Joseph Francis Enright, Sr., USN
| Born | 18 Sep 1910 | Minot, Ward County, North Dakota, USA | |
| Died | 20 Jul 2000 | (89) | Fairfax Hills, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA |
| Ranks
Retired: 1 Jul 1963 Decorations
|
Warship Commands listed for Joseph Francis Enright, USN
| Ship | Rank | Type | From | To |
| USS O-10 (71) | Lt. | Submarine | 22 Jun 1942 | early 1943 |
| USS Dace (247) | T/Lt.Cdr. | Submarine | 23 Jul 1943 | 28 Dec 1943 |
| USS Archerfish (311) | T/Cdr. | Submarine | 29 Sep 1944 | 15 Nov 1945 |
Career information
We currently have no career / biographical information on this officer.
Events related to this officer
Submarine USS Dace (247)
6 Sep 1943
With her trials and initial training completed, USS Dace (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN), departed New London, Connecticut for the Panama Canal Zone.
14 Sep 1943
USS Dace (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) arrived at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone.
18 Sep 1943 (position 0.00, 0.00)
USS Dace (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) transited the Panama Canal.
3 Oct 1943
USS Dace (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Enright) arrived at Pearl Harbor.
20 Oct 1943
USS Dace (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Enright) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters along the southeast coast of Honshu.
24 Oct 1943
USS Dace (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Enright) arrived at Midway to make repairs to one of her engines and to top off with fuel.
27 Oct 1943
USS Dace (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Enright) departed from Midway.
11 Dec 1943
USS Dace (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Enright) ended her 1st war patrol at Midway.
Submarine USS Archerfish (311)
29 Sep 1944
USS Archerfish (Cdr. W.H. Wright, USN) ended her 4th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.
30 Oct 1944
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Honshu, Japan and to perform lifeguard duties during air raids on Japan. She was escorted out by USS PC-580.
For the daily and attack positions of USS Archerfish during this patrol see the map below. As no deck log is available (for the moment) positions were taken from the patrol report. Unfortunately the patrol report does not give daily noon positions.
9 Nov 1944
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) arrived at Saipan. There some minor repairs were made and she refuels. She continues her 5th war patrol on the 11th.
29 Nov 1944 (position 33.07, 137.04)
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) torpedoed and sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano (59000 tons, offsite link) 160 nautical miles south-east of Cape Muroto, Japan in position 33°07'N, 137°04'E.
Shinano was en-route from Yokosuka to Kure and was escorted by the destroyers Isokaze, Yukikaze, and Hamakaze.
(All times are zone -10) 28 November 1944 2048 hours - In position 33°33'N, 138°45'E obtained radar contact bearing 028°, range 24700 yards. Started tracking from ahead.
2140 hours - Identified the target as an aircraft carrier. Enemy course was 210°, speed 20 knots. It appears there was only one escort. Started a surface approach from the starboard side.
2230 hours - Escort on the starboard beam sighted so it was not possible to approach from this side. Changed course to get back on the targets base course.
2250 hours - Range to the carrier was now 15000 yards. Range to the closest escort was 6100 yards.
2300 yards - The enemy task force was now seen to be made up of the aircraft carrier and 4 escorts. One on either beam, one ahead and one astern.
2330 hours - Sent out a contact message.
2400 hours - The enemy turned west. Archerfish was now very far off track. Changed our course and went full speed ahead to obtain a more favourable position.
29 November 1944 0241 hours - Sent out another contact message. It appeared that we would not be able to obtain a good firing position.
0300 hours - The enemy changed course again now to the south. He was coming towards now.
0305 hours - Submerged. Sighted the carrier through the periscope. Range was 7000 yards.
0316 hours - The carrier made another course change. We were in a good position to attack. Range was now 1400 yards.
0317 hours - In position 33°07'N, 137°04'E started firing all bow tubes from 1400 yards. All hit. Two hits were observed but then Archerfish had to go deep as one of the escorts was coming very near. Breaking up noises started immediately.
0325 hours - Depth charging started. A total of 14 depth charges were dropped.
0345 hours - The last depth charge was droppped. None had been very close.
0405 hours - Breaking up noises were no longer heard. The carrier must have gone down.
0610 hours - Daylight and first periscope observation. Nothing in sight.
1000 hours - Heard a huge exlosion. Could not originate from the target as she would have been gone by now.
In fact the explosion was Shinano finally sinking. She had received four torpedo hits during the attack. Damage was severe and she later turned over but remained floating until she finally sank around 1000 hours.
9 Dec 1944 (position 34.00, 141.45)
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) attacked one of two Japanese escort vessels with four torpedoes in position 34°00'N, 141°45'E. No hits were obtained and no counter attack followed.
