USS Herring

Last updated

USS Herring (SS-233).jpg
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
Builder Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine [1]
Laid down14 July 1941 [1]
Launched5 January 1942 [1]
Sponsored byMrs. Ray Spear
Commissioned4 May 1942 [1]
FateSunk by Japanese shore defense batteries on Matua Island, 1 June 1944 [2]
General characteristics
Class and type Gato-class diesel-electric submarine [2]
Displacement
  • 1,525 long tons (1,549 t) surfaced [2]
  • 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged [2]
Length311 ft 9 in (95.02 m) [2]
Beam27 ft 3 in (8.31 m) [2]
Draft17 ft (5.2 m) maximum [2]
Propulsion
Speed
  • 21  kn (39 km/h) surfaced [6]
  • 9 kn (17 km/h) submerged [6]
Range11,000  nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h) [6]
Endurance
  • 48 hours at 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged [6]
  • 75 days on patrol
Test depth300 ft (90 m) [6]
Complement6 officers, 54 enlisted [6]
Armament

USS Herring (SS-233), a Gato-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the herring.

Contents

Construction and commissioning

Herring's keel was laid down 14 July 1941 by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 15 January 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Emilie Spear (née Piollet), wife of Rear Admiral Ray Spear, Chief of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, and commissioned on 4 May 1942 with Lieutenant Commander Raymond W. Johnson in command.

Operational history

Mediterranean

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 Midway Island on 21 May 1944, Herring headed for the Kurile Islands patrol area. Ten days later she rendezvoused with Barb (SS-220). Herring was never heard from or seen again. However, Japanese records prove that she sank two ships, Japanese escort Ishigaki and Hokuyo Maru, on the night of 30–31 May. Ishigaki had been responsible for the sinking of USS S-44 (SS-155) on 7 October 1943. Herring's exact manner of loss can also be determined from these records. Two more merchant ships, Hiburi Maru and Iwaki Maru, were sunk while at anchor in Matsuwa Island on the morning of 1 June 1944. In a counter-attack, enemy shore batteries scored two direct hits on the submarine's conning tower and "bubbles covered an area about 5 meters wide, and heavy oil covered an area of approximately 15 miles." On her last patrol, Herring had sunk four Japanese ships for a total of 13,202 tons. In all she had sunk six marus totaling 19,959 tons, and a Vichy cargo ship.

Awards

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 Matua Island by a joint expedition of the Russian Geographical Society and Russian Defense Ministry. Aleksandr Kirillin, secretary of the academic board of Russia's Military Historical Society, said that "Russian divers in cooperation with the Pacific Fleet sailors discovered the submarine at a depth of 104 meters [341 ft]."[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Pampanito</i> US Navy WW II submarine, now a museum ship

USS Pampanito (SS-383/AGSS-383), a Balao-class submarine, is a United States Navy ship, the third named for the pompano fish. She completed six war patrols from 1944 to 1945 and served as a United States Naval Reserve training ship from 1960 to 1971. She is now a National Historic Landmark, preserved as a memorial and museum ship in the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association located at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California.

USS <i>Runner</i> (SS-275) Submarine of the United States

USS Runner (SS-275) was a Gato-class submarine, the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the runner, an amberfish inhabiting subtropical waters, so called for its rapid leaps from the water.

USS <i>Shark</i> (SS-314) Submarine of the United States

USS Shark (SS-314), a Balao-class submarine, was the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the shark, a large marine predator.

USS Gudgeon (SS-211) was the first American submarine to sink an enemy warship in World War II. She was the last of the long-range Tambor-class vessels commissioned for the United States Navy in the years before the country entered World War II. Gudgeon scored 14 confirmed kills, placing her 15th on the honor roll of American submarines. She was declared overdue, presumed lost with all hands, on 7 June 1944. Of the twelve Tambor-class submarines, only five survived the war.

USS <i>Grayling</i> (SS-209) Submarine of the United States

USS Grayling (SS-209) was the tenth Tambor-class submarine to be commissioned in the United States Navy in the years leading up to the country's December 1941 entry into World War II. She was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the grayling. Her wartime service was in the Pacific Ocean. She completed seven war patrols in the following 20 months, and is credited with the sinking of over 20,000 tons of Japanese merchant shipping and warships. Grayling received six battle stars for her World War II service. She was declared lost with all hands in September 1943. Of the twelve Tambor-class submarines, only five survived the war.

