Ships hit by U-boats


Parnahyba

Brazilian Steam merchant



Photo courtesy of Ambrose Greenway Collection

NameParnahyba
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage6,692 tons
Completed1913 - Flensburger Schiffsbau-Ges., Flensburg 
OwnerCia de Navegação Lloyd Brasileiro, Rio de Janeiro 
HomeportRio de Janeiro 
Date of attack1 May 1942Nationality:      Brazilian
 
FateSunk by U-162 (Jürgen Wattenberg)
Position10° 12'N, 57° 16'W - Grid EO 2121
Complement72 (7 dead and 65 survivors).
Convoy
RouteRio de Janeiro - Pernambuco - New York 
Cargo7500 tons of general cargo, including coffee, cocoa, castor oil seed and cotton 
History Completed in March 1913 as German Alrich for Roland Linie AG (Globus Reederei), Bremen. 1914 interned in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 2 June 1917 seized by Brazil and renamed Parnahyba
Notes on event

At 20.46 hours on 1 May 1942 the unescorted and neutral Parnahyba (Master Raul Francisco Diegali) was hit on the port side aft of amidships in the empty port bunker by one G7e torpedo from U-162 while steaming on a non-evasive course at 10.5 knots in clear weather and calm sea about 220 miles east of Trinidad. The ship was flying a Brazilian flag but was attacked without warning because she was armed with a 5in gun aft. The crew of 71 men and one passenger immediately abandoned ship in three lifeboats after sending a distress signal, although she was only settling slowly by the stern. The U-boat surfaced 10 minutes later and finished off the Parnahyba with 66 rounds from the deck gun and 20 rounds from the 37mm anti-aircraft gun. The ship caught fire and sank by the bow after two hours and a half. In the afternoon of 3 May, the 26 occupants of one lifeboat were picked up by the Canadian motor merchant Turret Cape and landed at Georgetown the next day. Another lifeboat with 16 occupants made landfall on Trinidad and the remaining survivors were picked up by the Spanish steam passenger ship Cabo de Hornos and taken to Rio de Janeiro.

 
On boardWe have details of 1 people who were on board


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