June 1, 2026 The final resting place of USS Herring off the coast of Matsuwa Island, Japan, was confirmed exactly 82 years after the boat went missing at sea on June 1, 1944, following an engagement with Japanese forces, according to a Navy news release. (Naval History and Heritage Command)
The U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command on Monday confirmed the wreck site of USS Herring, an American submarine lost in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. Herring’s final resting place off the coast of Matsuwa Island, Japan, was confirmed exactly 82 years after the boat went missing at sea on June 1, 1944, following an engagement with Japanese forces, according to a Navy news release. The boat’s wreckage was first discovered in 2017 during a joint expedition of the Russian Geographic Society and the Russian military, which suspected it was the Herring because of its location and appearance, according to the Navy. In 2022, another expedition returned to the wreck site to document its status. Members of the expedition placed a commemorative plaque and honored the lost crew, the Navy said. Two U.S. volunteer researchers and a Japanese researcher have spent recent years analyzing data collected by the Russian Geographic Society and have determined the crash site was indeed Herring. The crash location is about 300 feet deep off the coast of Matsuwa Island, a small uninhabited island in the central Kurile Islands between Japan’s mainland and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The Japanese fortified the island during the war, using it as an air base with a large underground bunker. In May 1944, USS Herring embarked on her eighth combat patrol of the war after fueling at Midway, according to Navy records. Herring sank two Japanese cargo ships on May 30, 1944, before linking up with another U.S. submarine, USS Barb, the next day to map out their patrol areas in the region. It was the last contact Herring would have with the American military. USS Herring is credited with sinking two additional Japanese ships early on June 1, 1944. The ships were anchored just off Matsuwa Island. Japanese historical records indicated Herring was then struck in a counterattack by a shore battery. The battery twice hit Herring’s conning tower, sinking it, according to Japanese information. Herring now sits upright on its keel maintains a high degree of integrity and has “battle damage around the conning tower and evidence of grounding at her bow, correlating with the historical record,” according to the Navy. The boat sank with 83 sailors aboard, Navy records show. According to U.S. law, the Herring’s wreck site is now a protected sunken military craft and a war grave to those who perished aboard. “While non-intrusive activities, such as remote sensing documentation, conducted on U.S. Navy sunken military craft are allowed, any activity that may disturb a sunken military craft must be coordinated with NHHC and, if appropriate, authorized through the relevant permitting program,” Navy officials said. Herring went down after conducting eight combat patrols in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during about 2½ years of service. She was credited with sinking seven enemy ships. Herring was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two battle stars, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three battle stars, and the World War II Victory Medal, according to Navy records. MILITARY HISTORY SHIPS COREY DICKSTEIN Corey Dickstein covers the military in the U.S. southeast. He joined the Stars and Stripes staff in 2015 and covered the Pentagon for more than five years. He previously covered the military for the Savannah Morning News in Georgia. Dickstein holds a journalism degree from Georgia College & State University and has been recognized with several national and regional awards for his reporting and photography. He is based in Atlanta. 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