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Brazilian cargo ship Cabedello

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Cabedello in port
History
Name
  • 1912: Prussia
  • 1917: Cabedello
Namesake
Owner
Operator
Port of registry
Route1912: Hamburg – eastern South America
BuilderFlensburger Schiffbau, Flensburg
Yard number321
Launched23 April 1912
Completed14 June 1912
Identification
Fatemissing, February 1942
General characteristics
Class & typePrussia-class cargo ship
Tonnage3,557 GRT, 2,180 NRT
Length364.3 ft (111.0 m)
Beam51.0 ft (15.5 m)
Depth22.0 ft (6.7 m)
Decks1
Installed power
Propulsion1 × screw
Speed11 to 12 knots (20 to 22 km/h)
Crew
  • 1912: 46
  • 1942: 54
Notessister ships: Palatia; Phoenecia; Persia; Patria; Polaria; Parthia

Cabedello, also spelt Cabedelo, was a cargo steamship. She was built in Germany for Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) in 1912 as Prussia. She became Cabedello in 1917, when Brazil seized her and renamed her.

In the first weeks of the First World War, Prussia was an auxiliary ship for an Imperial German Navy cruiser in the South Atlantic. That September, Prussia sought refuge in a port in neutral Brazil. Brazil seized her in 1917, after Germany started sinking Brazilian merchant ships.

Lloyd Brasileiro was managing Cabedello by 1923, and owned her by 1927. She disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean in February 1942. It has been alleged that an Italian submarine sank her, but no evidence of her being attacked has ever been found. The exact date that she foundered is unknown, but is believed to be between 14 and 25 February.

She was the first of two Lloyd Brasileiro cargo ships to be named after Cabedelo in northeastern Brazil. Lloyd's Register always recorded her Brazilian name as Cabedello, with a double "L". After the war, Lloyd Brasileiro owned a cargo ship that was spelt Cabedelo, without the double "L". Canadian Vickers built her in 1945;[1] she was still registered in 1959;[2] but Lloyd's Register had deleted her by 1965.[3]

Prussia-class cargo ships

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Between 1912 and 1920, Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft in Flensburg built a class of seven cargo steamships for HAPAG, for service between Hamburg and the east coast of South America. Prussia was the lead ship of the class. She and Palatia were completed in 1912; followed by Phoenicia and Persia in 1914; Patria in 1919; and Polaria and Parthia in 1920. The last three ships never entered HAPAG service. The United Kingdom seized Patria, Polaria, and Parthia as part of World War I reparations, as soon as they were completed.[4][5]

Building and registration

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Flensburger Schiffbau built the ship as yard number 321; launched her as Prussia on 23 April 1912; and completed her on 14 June. Her registered length was 364.3 ft (111.0 m); her beam was 51.0 ft (15.5 m), and her depth was 22.0 ft (6.7 m). Her tonnages were 3,557 GRT and 2,180 NRT. She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine that was rated at 318 NHP[6] or 2,200 IHP,[7] and gave her a speed of 11 knots (20 km/h)[8] or 12 knots (22 km/h).[7]

HAPAG registered Prussia in Hamburg. Her code letters were RHSV. She was equipped with wireless telegraphy.[6] In 1918 her German call sign was recorded as DJL,[9] but by that time Brazil had seized her.

Auxiliary ship

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SMS Dresden in New York in 1909

In the first weeks of the First World War, Prussia was an auxiliary ship for the cruiser SMS Dresden. On 15 August 1914, Dresden captured the British cargo ship Hyades; interned her crew; and sank her by gunfire. The internees were transferred to Prussia,[7] which released them at Rio de Janeiro.[10]

Prussia reached Rio de Janeiro on 20 August. Five days later she left, supposedly for Santos, which is one day's voyage from Rio de Janeiro.[11] However, she did not reach Santos until 24 September 1914.[8] She was suspected of supplying a German cruiser or auxiliary cruiser during her unexplained month at sea.[11]

Brazilian service

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In February 1917, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. That April and May, German U-boats sank three Brazilian steamships. On 11 April, Brazil terminated diplomatic relations with Germany. On 2 June, Brazil seized 46 German merchant ships that were sheltering in Brazilian ports.[12] They included three Prussia-class ships: Prussia and Palatia in Santos; and Persia in Cabedelo. They were renamed Cabedello; Macao; and Aracaju respectively.[8][7]

A Lloyd Brasileiro postcard of Cabedello

By 1919, Cabedello was registered in Rio de Janeiro.[13] By 1920, the Government of France had chartered her.[14] Companhia de Navegação Lloyd Brasileiro was managing her by 1923,[15] and owned her by 1927.[16] By 1934, her four-letter call sign was PUAN, and this had superseded her code letters.[17]

On 19 December 1938, Cabedello ran aground in Rio Grande do Norte. She was refloated on or about 8 January 1939.[18]

Loss

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In the early part of the Second World War, Brazil was again neutral. However, on 15 and 18 February 1942, German submarines sank two Brazilian merchant ships off the East Coast of the United States: Buarque and Olinda.[19] One member of Buarque's crew was killed.[20]

Just before these two attacks, on 14 February, Cabedello left Philadelphia for Rio de Janeiro via the Antilles with a cargo of coal. Her Master was Captain Pedro Veloso da Silveira. She carried 13 officers; three boatswains; and 37 other crew. She was never seen or heard from again, and all 54 men of her complement were lost, presumed dead. There were no storms on her route, so the Brazilian authorities assumed that Cabedello had been sunk by a submarine, as Buarque and Olinda were confirmed to have been.[21] Brazil considers Cabedello's crew to be victims of war. The names of her crew are included on the Monument to the Dead of World War II in Rio de Janeiro.

