Ship sunk by Nazi submarine during WWII, killing 100 found 80 years later
After more than 80 years of mysterious investigation, the Brazilian Navy has finally confirmed the whereabouts of the Brazilian military transport ship “Vita de Oliveiro” that was sunk by a Nazi submarine during WWII.
The wreck was found using advanced sonar imaging technology and is located approximately 65 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
The Vital de Oliveiro was originally built in 1910 as a civilian ship named Itauba. She joined the Brazilian Navy in 1931 and was converted into a troop transport during World War II.
The ship was involved in the transportation of military personnel and supplies along the coast of Brazil during the war.
On the night of July 19, 1944, the ship was hit by a torpedo fired by the German submarine U-861. The attack caused the ship to sink, killing 100 of the 270 crew members on board.
The Vital de Oliveiro became the only Brazilian warship to be sunk by enemy forces during World War II.
For decades, the exact location of the ship remained unknown until it was first discovered in 2011 by divers José Luiz and Everaldo Bobermeyer Meriguete. The brothers received a call from a fisherman whose net had sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
They discovered the wreck and, with the help of deep-sea diver Domingos Afonso Jorio, confirmed that the net had become entangled in a canyon. This led to the discovery of the wreck, which was subsequently reported to the Brazilian Navy.
However, for many years, the exact identity of the wreck remained uncertain. The Brazilian Navy confirmed in a press release on January 16, 2025 that the wreck was indeed the Vital de Oliveiro.
The Navy used multibeam sonar and side-scan technology from an oceanographic research vessel to confirm the identity of the wreck. The sonar tool allowed researchers to clearly see the structure and structural features of the ship.
“Shipwrecks and other underwater structures are very important physical records of Brazil’s maritime history,” said Lieutenant Cayo Cesar Pereira de Milio of the Brazilian Navy.
The discoveries help the country understand maritime strategy, technological development, trade routes, and events such as military confrontations and maritime disasters.
In addition to the Vital d’Oliviero, the Brazilian Navy lost two other warships during World War II. In 1944, the battleship Camarco capsized during a storm, killing 23 crew members.
In 1945, the battleship Bahia sank during a gunnery exercise after a depth charge exploded accidentally, killing 333 people. Curiously, the research vessel that confirmed the location of the wreck was also named “Vital d’Oliviero.”
