"El Capitan" was part of Arctic convoy PQ 17, dispersed on Admiralty orders on 4 July 1942, and after picking up 19 survivors of reached Novaya Zemlya where a small convoy of five other merchant ships and escorts was assembled. That convoy was attacked on 9 July 1942 by Ju 88 aircraft with "El Capitan" suffering ruptured hull with holds #4 and #5 and the engine room flooding. All personnel, including those rescued, were taken off by , an armed trawler which also tried to scuttle the ship, and made Archangel. The hulk was torpedoed by U-251 just after midnight on 10 July.