SS Capillo

History
United States
Name	Capillo
Owner	United States Shipping Board (1920–1921); Pioneer Steamship Company (1921–1922); United States Shipping Board (1922–1941)
Builder	American International Shipbuilding Corporation, Philadelphia
Yard number	1523
Launched	26 March 1920
Completed	1920
Identification	US Official Number 219904; code letters: LWHS; ;
Fate	Bombed and abandoned, 8 December 1941; scuttled, 11 December 1941; destroyed 29 December 1941
General characteristics
Type	Design 1022 cargo ship
Tonnage	7,500 dwt
Length	390 ft (120 m)
Beam	54 ft (16 m)
Draft	27 ft 5 in (8.36 m)
Installed power	Oil-fired steam turbines
Propulsion	Single screw

SS Capillo was a Design 1022 cargo ship built for the United States Shipping Board immediately after World War I.

History

She was laid down at yard number 1523 at the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania shipyard of the American International Shipbuilding Corporation, one of 110 Design 1022 cargo ships built for the United States Shipping Board.^[1] She was completed in 1920 and named the SS Capillo.^[1]^[4] In 1921, she was purchased by the Pioneer Steamship Company, Philadelphia.^[1] In 1922, she was returned to the United States Shipping Board.^[1]

The Japanese commenced near simultaneous attacks against U.S. forces in the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, and Pearl Harbor; and against British and allied forces in Singapore and Hong Kong. On 8 December 1941, Japanese planes tasked with attacking shipping in Manila Bay, bombed and set her ablaze; she was then abandoned.^[5] On 11 December 1941, she was partially scuttled by a U.S. Army demolition party off Corregidor.^[6] On 29 December 1941, Japanese planes from the Takao Kokutai and the 1st Kokutai bombed Corregidor for the first time, setting her hulk ablaze.^[7] The Philippine freighter Don Jose is also set on fire; the presidential yacht BRP Banahaw (ex-Casania) is sunk; and the steamship Bicol and motor vessel Aloha are both scuttled.^[8] Six members of her crew were sent to Japanese POW camps.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g McKellar, p. Part II, 588.
^ "1930-1931 Capillo" (PDF). Lloyd's Register of Ships. 1930.
^ Fifty Second Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States - Seagoing vessels, Arranged in Order of Signal Letters. p. 90.
^ Marine Review 1921, p. 97.
^ Cressman, Robert J. (15 October 2016). The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Naval Institute Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-1591146384.
^ Cressman, p.125
^ Cressman, p.135-136
^ Cressman, p.135-136
^ "American Merchant Ships Sunk in WWII". armed-guard.com. Retrieved March 27, 2021.

Bibliography

McKellar, Norman L. "Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921, Part II, Contract Steel Ships, p. 588" (PDF). Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921. ShipScribe. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
Marine Review (1921). "1920 Construction Record of U.S. Yards". The Marine Review. 51 (February). New York: 99. Retrieved 27 March 2021.