USS <i>Scamp</i> (SS-277) Submarine of the United States

USS Scamp (SS-277), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the scamp grouper, a member of the family Serranidae.

USS <i>Snook</i> (SS-279) Submarine of the United States

USS Snook (SS-279), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the common snook, an Atlantic marine fish that is bluish-gray above and silvery below a black lateral line.

USS <i>Grayback</i> (SS-208) Formerly missing World War II US Navy submarine.

USS Grayback (SS-208), a Tambor-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the lake herring, Coregonus artedi. She ranked 20th among all U.S. submarines in total tonnage sunk during World War II, with 63,835 tons, and 24th in number of ships sunk, with 14. She was sunk near Okinawa on 27 February 1944. Her wreck was discovered in June 2019.

USS <i>Searaven</i> Submarine of the United States

USS Searaven (SS-196), a Sargo-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sea raven, a sculpin of the northern Atlantic coast of America.

USS <i>Gar</i> Submarine of the United States

USS Gar (SS-206) was the first of the Gar subclass of the Tambor-class submarines to be commissioned for the United States Navy just prior to the country's 7 December 1941 entry into World War II. These submarines were a slightly improved version of preceding submarines of the Tambor class. While Gar survived the war, all of her sister ships — USS Grampus (SS-207), 'USS Grayback (SS-208), USS Grayling (SS-209), USS Grenadier (SS-210), and USS Gudgeon (SS-211) — were lost. She is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the gar, a fish of the family Lepisosteidae.

USS <i>Silversides</i> (SS-236) US Navy Gato-class submarine

USS Silversides (SS/AGSS-236) is a Gato-class submarine, the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the silversides.

USS <i>Drum</i> (SS-228) Submarine of the United States

USS Drum (SS-228) is a Gato-class submarine of the United States Navy, the first Navy ship named after the drum, a type of fish. Drum is a museum ship in Mobile, Alabama, at Battleship Memorial Park.

USS <i>Flasher</i> (SS-249) Submarine of the United States

USS Flasher (SS-249) was a Gato-class submarine which served in the Pacific during World War II. She received the Presidential Unit Citation and six battle stars, and sank 21 ships for a total of 100,231 tons of Japanese shipping, making her one of the most successful American submarines of the War. She was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the flasher.

USS <i>Muskallunge</i> Submarine of the United States

USS Muskallunge (SS-262), a Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the muskallunge.

USS <i>Redfin</i> Submarine of the United States

USS Redfin (SS/SSR/AGSS-272), a Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the redfin, any of several North American fishes with reddish fins.

USS <i>Sunfish</i> (SS-281) Submarine of the United States

The first USS Sunfish (SS-281), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the ocean sunfish, Mola mola, a plectognath marine fish, having a deep body truncated behind, and high dorsal and anal fins.

USS <i>Cabrilla</i> Submarine of the United States

USS Cabrilla (SS/AGSS-288), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the cabrilla, an edible fish inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea and waters off the coast of California.

USS <i>Apogon</i> Balao-class submarine

USS Apogon (SS-308), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the apogons, a genus of cardinalfishes found in tropical and subtropical waters. The original name planned for the ship was Abadejo, but the name was changed on 24 September 1942 before the keel was laid down.

USS <i>Spadefish</i> (SS-411) Submarine of the United States

The first USS Spadefish (SS/AGSS-411), a Balao-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the spadefish. Although she was commissioned late in the war and spent only one year in the Pacific war zone, she was able to run up a record of 88,091 tons in 21 ships and numerous trawlers sunk.

Japanese escort <i>Ishigaki</i> Shimushu-class escort ship

Ishigaki (石垣) was one of four Shimushu-class escort ships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN   1-55750-263-3.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 271–273. ISBN   0-313-26202-0.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 271–280. ISBN   978-0-313-26202-9.
  4. ↑ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261–263
  5. 1 2 3 U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
  7. ↑ https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/navy-mc-awards-manual-rev1953/pt4-campaign-service-medals.html#sec2-16
  8. ↑ "USS Herring (SS 233) - Seal Beach, CA - World War II Memorials / Monuments on Waymarking.com".
  9. ↑ Memorial to USS Herring (SS-233). 1976.
  10. ↑ "Tours in Kuril islands. Kuriles-Tour Co. Ltd".

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

48°0′N153°0′E / 48.000°N 153.000°E / 48.000; 153.000

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.