Overview
- The Naval History and Heritage Command confirmed the wreck as USS Herring on Monday using data from Russian expeditions and follow-up analysis by U.S. volunteer and Japanese researchers.
- The submarine rests about 91 meters (over 300 feet) off Matsuwa Island in the central Kurils and sits upright on its keel with a high degree of structural integrity.
- Investigators found battle damage around the conning tower and signs of bow grounding that match Japanese and U.S. wartime records of Herring’s loss on June 1, 1944, when shore batteries reportedly struck the boat.
- The wreck was first located in a 2017 joint expedition by the Russian Geographic Society and Russian military and was documented again in 2022 when participants placed a commemorative plaque.
- Under U.S. law the site is now treated as a protected sunken military craft and war grave, allowing only non-intrusive documentation without NHHC coordination and permitting, and offering formal closure for the families of the 83 sailors lost aboard.