WWII Ship Sunk By Nazi Submarine That Killed 100 Found After 80 Years

The Brazilian Navy has finally confirmed the location of the Vital de Oliveiro, a Brazilian troop transport ship torpedoed and sunk by a Nazi submarine during World War II, after more than 80 years of mystery.

The wreck was identified using advanced sonar imaging, lying about 65 kilometres off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

The Vital de Oliveiro was originally built in 1910 as a civilian ship named Itauba. It joined the Brazilian Navy in 1931 and became a troop transport during World War II.

The ship was involved in transporting military personnel and supplies along the Brazilian coast during the war.

On the night of July 19, 1944, the ship was torpedoed by the German submarine U-861. The attack led to the ship sinking, and 100 of the 270 crew members onboard lost their lives.

Vital de Oliveiro became the only Brazilian military ship to be sunk by enemy forces during World War II.

For decades, the ship’s exact location remained unknown until 2011, when it was first found by divers Jose Luíz and Everaldo Popermeyer Meriguete. The brothers had been called by a fisherman whose net had become stuck at the bottom of the ocean.

They discovered the wreck, and with the help of deep-sea diver Domingos Afonso Jório, it was confirmed that the net had caught on a cannon. This led to the discovery of the wreck, which was then reported to Brazil’s Navy.

However, the exact identification of the wreck remained unclear for years. In a press statement from January 16, 2025, the Brazilian Navy confirmed the wreck was indeed that of the Vital de Oliveiro.

The Navy used multibeam and side-scan sonar technology aboard an oceanographic research vessel to conclusively identify the wreck. These sonar tools allowed researchers to visualise the hull and structural features of the ship.

Lieutenant Captain Caio Cezar Pereira Demilio of the Brazilian Navy stated that shipwrecks and other submerged structures are crucial material records of Brazil’s maritime history.

These discoveries help the country understand naval strategies, technological developments, trade routes, and events like military confrontations and maritime disasters.

In addition to the Vital de Oliveiro, the Brazilian Navy lost two other warships during World War II. The Camaquã, a corvette, capsized in a storm in 1944, killing 23 crew members.

The Bahia, a cruiser, sank in 1945 after accidentally detonating its depth charges during gunnery practice, resulting in the deaths of 333 people. Interestingly, the research vessel that confirmed the wreck’s location was also named Vital de Oliveiro

Reference: CNN

Source: Maritime Shipping News