USS Archer-Fish (SS-311)
History of the USS Archer-Fish Submarine
The USS Archer-Fish (SS-311) was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire on January 22, 1943. She was launched on May 28, 1943 and commissioned on September 4, 1943 under the command of Lieutenant Commander George W. Kehl.
The USS Archer-Fish arrived at Pearl Harbor on November 29 and began her first patrol near Formosa in the last days of December. While she attacked three ships before returning to Midway on February 16, 1944, she did not score any hits. Her next patrol in the Palau Islands from March 16 until April 27 was even more uneventful.
Her next patrol of the Bonins began May 28, and she performed lifeguard duty during the assault on Iwo Jima. The USS Archer-Fish rescued downed aviator John B. Anderson on July 4 before her patrol ended on July 15. After refitting at Midway, she spent another uneventful patrol near Honshu from August 7 until September 29.
The next patrol for the USS Archer-Fish brought with it lifeguard duty for the air strikes against Tokyo. There were no air strikes scheduled on November 28, but her lookouts spotted a Japanese ship leaving Tokyo Bay. She followed the ship for several hours before launching six torpedoes. While the Navy originally believed the submarine had sunk a cruiser, the commander had made sketches of the ship, and it was discovered later that the ship had been the supercarrier Shinano, the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine. She received a Presidential Unit Citation for the kill, and Commander Joseph F. Enright received the Navy Cross.
After a period of recreation and refitting at Guam, the USS Archer-Fish began her next patrol on January 10, 1945. As the leader of a small wolf pack, she sailed for the South China Sea. This patrol damaged one vessel and sank a submarine before she headed to Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in California via Saipan and Pearl Harbor for repairs on March 13.
Repair work was completed on June 14, and she sailed for her last patrol of the war on July 7. She provided lifeguarding services near Honshu and Hokkaido in support of the Japanese home islands. After the fighting ended on August 15, she entered Tokyo Bay for several days to witness the surrender ceremony on September 2. The submarine then was assigned to Submarine Squadron 1 for several months until she was decommissioned on June 12, 1946.
When the Korean War broke out, the USS Archer-Fish was ordered to prepare for reactivation. She was recommissioned on March 7, 1952 and lost the hyphen in her name, becoming the USS Archerfish. During her shakedown training, a fire broke out in her maneuvering room, and she needed repair work at Mare Island that lasted until May 27.
The USS Archerfish joined the Atlantic Fleet on July 3 from her new homeport in Key West, Florida. She made many ports of call in the Caribbean with Submarine Squadron 12 before another decommissioning on October 21, 1955. The submarine was recommissioned on August 1, 1957, again assigned to Submarine Squadron 12 out of Key West.
The next few years saw the USS Archerfish in training cruises and as the backdrop for the film Operation Petticoat. She was given a new purpose in 1960, participating in Operation Sea Scan for scientific study. The submarine headed to Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania to be fitted for this mission, and she was designated as AGSS-311.
Operation Sea Scan took the USS Archerfish on many voyages throughout the 1960s. During the various phases of the mission, she visited England, Norway, Scotland, Greenland, Ireland, Nova Scotia, Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaya, Australia, Japan, Guam, Fiji, and New Zealand. She was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on May 1, 1968, then sunk as a torpedo target on October 19, 1968. The submarine earned seven battle stars for her service in World War II.
The use of asbestos was common in shipbuilding components for much of the 20th Century because of its resistance to heat, fire, water and corrosion. Because of their asbestos exposure onboard ship and in the shipyards, seaman, shipyard workers and longshoreman are at risk for developing asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma.
Sources include:
Asbestos and Ship-Building: Fatal Consequences, by John Hedley-Whyte and Debra R Milamed
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships – USS Archerfish