(All times are zone -10) 8 December 1944 2327 hours - Radar obtained a contact on two ships at a range of 12000 yards. From the size of the pips it was believed it were two escort vessels returning to Tokyo. They were zig-zagging at 13 knots. The fact that the were zig-zagging indicates that they considered themselves to be torpedo bait.
9 December 1944 0050 hours - The targets were sighted from the bridge at a range of 7000 yards. When the range had closed to 4000 yards it was seen that they appeared like destroyers but identification was no certain.
0210 hours - In position 34°00'N, 141°45'E fired four toredoes at the closest target from a range of 3200 yards. No hits were obtained.
0214 hours - Heard torpedoes exloding at the end of their run. The torpedoes may have run under but no counter attack followed.
15 Dec 1944
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) ended her 5th war patrol at Guam. She was escorted in by USS Motive.
10 Jan 1945
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) departed from Guam for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the northern part of the South China Sea. She was part of a wolfpack together with USS Blackfish (Cdr. R.F. Sellars, USN) and USS Batfish (Cdr. J.K. Fyfe, USN). Cdr. Enright was the group commander.
For the daily and attack positions of USS Archerfish during this patrol see the map below. As no deck log is available (for the moment) positions were taken from the patrol report. Unfortunately the patrol report does not give daily noon positions.
13 Feb 1945 (position 0.00, 0.00)
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) is forced to abandon her war patrol three days early due to problems with the forward hydroplanes.
14 Feb 1945 (position 20.37, 127.33)
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) claims the destuction of a Japanese submarine to the east of Formosa. The target, which might also have been a patrol vessel, has not been identified.
(All times are zone -8) 2053 hours - In position 20°47'N, 127°45'E picked up contact with the SJ radar at 7200 yards. Closed at full speed. Enemy speed 10.5 knots.
2115 hours - Range was now 2650 yards. The target was low in the water, most likely a submarine.
2117 hours - Enemy course 235°, with 25° zigs which were irregular in time.
2148 hours - Sent out a report that we had a contact with no SJ radar interference to the 'Bennets Blazers' wolf pack asking for their positions.
2145 to 2308 hours - Kept the range between 5000 to 6000 yards while working up the targets starboard side. Waited for the positions of the 'Blazers' coming in.
2309 hours - All 'Blazers' had reported being about 140 nautical miles east of us. Decided to go in to attack.
1215 hours - Again thought the target to be a submarine. The conning tower was more square then of the USN boats. No periscope shears and gun platforms were seen. The conning tower was half way between the bow and stern. The deck was flat.
2317 hours - In position 20°37'N, 127°33'E fired four bow torpedoes from a range of 1300 yards. The all missed as the enemy zigged towards.
2320 hours - As the enemy continued on, not noticing being attacked, four stern torpedoes from 2000 yards were fired which resulted in one hit. The enemy 'pip' immediately started to disappear from the radar screen and the target was no longer visible from the bridge. The 'pip' was completely gone after about 1.5 minutes.
19 Feb 1945
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) arrived at Saipan.
22 Feb 1945 (position 0.00, 0.00)
With repairs to her forward hydroplanes and voyage repairs completed, USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) departed Saipan for Pearl Harbour.
3 Mar 1945
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) ended her 6th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.
6 Mar 1945
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) departed from Pearl Harbor bound for San Francisco.
13 Mar 1945
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) arrived at the Hunters Point Navy Yard for a major overhaul.
14 Jun 1945
With her overhaul completed USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) departed from San Francisco bound for Pearl Harbor.
22 Jun 1945
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) arrived at Pearl Harbor to begin a short training period.
10 Jul 1945
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters off the east coast of Honshu and the south coast of Hokkaido. She was also to perform lifeguard duties. She was escorted out of Pearl Harbour by USS PC-487.
For the daily positions of USS Archerfish during this patrol see the map below. These positions were taken from the patrol report. Unfortunately the patrol report does not give daily noon positions for 5 and 6 August 1945.
22 Jul 1945
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) arrived at Saipan. She was escorted in by USS LCI(L)-1098.
24 Jul 1945
After voyage repairs and fuelling, USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) departed Saipan for her patrol area. She was escorted out by USS LCI(L)-95.
31 Aug 1945
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) enters Tokyo Bay.
3 Sep 1945 (position 0.00, 0.00)
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) departed Tokyo Bay for Pearl Harbour.
12 Sep 1945
USS Archerfish (Cdr. J.F. Enright, USN) ended her 7th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. Archerfish remained at Pearl Harbour for the remainder of 1945.
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