Accession NumberP420Title (extended title only)USS ArcherfishDescriptionWooden plaque in presentation box – USS Archerfish – wood plaque with raised gold design motif – Back of plaque has partial note Archerfish-Lieutenant Commander Woods 16.10.61 Date16th October 1961ProvenanceUSS Archerfish (SS/AGSS-311) was a Balao-class submarine. She was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the archerfish. Archerfish 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. Archerfish's keel was laid down on January 22, 1943 in the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on May 28, 1943, sponsored by Miss Malvina Thompson, the personal secretary to first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The boat was commissioned on September 4, 1943.
The ship served in the Pacific during World War Two and sank Japanese vessels. It saw further service during the Korean War. From 1958 to 1964 it was engaged on oceanographic work. During the remaining three and a half years of her Navy career Archerfish carried out various research assignments in the eastern Pacific. In early 1968, Archerfish was declared unfit for further naval service and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on May 1, 1968. She was towed to a target position off San Diego and sunk by a torpedo fired from the submarine Snook (SSN-592) on October 19, 1968. Relevance to the CityShows the long history Fremantle has with the ships of the US Navy in particular submarines. It is Unknown if the Archerfish visited Fremantle during World War Two but it did in 1961 during her oceanographic work. The attached picture in the link from Fremantle Ports shows the Archerfish moored alongside G Berth
