76 years ago the German submarine U-199 was sunk off the Brazilian coast by the Brazilian Air Force - FAB
Catalina PBY-5 Arará attacking the U-199 off Rio de Janeiro Reproduction painting by Álvaro Martins.
Rio de Janeiro, July 31, 1943. Exactly 76 years ago, the German submarine U-199 sailed off the coast of Cabo Frio in its sinister hunt for new prey.
The Gray Wolf (the submarine was painted in camouflage style, light gray, brown and cobalt blue, with the design of a Viking ship on its tower) departed Kiel on May 13, 1943, arriving in his area. of patrolling, south of Rio de Janeiro, on June 18.
The IXD2 (very long-range) submarines of the 12th flotilla - Bordeaux - began operating in November 1942.
Considered, at the time, to be state-of-the-art, they were able to conduct attack patrols in remote areas of the South Atlantic. On their long journeys, they were supplied at sea by submarine support units, called dairy cows, thus extending even further. its great autonomy of 44,000 km.
They displaced 1,600 tons, reaching a surface speed of 20.8 knots and, underwater, reached 6.9 knots. As deck armaments, they had a 105 mm naval cannon, two anti-aircraft guns - 37 and 20 mm - and two heavy machine guns. They could operate with 24 torpedoes and 44 mines. The crew was 61 men.
His commander, Kapitänleutnant (Captain Lieutenant) Hans-Werner Kraus, 28. The mission, along with other Axis submersibles, was to stop the flow of merchant ships carrying Brazilian products for the Allied war effort.
By July 31, U-199 had sunk or seriously damaged American freighters Charles Willson Peale (June 27) and English Henzada (July 24). On July 3, overnight, he was attacked and shot down a PBM 3 seaplane Martin Mariner from VP-74, an American squadron based at Galeão Air Base, commanded by Lieutenant Harold Carey.
The whole crew perished. On the afternoon of July 22, in an act of extreme cowardice, he attacked and gunned down the small Brazilian fishing boat Shangri-la, killing his 10 crew.
That morning of July 31, as it sailed on the surface, the Gray Wolf spotted a distant plane, and Commander Kraus in the tower commanded full force ahead and a change of course. The crew would have misunderstood the order and began a frustrated submersion, which delayed the submarine’s escape. The anti-aircraft was then fired.
The US plane, a PBM 3 Martin Mariner commanded by Lieutenant Walter F. Smith, dropped six MK47 depth bombs that damaged the submarine, preventing it from submerging.
Given the radio alert, the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) was fired by a Hudson A-28A aircraft piloted by Reserve Aspirant Sérgio Cândido Schnoor, which dropped two MK17 bombs that exploded near the target without causing further damage. .
In a second pass, our aircraft strafed the submarine’s deck, striking some anti-aircraft gunners. Finally, also alerted by the radio, a FAB Catalina PBY-5 seaplane came into action, piloted by Reserve Aspirant Alberto Martins Torres, who, expert on that plane, was able to demonstrate all his expertise.
He himself, in his book Overnight Tapachula (1985, Ed. Magazine of Aeronautics) describes the attack: “At about 300 meters altitude and less than a kilometer from the submarine we could clearly see his artillery pieces and the polygonal layout of its camouflage ranged from light gray to cobalt blue… I noticed a single orange flame from the forward deck piece, so I took some evasive action until it was about a hundred meters high when the plane was stabilized to allow the perfect launch. of the bombs. With all the machine guns firing for the last two hundred yards, facing each other for aim, we dropped the row of deep loads just below the bow of the submarine. They detonated just as the U-199 passed over the three, one at the prow, one at mid-ship and one at the stern. The bow of the submersible was thrown out of the water, and right there it stopped, within the three white foam circles left by the explosions… Then we lowered it to just under 50 meters and glued to the water for less risk of eventual In the anti-aircraft reaction, we started the return curve for the last charge that was launched near the stern of the submarine that was already slowly sinking, still. In this passage already began to jump on board some crew … In a few seconds the submarine sank, remaining some of its crew swimming in the rough sea. We threw an inflatable boat and PBM launched two. We watched the survivors board the three rubber boats, which were attached to each other by train. It was twelve. We would know later that they were the commander, three officers and eight sailors. ”
It was the end of the Gray Wolf, the first type IXD2 submarine to be sunk in the 2nd GM. The twelve surviving crew were rescued by the USS Barnegat tending vessel, sent to a prison unit in Recife and later sent to the States. United.
Lieutenant R / 2 Torres was the only Brazilian pilot who was proven to sink a German submarine, and for that he received the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) from the US government.
In early 1944, Lieutenant Torres left the 1st Patrol Group, volunteering to serve in the 1st Fighter Aviation Group, which he was to fight in Italy.
Lieutenant Torres, piloting the P-47 Thunderbolt A-4, joined the red squadron and conducted 99 offensive and one defensive war missions, completing a total of 100 missions, having been the Brazilian record holder in combat missions.
In one, he was awarded another DFC - Distinguished Flying Cross. It also received from the USA, the five star Air Medal, each star being worth another medal.
From France, he received La Croix de Guerre Avec Palme and finally, in Brazil, he was awarded the Ribbon A Aviation Cross, Ribbon B Aviation Cross, Italian Campaign, South Atlantic Campaign and the Order of Aeronautical Merit. Upon returning from Italy, Lieutenant Torres was promoted and licensed from active duty.
Reserve Captain Aviator Alberto Martins Torres died on December 30, 2001 at the age of 82, and his body was cremated in Sao Paulo.
Prior to his death, the then commander of the 1st Fighter Aviation Group (1st GAvCa), Col Av Márcio Brissola Jordão, in October 2001, paid him a significant tribute by changing the name of the EFFICIENT PILOT TROPHY, awarded annually, at the end of the instruction, to the best fighter pilot of the Unit, to TROPHY ALBERTO MARTINS TORRES.
At the request of Cap Torres, his ashes were thrown into the sea near Santos-Dumont Airport, former headquarters of the 1st Patrol Group, the first unit in which he served as an officer of the FAB Reserve.
A Buffalo aircraft carried the ballot box to the ceremony site, escorted by two patrol aircraft, P-95 Bandeirulha (4th / 7th GAv) and two F-5 E Tiger II fighters from the 1st GAvCa. Prior to the ashes being thrown into Guanabara Bay, FAB veterans greeted Captain Torres with a vibrant ADELPHI !, followed by a resounding A LA CHASSE !, the battle cry of Brazilian fighter aviation.
Then, the ashes of our hero and a wreath were thrown, honoring the Air Force Command.
The example of that handful of young people who in World War II did not hesitate to sacrifice themselves - at sea, on land and in the air - for the maintenance of the principles and values that forged nationality, must always be present in the hearts and minds of true Brazilians. .
