffering from a problem with her propellers, Shinano was limited to a speed of approximately eighteen knots. What ensued over the next several hours could only be described as a classic game of cat and mouse. Enright and Archer-fish desperately tried to keep up with the Shinano while trying to anticipate any course changes she might make. Finally, at 0300 hours on Wednesday, November 29, 1944, the Archer-fish was ready to fire.

A spread of six torpedoes leapt from her torpedo tubes, each being fired at eight second intervals. Four explosions rocked the Japanese carrier while Archer-fish dove for the safety of the depths. The ship was mortally wounded. Her protective bladder had failed to stop the torpedoes, and, in the words of Enright, they cut through the bladder "like a sword through butter". Later that morning, the Shinano, with her bow raised high out of the water, slipped below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Her maiden voyage had lasted all of seventeen hours.

This is a very exciting book. The format is excellent, with the chapters alternating between the action on the Archer-fish to the action on the Shinano. The first-hand account of the action by Captain Enright leaps off the pages and places the reader directly at the conning tower during the attack. Loaded with action and adventure, this book is a must for submarine readers.

I disgree with some of the previous reviewers. This is a great read for adventure and it is true. It competes well with fictional Tom Clancy novels. A small U.S. submarine under an unlucky Captain sinks the largest ship in the Japanese Navy.
Shinano was the sister ship to the battleship Yamato (A Glorious Way to Die) and converted into a carrier, the size of one of our nuclear carriers today. The Japanese intended to confront the U.S. Navy with the tremendous firepower of the Shinano. Instead a lowly submarine sinks the Shinano on her maiden voyage.
Regardless of whether the submarine captain Enright or Ryan wrote the story, it is great adventure. Enright is certainly frank in his views, even about his own shortcomings. Both the Japanese and American sides are presented here and this makes it good reading. One understands the fog of battle, after reading about the pursuit of the carrier. A good quick read which is not fiction.

previous reviews give credit to Enright as though he wrote the book- Enright was the war hero-, and was smart enough to get James Ryan to write a very descriptive and exciting narrative of what took place. lets give each credit for their respective contribution to history. thanks

This book is a must read for any WW2 buff. It shows how one sub crew can make an difference, even in a huge war like World War 2. The book gives many details without being boring or redundant. Captain Enright even gives the Japanese viewpoints on why they did what they did to avoid being torpedoed.

The sinking of the super-carrier Shinano by a single American submarine (The Archer-Fish) is one of the most unlikely and compelling ship engagements of the War.

The Shinano started life as a super-battleship in the Yamoto and Musashi class. She was over 900 feet long and displaced 75,000 tons. Before she was completed, the Imperial Japanese Navy decided to convert her to an aircraft carrier. Her conversion was such a strictly guarded secret that the Americans were totally unaware of her existence.

The Archer-Fish was led by a Captain Joseph F. Enright who had previously stepped down from command in disgrace for failing to sink an enemy aircraft carrier on a prior cruise while in command of the submarine Dace. Given a second chance, Enright took his boat right to the doorstep of Japan where this unlikely encounter took place.

Enright co-wrote the book so first hand experiences, feelings and emotions abound. He even solicited input from some survivors of the Shinano. The action is fast and furious in a story of redemption that is stranger than fiction.

There are some photographs, a bibliography and an index. The book is short and an easy read but no collection of submarine books would be complete without Shinano; a ship so secret that Enright was not given credit for sinking her until well after the War was over!

John E. Nevola
Author of The Last Jump - A Novel of World War II

This book was a good read. Not the best ever war story told, like some of the reviews would have you believe, but good enough to hold my attention for one entire night of reading.

The main annoying part with this book was the fictionalized thoughts and conversations given to the Japanese who perished on the Shinano. Obviously, there's no way to ever know what these people actually said or thought. It makes it all so less real, and more like a novel, to try to animate them with artificial conversations and thought processes.

The most fascinating aspect of this tale for me was the stark contrast between the military cultures that gave rise to the success of Captain Enright and the failure of Captain Abe.

One might expect that the Japanese code of bushido, designed for a warrior culture, would enhance the fighting abilities of a military. Perhaps bushido worked great in the ancient days of quick and decisive sword battles, but as this book makes so very clear, bushido fails miserably in a prolonged modern war.

One big flaw in bushido was that very time a leader failed at a major assignment, he was expected to commit suicide to atone for his shameful failure. The book presents a parable-like contrast between Abe's career and the career of Captain Enright. Enright started off as a big failure, missing an attack with a Japanese aircraft carrier because he failed to trust the consensus opinion of his crew (that the changing ocean currents which they discovered would carry the Japanese carrier they were chasing off course) and instead went with the by-the book headquarters prediction of the location of the carrier.

Sending himself to the back lines in shame, Enright, unlike the Japanese ship captains, did not commit suicide, but was instead eventually given a second chance at commanding a submarine again. The second time around, he learned to go fully with his own instincts, and also that of his crew, in the process of tracking and sinking the Shinano. One big payoff in particular was his decision to set the running depth of his torpedoes to 10 feet instead of the official 30 feet. This ended up putting the torpedoes right at the upper joint of the anti-torpedo blister carried on the underwater hull of the Shinano. This joint area turned out to be a defective weak point in the anti-torpedo shielding, and it was this defect (along with incompletely finished watertight compartments that leaked) that allowed the Shinano to be sunk with only four torpedoes.

A second big failing of bushido was that the subordinates were supposed to follow the orders of the leader unquestioningly. This works great in a military if the leader makes wise decisions all the time, but basically gets all the subordinates killed if the leader is wrong. As WWII progressed, and its initial victories faded, the Japanese military culture clearly suffered severely from an inflexible top-down decision making process that was incapable of taking advantage of information or experience accumulated by the lower ranks.

In contrast, Captain Enright learned from his early failures to trust the advice of his subordinates, which proved invaluable as they stalked the Shinano.

In the end, the sinking of the Shinano was not as dramatic of an achievement as one might think, and was due as much to Japanese military stupidiy as anything else. It was sunk basically on a short trip to another dock where it was to be fully outfitted for war. As such, the ship was unfinished and its mechanical integrity untested. Despite the enormous amount of armor, the ship's supposedly watertight compartments were not fully sealed when it set off on the trip, and so leaked horribly when the torpedoes struck - which was why it sank with only four holes in its side (in contrast, the Shinano's sister ships, the Yamato and Musashi, each took some 15-20 torpedo hits and uncounted numbers of bombs before sinking). The boilers were not all installed, and so the ship's speed was barely greater than that of the submarine initially, and dropped to below the submarine's speed when an overheating bearing forced one of the propellar shafts to be slowed down. The ship was given no aircraft to cover this trip.

The code of bushido made it impossible for any subordinates to point out the many flaws in the construction of the ship, or to question the wisdom of sending the Shinano on its maiden voyage, unfinished and unprotected, right into waters that were known to be infested with American submarines.

Captain Abe also made some horribly bad decisions - mainly in ignoring Enright's submarine rather than trying to sink it or run away from it when they first discovered the sub. I definitely got the feeling that Abe was appointed ship's captain only because he was a known quantity who diligently followed orders, and was one of the few ranking Naval captains who had managed to survive this late into the war. By this time in the war, bushido had taken the lives of many more capable captains than he.