JOSEPH ENRIGHT (1910-2000)
North Dakota Born Submarine Commander Sunk World’s Largest Enemy Vessel

The largest enemy vessel ever sunk was destroyed by a submarine that was under the command of a man born in North Dakota. A U.S. Naval Historical Center writer called this incident “the largest single victory of the submarine war.” The Shinano was a World War II Japanese superbattleship that was converted to an aircraft carrier after Japan lost four carriers at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. It displaced 62,000 tons, making it the largest aircraft carrier built at the time. When Captain Joseph Enright, skipper of the U.S. submarine Archerfish, first spotted the vessel on November 28, 1944, he initially thought it was an oil tanker.