The Loss of CAPELIN
2 DECEMBER 1943
THE LOSS OF CAPELIN
LCDR Elliott E. “Steam” Marshall reported to the Portsmouth Navy Yard in the Spring 1943 as ordered. He had delivered his old command, USS CUTTLEFISH (SS-171), to New London at the end of 1942 after three war patrols in the Pacific. In that first year of the war CUTTLEFISH had reconnoitered Japanese positions on Marcus Island and Saipan and had served at the Battle of Midway. She had a “probable” sinking to her credit, but with the new Gato-class boats hitting the water, CUTTLEFISH had been recalled to New London’s submarine school to serve as a training ship. Marshall had been reassigned to command the fifth Gato-class boat, CAPELIN (SS-289), upon her commissioning 4 June 1943.
Sea trials completed, Marshall put CAPELIN out from New London on 3 September and headed for the warmth of Brisbane, Australia. Now serving with the Submarine Force, Southwest Pacific, she drew her first duty on 30 October–a mission to recover a downed B-24 crew hiding out on Celebes Island. On route her mission was canceled however, and she assumed regular patrol duties in the Molucca Sea. Here she attacked a small enemy convoy on November 11th, and despite malfunctioning torpedoes, managed to sink the 3127-ton freighter Kunitama Maru. She endured a depth charge attack and returned to Darwin on the 16th with a faulty conning tower hatch and bow plane, and a broken radar tube. Repairs were hastily made, and she was back as sea the next day.
Again sent to the Molucca Sea, on this day LCDR Thomas Hogan in USS BONEFISH (SS-223) sighted a sub on the surface he thought to be CAPELIN. The sub had obviously seen Hogan, for she dove immediately. Wishing to communicate the proximity of a convoy and his plan to attack, Hogan pinged a message in Morse code with his sonar to the distant sub including the word “Steam,” Marshall’s nickname. An acknowledging message was returned moments later. The nearby BOWFIN (SS-287) also noted CAPELIN’s presence.
Unfortunately, that was the last ever heard from Marshall’s boat. Radio silence was broken on December 9th in an effort to reach CAPELIN, but to no avail. Her fate remains a mystery to this day. It is unlikely she was lost to enemy action as Japanese records recovered after the war fail to identify an action in her area during that time. An enemy attack on a supposed American submarine on 23 November off Kaoe Bay, Halmahera, failed to sight wreckage or evidence of success. It is possible CAPELIN could have hit a mine or succumbed to an operational failure, perhaps from the systems damaged on her first patrol. As was not uncommon for the lone patrolling boats in WWII, none of her 78 crewmen survived to tell her story.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 6 DEC 22
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Blair, Clay, Jr. Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan, Vol 1. New York, NY: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1975, pp. 472-74.
Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 2 “C-F”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1977, pp. 30, 224-25.
Holmes, Harry. The Last Patrol. Shrewsbury, England: Airlife Publishing, Ltd., 1994, pp. 83-84.
Sweetman, Jack. American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 3rd ed. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2002, p. 166.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: The naming convention of the day held that submarines be named for fish. A CAPELIN is a small fish of the smelt family.