Allegations

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Some European historians, including Alberto Santoni, of the Faculty of Political Science in Rome; and Jürgen Rohwer, of the Library of Contemporary Studies in Stuttgart; claim that the Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci sank Cabedello; and that the alleged attack was on 25 February. However, The Naval Historical Branch states that Italian naval records do not include the sinking of Cabedello. This is an important, as all submarine operations were meticulously logged, and communicated to the central commands in Europe. Also, by 25 February, Cabedello would have been at sea for 11 days, and should have covered at least 2,000 miles, which would put her outside Leonardo Da Vinci's area of patrol.[21]

Another historian alleges that Cabedello was sunk on 14 February: the day she left Philadelphia. That would make her the first Brazilian ship to be sunk by Axis naval action in 1942.[22] Another allegation is that the Italian submarine Luigi Torelli, which attacked two merchant ships off the Guianas on 19 February, sank Cabedello.[21] A third allegation is that the Italian submarine Comandante Cappellini sank her.[23] However, there is no evidence that Cabedello was attacked at all, by either an Italian submarine or anything else.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Lloyd's Register 1946, CAB.
  2. ^ Lloyd's Register 1959, C. Stewart Lee.
  3. ^ Lloyd's Register 1965, C. P. Edwards.
  4. ^ Haws 1980, pp. 106, 107, 121.
  5. ^ Kludas & Bischoff 1980, pp. 54–56.
  6. ^ a b Lloyd's Register 1914, PRO–PSY.
  7. ^ a b c d Haws 1980, p. 106.
  8. ^ a b c Kludas & Bischoff 1980, p. 54.
  9. ^ The Marconi Press Agency Ltd 1918, p. 683.
  10. ^ "Dresden took 43 shots to sink British vessel". The Evening World. New York City. 2 October 1914. p. 6. Retrieved 12 May 2025 – via Library of Congress.
  11. ^ a b "German ships are held in Rio". The Daily Nome Industrial Worker. Nome, AK. 13 June 1917. p. 2. Retrieved 12 May 2025 – via Library of Congress.
  12. ^ "Brazil takes over ships". The New York Times. 3 June 1917. p. 3. Retrieved 12 May 2025 – via Times Machine.
  13. ^ Lloyd's Register 1919, C.
  14. ^ Lloyd's Register 1920, C.–CAB.
  15. ^ Lloyd's Register 1923, C.–CAB.
  16. ^ Lloyd's Register 1927, C.–CAB.
  17. ^ Lloyd's Register 1934, C.–CAB.
  18. ^ "Casualty Reports". The Times. No. 48199. London. 10 January 1939. col G, p. 22.
  19. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Olinda". U-boat.net. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  20. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Buarque". U-boat.net. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  21. ^ a b c d Sander 2007, pp. 61, 63.
  22. ^ "Ofensiva submarina alemã contra o Brasil - parte I". Grandes Guerras (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 17 September 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  23. ^ Cunha, Rudnei. "História da Força Aérea Brasileira" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2010.

Bibliography

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  • Cinquini, José Carlos Viana (2008). Abrindo Caminho para a Vitória: A Defesa do Brasil na Ação Anti-Submarino na Segunda Guerra Mundial (1942-1945) (in Brazilian Portuguese). Universidade Católica de Santos.
  • Haws, Duncan (1980). The Ships of the Hamburg America, Adler and Carr Lines. Merchant Fleets in Profile. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 0-85059-397-2.
  • Kludas, Arnold; Bischoff, Herbert (1980). Die Schiffe der Hamburg-Amerika Linie (in German). Vol. 2: 1907–1926. Herford: Koehlers Verlaggesellschaft. ISBN 3-7822-0222-8.
  • Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Vol. I.–Steamers. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1914 – via Internet Archive.
  • Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Vol. II.–Steamers. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1919 – via Internet Archive.
  • Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Vol. II.–Steamers. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1920 – via Internet Archive.
  • Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Vol. II.–Steamers and Motor Vessels. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1923 – via Internet Archive.
  • Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Vol. II.–Steamers and Motorships. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1927 – via Internet Archive.
  • Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1934 – via Southampton City Council.
  • Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Vol. Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over, Steamers and Motorships under 300 tons, trawlers, tugs, dredgers, &c., Sailing Vessels, list of ship owners, &c. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1946 – via Internet Archive.
  • The Marconi Press Agency Ltd (1918). The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony. London: The Wireless Press, Ltd.
  • Register Book. Vol. I. Register of Ships. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1959 – via Internet Archive.
  • Register Book. Vol. I. Register of Ships. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1965.
  • Sander, Roberto (2007). O Brasil na mira de Hitler: a história do afundamento de navios brasileiros pelos nazistas (in Brazilian Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva.
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