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Shinano!: The Sinking of Japan's Secret Supership Hardcover – January 1, 1987

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 61 ratings

Recounts how the Shinano was secretly converted to an aircraft carrier, but was sunk by an American submarine before it could fire a single shot

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

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martins Press (January 1, 1987)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 250 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 031200186X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312001865
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 61 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
61 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2023
decent copy
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2023
An amazing book about an air craft carrier people know little about. I would definitely recommend this book to people who are interested in history, war history, naval history, etc.

The book we received originally was missing the photos in it. We let the seller know and they very quickly sent us another book (the photos were not removed).
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2019
Very concise documentation for you WWII sub fans. I have a vested interest in submarine subjects since my father new a lot of the Skippers mentioned in the book and may have know Cmdr Enright coming up thru the ranks (they were on the B46 MARYLAND around the same time. Also the sub crews would go out on patrol for three months come back and switch submarines, my father did that seven times. He was on the Bowfin (museum) stationed at Pearl Harbor near the Arizona and called "The Pearl Harbor Avenger" another book to read.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2022
The book was in great condition. I was very pleased. It is being used for research and will be added to the library of resources on the IJN Shinano.
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2013
I've read several books of WWII history; but I had not heard about the Shinano/Archer-fish encounter until I stumbled across it while searching Amazon's WWII book section.

The Shinano was a "super carrier", designed to withstand torpedo attacks, but that the submarine Archer-fish sank on the Shinano's maiden voyage. In a way, the story of the Shinano is Japan's military equivalent to the Titanic as both ships were super-sized (for their day), deemed unsinkable and lost on their maiden voyage. But Japan built the Shinano in complete secrecy and kept news of its sinking secret from its own people as well. The result was that this important WWII naval action remains nearly unknown even today.

The book covers the Shinano/Archer-fish encounter from both the American and Japanese sides -- and so gives a very complete picture of the events (and some of the thinking behind them). I found this book to be interesting, informative and well written.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2023
Just what I wanted, no muss or fuss.
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2021
Excellent account of U.S. submarine warfare against Japan late in WW2. The book provides a detailed account of the tactics used in November 1944 by the U.S. Navy submarine, USS Archerfish, to sink the Shinano, Japan's largest aircraft carrier at that time.
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2015
Truly enjoyable read. I had known of the Musashi and Yamato but had no idea that there had been four hulls ordered. That third and final ship was redesigned as a carrier. This is a good relate of the events that unfolded in the waters off Japan in the winter of 1944. The only down side to the book is that there are only two know pictures of her. Both included, but this was a monster of a carrier. A wonderful add to a WWII collection.
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Top reviews from other countries

J P Sullivan
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 3, 2022
This book is really good, it is a solid and well written account of the sinking of the Shinano.

Obviously it has quite a strong bias toward the American account of the action.

However this is only to be expected.

The accounts that have been gathered really draw the reader into what it could have been like to have been aboard either vessel during the encounter.

The last minutes of the Shinano are described in graphic detail.
ergoatlantis
5.0 out of 5 stars Could not put it down
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2009
Someone once said (Sir Winston Churchill, I think) that history is written by the victors but here is a story that is not only told by the victors but also by the vanquished. Half the book is from the Japanese survivors and the narration from both sides gives an insight into the minds of the opponents, their ways of thinking and ultimately how and why the battle reached the outcome it did.

The title of the book gives the game away but just as we know the fate of the Titanic, we still look at films and read books on the subject. This does not diminish the impact on the viewer but can infuse the viewer with a desire to reach the conclusion. This book is like that. The story is told from alternating viewpoints, one chapter by the Japanese, the next by the Americans, then the Japanese and so on until checkmate. The story was so engrossing that the book became a fixation, not just because of the quality of the writing but because it was true. A cracking good read.
3 people found this helpful
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Alan R
3.0 out of 5 stars A bit dissapointing in service.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 11, 2021
I dislike long wait for arrival. Also disliked I git a sleeveless copy not as in picture.