World War Two U-boat victim the British-built merchant ship Tutoya has been identified south of São Paulo by diver-researchers belonging to the Shipwrecks in Brazil group.
The vessel, which was torpedoed by U‑513 on the night of 1 July, 1943, lies broken in two off the town of Iguape. Built in 1913 as the Mitcham by William Dobson & Co in Newcastle, the 67m steel-hulled cargo ship was powered by twin triple-expansion steam engines.
She operated under British ownership before being sold to the Brazilian shipping company Lloyd Brasileiro in 1923 and renamed Uno. In 1929 she became Tutoya. At the time of her sinking she was carrying a general cargo of salted meat, coffee, potatoes, tea and timber.
The U-boat signalled to the Brazilian vessel to stop and identify herself. Her captain complied but the submarine then fired a torpedo, breaking the Tutoya in two and causing her to sink rapidly. Seven crew died, including the captain, though some 30 survivors escaped in the lifeboats.
The attack was part of the fierce U-boat campaign waged against Allied and Brazilian shipping in the South Atlantic, during which U-513 sank a number of merchant vessels.
According to Shipwrecks In Brazil, fishermen had reported the presence of wreckage in the region over the years but there had been nothing to indicate that any remains were those of the Tutoya.
The discovery was made by a team led by Shipwrecks in Brazil founder Maurício Carvalho and Tatiana Mello, along with fellow-divers Marco Bafi, Luiz Flório and boat-operator Clayton Aloise.
Based on a specific fisherman’s tip-off, the team carried out a sonar-scanning survey at a location off São Paulo’s southern coast, guided by Shipwrecks in Brazil’s own Shipwreck Information System (SINAU) database.
The likely wreck-site was identified on 26 December last year and a series of inspection dives were then carried out at depths of around 20m.
The bow lay some 20m away from the midship and stern section. Fragmentation of the hull corresponded with the reported torpedo impact zone by the bridge, and structural remains were consistent with the Tutoya’s specifications, including the twin boilers, triple-expansion steam engines and parts of the rudder, propellers and hull.
Dimensions of components such as the engine cylinders matched archival data.
Shipwrecks In Brazil describes the identification as a significant contribution to the understanding of Brazil’s WW2 maritime history and has emphasised the importance of documenting such sites to honour the memory of those who died.
Brazil was the only South American country to send troops overseas during WW2, and lost up to 34 merchant vessels to U-boat attacks off its coast.
Last February the country’s only military ship to be sunk by enemy forces during WW2 was positively identified 14 years after divers first came across the wreck, as reported on Divernet. The 82m auxiliary vessel Vital de Oliveira had been torpedoed by U-861 in 1944, with the loss of 100 men.
