The On Eternal Patrol team is pleased to announce the US Navy has officially confirmed the identification of the final resting place of the crew of USS Herring (SS-233).  Original reports of the discovery off the coast of Matua Island in Russian territorial waters were made by the Russian Navy in 2017 and reported to the U.S. delegation at the Joint 21st Plenum U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on POW/MIAs in 2018. [1] A detailed survey of the discovered wreckage was conducted by the Russian Navy and the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) in 2022 [2]

Using contacts in their extended network and their own expertise in the identification of U.S. World War II submarines, a team of two U.S. volunteer researchers and one Japanese researcher were able to supplement the publicly available data from the Russian expeditions with sufficient data from direct sources in Russia to prepare a detailed report on the discovery. The report made a compelling case that the Russian discovery is indeed the Herring. This report was reviewed by the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) in Washington D.C. who then made an official determination on the identity of the discovery.

The conclusions presented in the report were based upon three analytical methods. First, the damage evident on the discovered wreck was correlated to the details of the engagement between the Herring and Japanese forces on June 1, 1944 as reported in original Japanese records and eyewitness accounts. [3] Secondly, the detailed location of the discovered wreck in the data obtained from the Russian sources is consistent with the last known location of Herring reported in U.S. and Japanese records. Finally, and most importantly, the identifying features on the discovered wreck are consistent with those of the known final configuration of the Herring as found in official USN records. [4] All of which made for a compelling case for the identification.

The first three photos of the wreck site show the deck gun and conning tower fairwater. These features were used to identify the wreck site as USS Herring. Photographs courtesy of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS).

The following images are photogrammetry images of the entire wreck site. They are computer generated using a combination of high-resolution sonar data and high-resolution photographic images. They give a good overview of the final resting place of the Herring. All photogrammetry is courtesy of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS).

Sources

[1] Summarized Minutes 21st Plenum US-Russian Joint Commission on POW/MIAs (USRIC) World War II Working Group (WWIIWG) Talks November 8, 2017 Moscow, Russia Retrieved from: https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/Documents/USRJC/21st_Plenum_Minutes.pdf

[2] Documentary film "Matua Island” Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV-C1DKkEoc

[3] War Diary of Kuril Area Base Troop from June 1st to 30th 1944. Retrieved from: https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/das/meta/C08030279700

[4] A Visual Guide to the U.S. Fleet Submarines Part Four: Gato Class, (pdf) Johnston, David L.

Click here for complete and accurate listing of men lost on USS Herring

For a brief history of the boat, please see The Loss of USS Herring.

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