Question

JOHN GALLOUP (2577-1992) was aboard the cruiser USS OMAHA in the War, and he has a question. He writes:

“We did not leave the South Atlantic station until the War in Europe was over. I was very curious about the 2 German U-Boats that surrendered near Buenos Aries at the end of the War. Our paths must have crossed somewhere in that big pond..... Also, a Brazilian battleship exploded and sank with most of its crew right at the end of the War, off the coast of Brazil near Rio and Bahia. We picked up a few survivors. There were very few! I have never heard what caused that explosion. Of course, U-Boats were suspected but most of the people I talk to in my frequent visits to Brazil suspected it to be an internal explosion of some kind.”

Answer

OKAY; who can tell us what battleship that was? We can be pretty certain she was not torpedoed by any U-Boat, as the record shows that HMS BARHAM was the only battleship sunk by a U-Boat while at sea. I’m sure that if any other battleship had been sunk by a U-Boat, there would be quite a record of it.

As to the two U-Boats mentioned by JOHN; they were U-530 under command of KPLT OTTO WERMUTH (1344-1990) that surrendered around the end of July 1945; and U-977 under Kplt Heinz Schaeffer that surrendered in early August 1945. They both came to Puerto la Plata, which is further down the river from Buenos Aries and more accessible from the sea.

Historians will be surprised to learn that another U-Boat was fueled up, loaded with food; ready to depart ten days after the end of the War bound for - Tahiti! Keep reading, there are some stories about the closing days of the War - and two years after - that will soon be revealed on the pages of our KTB Magazine.