Araraquara (ship)
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The Araraquara was a passenger ship that transported passengers and cargo between 1927 and 1942 as part of the South American east coast service of the Brazilian shipping company Lloyd Nacional. She was one of five Brazilian merchant ships that were sunk in mid-August 1942 within 48 hours of the German submarine U 507 without warning off the Brazilian coast. A total of 607 people died, 131 of them on the Araraquara . As a result of this event, Brazil declared war on the German Reich on August 22, 1942.
The ship
The 4,872 GRT motor ship Araraquara was built in 1927 in the northern Italian port city of Monfalcone by the Cantiere Navale Triestino shipyard and was launched there on August 1, 1927. It was completed in October 1927. It was owned by Lloyd Nacional, an offshoot of the Brazilian shipping company Companhia Nacional de Navegação Costeira, founded in 1916 and based in Rio de Janeiro . This was your home port too. The Araraquara was named after the city of the same name in the state of São Paulo and was one of nine sister ships of the Ararangua type .
The ship was 118.6 meters long, 16.3 meters wide and had a maximum draft of 7.4 meters. The load capacity was 3,850 tons. It was propelled by two diesel engines on two fixed propellers and reached a cruising speed of 13.5 knots. The Araraquara was a combination ship , as it carried both passengers and cargo in the Brazilian coastal waters.
Sinking
On Tuesday, August 11, 1942, the Araraquara set sail in Rio de Janeiro for a crossing to Salvador da Bahia in the state of Bahia and Recife in the state of Pernambuco . In addition to the general cargo, 142 passengers and crew members were on board . Captain Lauro Augusto Teixeira de Freitas was in command.
Salvador da Bahia was reached on August 15th. The following day, Sunday, August 16, the Araraquara was sighted by U 507 . U 507 was a German type IX C submarine , which was under the command of Corvette Captain Harro Schacht on a patrol off the Brazilian coast. The ship was about 20 miles from land at the level of the mouth of the Rio Real, the border between the states of Bahia and Sergipe . The Araraquara was an unarmed, unescorted merchant ship from a neutral state, but Schacht on board U 507 decided to attack anyway.
At 2.03 a.m. two torpedoes from U 507 hit the hull of the Araraquara . One hit one of the holds, the other the engine room . The ship was badly listed and sank within five minutes. In the short time, only one lifeboat could be launched in the dark and in rough seas.
66 crew members and 65 passengers were killed in the sinking. Eleven people survived. The vessel dropped to the position 12 ° 0 ' S , 37 ° 19' W .
consequences
On the same day, U 507 sank two more Brazilian passenger steamers of the Companhia de Navegação Lloyd Brasileiro, the Annibal Benévolo (150 dead) and the Baependy (270 dead). The following day, August 17, 1942, he sank two more Brazilian ships from other shipping companies, killing another 56 people.
The sinking of five unescorted, unarmed merchant ships from a neutral nation within 48 hours with a total of 607 fatalities resulted in Brazil declaring war on the German Reich on August 22, 1942.
Web links
- Entry in the ship directory Miramar Ship Index
- WRECK SITE - Araraquara († 1942) Technical data and brief description of the sinking
- Araraquara (Brazilian Motor passenger ship) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net The Araraquara in the U-boat database (with picture)