A Board of Inquiry concluded in October 1944 that Matafele had foundered en route, likely on 20 June, with all aboard (4 officers, 20 RAN sailors, and 13 Pacific Island crew) lost. A second inquiry, a few weeks later, rejected the foundering conclusion, but was unable to determine the cause of the disappearance. The possibility of attack by submarine was considered by a post-war inquiry, which determined that no Japanese submarines were in the area at the time.
