Allied Warships

Herring (SS-233)

Submarine of the Gato class

USS Herring off Hunters Point Dry Dock, San Francisco, California on 14 October 1943

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Gato
Pennant	233
Built by	Portsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.)
Ordered	28 Jun 1940
Laid down	14 Jul 1941
Launched	15 Jan 1942
Commissioned	4 May 1942
Lost	1 Jun 1944
Loss position	48° 00'N, 153° 00'E

History	USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. David Zabriskie, Jr.) was sunk on 1 June 1944 by Japanese shore batteries in position 48º00'N, 153º00'E after sinking 2 Japanese ships at anchor at Matsuwa Island, Kuriles.

Commands listed for USS Herring (233)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	T/Lt.Cdr. Raymond Wilbur Johnson, USN	4 May 1942	5 Mar 1943
2	T/Cdr. John Corbus, USN	5 Mar 1943	13 Apr 1943
3	T/Cdr. Raymond Wilbur Johnson, USN	13 Apr 1943	6 Feb 1944
4	T/Lt.Cdr. David Zabriskie, Jr., USN	6 Feb 1944	1 Jun 1944 (+)

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Notable events involving Herring include:

5 Jul 1942
USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. R.W. Johnson, USN) arrived at New London, Connecticut.

23 Jul 1942
USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. R.W. Johnson, USN) arrived at Newport, Rhode Island for special torpedo tests.

3 Oct 1942
Having completed a long period of torpedo testing, USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. R.W. Johnson, USN), returned to New London, Connecticut from Newport, Rhode Island.

8 Nov 1942
While on her 1st war patrol USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. R.W. Johnson) torpedoed and sank the Vichy-French merchant Ville du Havre (5083 GRT) east of Casablanca, Morocco in position 33°34'N, 07°52'W.

25 Nov 1942
USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. R.W. Johnson) ended her 1st war patrol at Roseneath, Scotland.

10 Feb 1943
HMS Severn (Lt.Cdr. A.N.G. Campbell, RN) departed Portsmouth for Holy Loch. She was to make rendez-vous the next morning with HMS Cutty Sark (Cdr.(Retd.) R.H. Mack, RN) and the US submarines USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. R.W. Johnson, USN) and USS Shad (Lt.Cdr. E.J. MacGregor III). During the passage from Portsmouth to the rendez-vous position HMS Severn was escorted by the Free French submarine chasers Chasseur 11 and Chasseur 15. (1)

9 Aug 1943
After Herring had made 5 war patrols out of Britain, she returned to the United States on 26 July 1943. She departed New London for the Pacific on 9 August 1943.

10 Aug 1943
USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. R.W. Johnson, USN) departed New London, Connecticut for the Panama Canal Zone.

15 Nov 1943
USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. R.W. Johnson) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea.

14 Dec 1943
USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. R.W. Johnson) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Hakozaki Maru (3948 GRT) north-east of Shanghai, China in position 33°01'N, 124°01'E.

1 Jan 1944
USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. R.W. Johnson) torpedoed and sank the Japanese aircraft transport Nagoya Maru (6071 GRT, offsite link) some 220 miles south-south-west of Tokyo Bay in position 32°10'N, 138°37'E.

16 May 1944
USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. D. Zabriskie, Jr.) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 8th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol of the Kuril Islands.

21 May 1944
USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. D. Zabriskie, Jr.) topped up with fuel at Midway.

31 May 1944
USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. D. Zabriskie, Jr.) and USS Barb rendezvous in Sea of Okhotsk some 150 miles west of Matsuwa Island, Kurils, to plan operations against Japanese shipping in the vicinity.

Later that day Herring attacked a convoy sinking the Japanese frigate Ishigaki (860 tons, offsite link) and the Japanese army cargo ship Hokuyo Maru (1590 GRT) west of Matsuwa Island in position 48°00'N, 153°00'E.

1 Jun 1944
USS Herring (Lt.Cdr. D. Zabriskie, Jr.) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Iwaki Maru (3124 GRT) and the Japanese merchant cargo ship Hiburi Maru (4366 GRT) off Matsuwa Island in position 48°00'N, 153°00'E. Unfortunately Herring is sunk by a Japanese shore battery after this attack.