Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch contributed by Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)

Herring (SS-233)

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Xray - Victor

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 14 July 1941, at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME, Launched, 15 January 1942; Commissioned USS Herring (SS-233), 4 May 1942; Lost to enemy action 1 June 1944, two kilometers south of Point Tagan on Matsuwa Island in the Kurlies; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown); Final Disposition, fate unknown. Herring received five battle stars for her service in World War II.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,410 t.; Length 311' 10"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 2"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 officers, 54 enlished; Operating Depth, 300 ft; Submerged Endurance, 48 hrs at 2 kts; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel electric reduction gear with four Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, 5400 hp, Fuel Capacity, 94,400 gals., four Elliot Motor Co., electric motors, 2740 hp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin screws.

Size	Image Description	Source
16k	Commemorative postal cover marking issued on the occasion of the keel laying of the Herring (SS-233), 14 July 1941, at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
131k	Herring (SS-233), sliding down the ways at her launching at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME, 10:20 AM, 15 January 1942.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
78k	Two of the 6 subs of from Sub Squadron 50: Barb (SS-220), *Blackfish (SS-221), Herring* (SS-233), Shad (SS-235), Gunnel (SS-253), and Gurnard (SS-254) tied up at Rosneath, Scotland, circa 7 December 1942. The sub tender Beaver (AS-5) is in the background.	USN photo courtesy of jmlavelle.com.
98k	A 1943 Watercolor by the artist Dwight Clark Shepler entitled "Jerry Hunters, Rosneath, Scotland", portrays the stern view of the sub tender Beaver (AS-5) and 3 of the 6 subs of Sub Squadron 50: Barb (SS-220), *Blackfish (SS-221), Herring* (SS-233), Shad (SS-235), Gunnel (SS-253), and Gurnard (SS-254).	Painting #87 / 88-199-CK. Courtesy of the USNHC.
125k	Herring (SS-233), possibly off Hunters Point, San Francisco, CA., 14 October 1943.	Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol
101k	6" costal defence gun at Rabaul, similar to the type that sank the Herring (SS-233).	Courtesy of destroyerhistory.org by D.W. McComb.
75k	Kurlie Archapeligo, featuring North, Central & Southern Island groups. Matsuwa Island, where the Herring (SS-233) was lost, is in the middle of the Central group.	Photo courtesy of artedi.fish.washington.edu.
55k	Depth chart of the surrounding waters off Matsuwa Island, where the Herring (SS-233) was lost. She was probably sunk in over 600 feet of water.	Photo courtesy of artedi.fish.washington.edu.
130k	Matsuwa Island, where the Herring (SS-233) was lost.	Photo courtesy of Earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, NASA, Johnson Space Center / oceandots.com.
44k	In memory of the Herring (SS-233).	Courtesy of Tom Kermen.
10k	David Zabriskie, Jr., Commander (Commanding Officer) of the Herring (SS-233) at the time of her loss.	US Navy photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com.
117k	The wife of a World War II U.S. submarine veteran, tosses a flower into a reflecting pool to honor the memory of one of the 52 submarines lost during World War II at the National Submarine Memorial-West on board Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif. On this Veterans Day, the Submarine Veterans of World War II transferred ownership of the memorial to the U.S. Navy. The following text is from The Coming Fury by Bruce Catton., pg. 478. "Major Sullivan Bullen of Illinois was killed in the battle, and just before it he had written to his wife, Sarah, to tell her that he believed he was going to be killed and to express a tremulous faith that could see a gleam of light in the dark: "But O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and float unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you in the gladdest days and in the gloomiest nights, always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your chest it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait, for we shall meet again!"	U.S. Navy photo N-1159B-021 by Journalist 2nd Class Brian Brannon, courtesy of news.navy.mil.
268k	Herring (SS-233), off Hunters Point Dry Dock, San Francisco, CA., 14 October 1943. In a little less than 8 months from the date of this photo, the boat and her entire crew would be M.I.A. In Memorium: In the Second Book of Shmuel (Samuel), 22nd chapter, 5th through the 20th verses, translated from the original in Hebrew and published by the Koren Publishers of Jerusalem, Israel, 1982, can perhaps aptly describe the fate of the crew and all other U.S. submariners who died defending their county: "When the waves of death compassed me / the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; / the bonds of She'ol encircled me; / the snares of death took me by surprise; / in my distress I called upon the Lord, / and cried to my G-D: / and he heard my voice out of his temple, / and my cry entered into his ears. / Then the earth shook and trembled; /the foundations of heaven moved / and shook because of his anger /...the heavy mass of waters, and thick clouds of the skies /... And the channels of the sea appeared, / the foundations of the world were laid bare, / at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast at the breath of his nostrils. / He sent from above, he took me; / he drew me out of many waters; / he delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me. / They surprised me in the day of my calamity: / but the Lord was my stay / He brought me forth also into a large place: / he delivered me because he delighted in me./"	US Navy photo 268-43-84, courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center.

View the Herring (233)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
On Eternal Patrol
Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet USS Herring (SS 233) June 1, 1944 - 84 Men Lost
Full Fathom Five, U.S. Submarine War Against Japan

Back To The Main Photo Index

Back To the Submarine Index

Problems and site related matters, E-mail Webmaster.