Engagement North of Truk
Sculpin departed Pearl Harbor November 5, 1943 for her ninth patrol in the Caroline Islands area, in support of surface units operating in the Gilbert Islands. After refueling at Johnston Island, no further communications were received and she was presumed lost on December 30, 1943. Details of her loss were provided by 21 survivors released from a Japanese prison camp at the war's end. On November 18, during an attack on a convoy, Sculpin was damaged severely by depth charges and was forced to the surface. Shell fire from a destroyer, Ijm Yamagumo, resulted in further damage and the senior surviving officer ordered her scuttled. ... 42 men abandoned ship and were picked up by Yamagumo, but 12 remained with the sinking boat. One of the survivors was so badly wounded that he was thrown over the side by the Japanese. The remaining survivors were shifted to two carriers for transfer to Japan. Enroute, one carrier, Ijn Chuyo, was sunk by USS Sailfish (SS-192) with the loss of all but one of the 20 Sculpin survivors she carried. ... Ironically, Sculpin was the submarine that assisted in the rescue of the crew of Squalus, later renamed Sailfish after she was salvaged and recommissioned.
