USS Herring

History
United States
Builder	Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine[1]
Laid down	14 July 1941[1]
Launched	5 January 1942[1]
Sponsored by	Mrs. Ray Spear
Commissioned	4 May 1942[1]
Fate	Sunk by Japanese shore defense batteries on Matua Island, 1 June 1944[2]
General characteristics
Class and type	diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement	1,525 long tons (1,549 t) surfaced[2] 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged[2]
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft	17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion	4 × electrical generators[4][5] 2 × 126- batteries[6] 4 × high-speed Elliott electric motors with reduction gears[4] 2 × propellers[4] 5,400  MW) surfaced[4] 2,740 shp (2.04 MW) submerged[4]
Speed	21 kn (39 km/h) surfaced[3] 9 kn (17 km/h) submerged[3]
Range	11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h)[3]
Endurance	48 hours at 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged[3] 75 days on patrol
Test depth	300 ft (90 m)[3]
Complement	6 officers, 54 enlisted[3]
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 forward, 4 aft 24 torpedoes[6] 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun[6] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

USS Herring (SS-233), a

After shakedown, the new submarine was one of five sent to the Mediterranean Sea to take station off the North African coast prior to Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. Reaching her position off Casablanca on 5 November 1942, Herring remained there, spotting but not attacking several targets. On the morning of 8 November as the invasion was launched, the patient sub had her chance, sinking the 5,700 ton cargo ship Ville du Havre. Herring returned to Rosneath, Scotland, on 25 November and departed for her second war patrol 16 December, but targets were scarce. The fourth war patrol, an antisubmarine sweep in Icelandic waters, and fifth patrol, which took her back to the United States on 26 July 1943, netted Herring no more kills.

Pacific

Herring departed New London, Connecticut, for the rich hunting grounds of the Pacific on 9 August 1943. After intensive training at Pearl Harbor, she sailed 15 November 1943 on her sixth war patrol to join the ranks of the American submarines systematically decimating Japanese shipping and destroying the Japanese economy. She scored two kills, the 3,948 ton Hakozaki Maru on 14 December, and the 6,072 ton Nagoya Maru to celebrate New Year's Day 1944. Herring's next patrol was a frustrating one as on 24 March 1944 she stalked a large aircraft carrier but was detected and driven deep before she could attack.

Lieutenant Commander Johnson commanded Herring for five of her first six patrols, with the sole exception being March 1943 when John Corbus was in command. On her seventh and eight patrols she was captained by Lieutenant Commander David Zabriskie, Jr.

Loss

Herring's eighth war patrol was to be both her most successful and her last. Topping off at

• battle star^[7]
• Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal

  with three battle stars
• World War II Victory Medal

Legacy

There is a memorial plaque at the Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach, California,^[8] and another one, along with the ship's bell, at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama.^[9]

In June 2005, near the site of the sinking was established a memorial sign to the crew of the lost boats, which fought against the Japanese during the Second World War.^{[10][failed verification]} The event was held in the fourth Kamchatka-Kuril historical and geographical expedition, led by the Russian researcher Evgeny Vereshaga.

In 2016 the wreck of Herring was located near

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

External links

• On Eternal Patrol: USS Herring
• Uboat.net: USS Herring
• Kill Record: USS Herring

48°0′N 153°0′E / 48.000°N 153.000°E / 48.000; 153.000