Navy Confirms Wreck Site of WWII Submarine USS Herring

The Navy has confirmed the wreck site of the World War II submarine USS Herring, resolving the final resting place of a vessel lost with 83 sailors aboard after it was struck by Japanese shore batteries off Matsuwa Island on June 1, 1944.

Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) announced Monday that the wreck of the Gato-class submarine had been identified after years of review, including data gathered by the Russian Geographic Society along with analysis by two American volunteer researchers and one Japanese researcher.

The confirmation came exactly 82 years after Herring was believed to have been sunk during its eighth war patrol in the Kuril Islands, a chain that stretches between Japan and Russia.

“Herring’s discovery is a powerful reminder that we have an obligation to the sailors and Marines who gave their lives in service to our nation,” Samuel J. Cox, director of Naval History and Heritage Command, said in a statement. “It is also a testament to the value of international collaboration in uncovering and preserving the truth of our shared history.”

The wreck rests upright in more than 300 feet of water, according to the service. Images of the site showed damage around the submarine’s conning tower that matched Japanese wartime accounts of Herring’s final moments.

The Navy said the wreck is protected under U.S. law as a sunken military craft and should be treated as a war grave.

History Behind the Wreck

Herring was launched Jan. 15, 1942, at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, and commissioned May 4, 1942.

The submarine completed eight war patrols in the Atlantic and Pacific and was credited with sinking seven enemy ships, according to the service. Its final patrol began May 21, 1944, when Herring left Midway for the Kuril Islands under the command of Cmdr. David Zabriskie Jr. USS Barb last saw the submarine on the evening of May 31, 1944.

The next morning, Herring attacked Japanese shipping near Matsuwa Island. The Navy said the submarine sank two vessels—Ishigaki Maru and Hokuyo Maru—before Japanese shore batteries opened fire on a grounded submarine and scored hits near the conning tower.

Herring never returned.

For decades, the submarine’s exact resting place remained uncertain, though Japanese records helped narrow the likely location of its loss. According to a Navy account, Japanese information indicated Herring was sunk on June 1, 1944, about 2 kilometers south of Point Tagan on Matsuwa Island.

In 2017, a Russian Geographic Society expedition first reported finding a possible submarine wreck. A later expedition returned in 2022, documented the site, and placed a commemorative plaque for the lost crew. Researchers later worked with NHHC to confirm the wreck as Herring.

The Navy’s announcement gives official weight to a discovery long followed by submarine-history researchers and families connected to the crew.

The memorial site On Eternal Patrol, which maintains pages for lost U.S. submariners, had previously noted unverified reports that a possible submarine had been found off Matsuwa in 2017. It sought photographs and personal information from relatives and friends of the men associated with Herring.

The site also notes discrepancies in older records about Herring’s final crew. NHHC’s announcement identifies 83 sailors as having been lost with the submarine.

Herring was one of 52 U.S. submarines lost during World War II, according to the Navy. The submarine service carried out some of the war’s most dangerous missions, targeting Japanese shipping across the Pacific while operating far from friendly support.

The confirmation of Herring’s wreck does not change the fate of the sailors aboard, but it gives their final patrol a clearer resolution after more than eight decades.