USS Archer-Fish (SS-311)
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Builder: | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine |
| Laid down: | 22 January 1943 |
| Launched: | 28 May 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 4 September 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 12 June 1946 |
| Recommissioned: | 7 March 1952 |
| Decommissioned: | 21 October 1955 |
| Recommissioned: | 1 August 1957 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 May 1968 |
| Struck: | 1 May 1968 |
| Fate: | Sunk as a target off California on 19 October 1968 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Balao-class diesel-electric submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced, 2,391 tons (2,429 t) submerged |
| Length: | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m) |
| Beam: | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m) |
| Draft: | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum |
| Propulsion: |
4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-1⁄8 9-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators |
| Speed: | 20.25 kn (37.50 km/h) surfaced, 8.75 kn (16.21 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced |
| Endurance: | 48 hours at 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged, 75 days on patrol |
| Test depth: | 400 ft (120 m) |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted |
| Armament: | 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft) 24 torpedoes 1 × 4-inch (102 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon |
USS Archer-Fish (SS/AGSS-311) was a Balao-class submarine. She 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. Archer-Fish 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. During World War II, the boat's name was spelled with a hyphen, but when she was recommissioned in 1952 the hyphen was dropped.
Archer-Fish'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 C. Thompson, the personal secretary to first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The boat was commissioned on 4 September 1943, Lieutenant Commander George W. Kehl in command.
Read more about USS Archer-Fish (SS-311): World War II, 1952–1955, Oceanographic Work, 1958–1964, 1965–1968, Awards