Ships hit by U-boats


Campos

Brazilian Steam merchant



NameCampos
Type:Steam merchant
Tonnage4,663 tons
Completed1895 - Blohm & Voss, Hamburg 
OwnerCia de Navegação Lloyd Brasileiro, Rio de Janeiro 
HomeportRio de Janeiro 
Date of attack23 Oct 1943Nationality:      Brazilian
 
FateSunk by U-170 (Günther Pfeffer)
Position25° 07'S, 45° 40'W - Grid GA 3857
Complement63 (12 dead and 51 survivors).
Convoy
RouteRio de Janeiro - Rio Grande do Sul 
CargoBallast 
History Completed in October 1895 as German Asuncion for Hamburg-Südamerikanische DG, Hamburg. In August 1914 requisitioned as supply ship for the German cruiser Karlsruhe and the auxiliary merchant cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm until interned in Pará after landing prisoners there in November 1914. In April 1917 seized by the Brazilian government and renamed Campos. 1922 sold to Cia de Navegação Lloyd Brasileiro, Rio de Janeiro. 
Notes on event

At 12.09 hours on 23 Oct 1943 the unescorted Campos (Master Mário Amaral Gama) was hit on the starboard side in the bow by one torpedo from U-170 about 5 miles south of the Alcatrazes Island. The ship had been spotted two hours earlier and missed with a spread of two torpedoes at 12.03 hours. The crew of 57 men and six passengers immediately began to abandon ship in four lifeboats, however she was then moving in circles because the engines had not been secured. Two of the lifeboats were smashed by the screw, throwing the occupants into the water and killing seven of them. At 12.33 hours, the still moving Campos was hit on the port side ahead of the bridge by a coup de grâce and sank by the bow in position 24°42S/45°45W. The survivors observed the U-boat surfacing nearby, but they were not questioned by the Germans. One lifeboat made landfall at Santos and the other reached São Sebastião Island. Ten crew members and two passengers were lost.

 


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