José Botelho de Carvalho Araújo (18 May 1881 – 14 October 1918) was a

Portuguese Navy The Portuguese Navy (), also known as the Portuguese War Navy (''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'') or as the Portuguese Armada (''Armada Portuguesa''), is the navy of the Portuguese Armed Forces. Chartered in 1317 by King Dinis of Portugal, it is ...

officer and colonial administrator who died in action in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

battling German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

SM ''U-139'', commanded by submarine ace

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière '' Vizeadmiral'' Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière (; 18 March 1886 – 24 February 1941), born in Posen, Prussia, and of French-German descent, was a German U-boat commander during World War I. With 194 ships and sunk, he is the most successfu ...

Life

Son of José de Carvalho Araújo Júnior and Margarida Ferreira Botelho de Araújo, he was born in the northern city of

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

at the parish of São Nicolau, while his parents were visiting the city. Two months later, his parents returned to

Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the Norte, Portugal, North region, Portugal. It is also the seat of the Douro (intermunicipal community), Douro Intermunicipal communities of Portugal, intermunicipal comm ...

in Trás os Montes where they lived. After completing his studies at the ''Academia Politécnica do Porto'', he enlisted in the Portuguese Navy in 1899. He served on several ships: the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

''Dom Afonso'', the

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

''Duque da Terceira'', the cruisers ''

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

'', '' Adamastor'' and ''São Rafael'', the

gunboats A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

''Zambeze'', ''Liberal'', ''Diu'' and ''Lúrio'', the

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''Bérrio'' and the transport ship ''Salvador Correia''. A strong supporter of the republican ideals, he was elected deputy after the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic and

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the Inhambane district in the Portuguese colony of

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. He died in action on 14 October 1918, at the command of the Portuguese

naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. Some, known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers ...

NRP ''Augusto Castilho'' while successfully protecting the cargo ship ''São Miguel'' from the attack of the German U-boat SM ''U-139'', commanded by submarine ace Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière. The German U-boat engaged the ''São Miguel'' on the surface with her 15 cm SK L/45 deck gun, but was immediately confronted by ''Augusto Castilho'', which set a smoke screen to deceive the Germans. A two-hour fierce battle ensued, that ended with the sinking of the Portuguese trawler and the loss of four of the crew, among them First Lieutenant Carvalho Araújo. ''São Miguel'' managed to slip away, eventually reaching the port of

Ponta Delgada Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality (''concelho'') and executive capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67,2 ...

in the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

Navy career

*1903 - Midshipman *1905 - Lieutenant *1915 - First Lieutenant *1918 - Captain-Lieutenant (posthumous rank)

Notes

References

Fernando Félix Lopes, ''Missões franciscanas em Moçambique, 1898-1970'' (1972) José Bothelo de Carvalho Araújo (1917) ''Relatório acerca da Administração do Distrito de Inhambane: Ano de 1917.'' Ed. Caleidoscopio (2019)''.'' ISBN 978-989-658-553-2

External links

(English) (Portuguese)''
University of Porto - Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Araujo, Carvalho 1881 births 1918 deaths University of Porto alumni Portuguese military officers Portuguese military personnel killed in World War I Military personnel from Porto People from Vila Real, Portugal Recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword Portuguese colonial governors and administrators