SS Campos

SS ' was a merchant steamship. She was what in German is called a " kombischiff": a term roughly equivalent to "cargo liner" in English. She was built in Germany in 1895 as the mail steamer ' for Hamburg Südamerikanische DG. She was the lead ship of a class of 11 ships in 's fleet.

For nearly two decades, ' carried emigrants and cargo on a regular route between Hamburg and the east coast of South America. In the first weeks of the First World War, she was an auxiliary ship for the Imperial German Navy in the South Atlantic. That November, she took refuge in a port in neutral Brazil.

In 1917, after Germany started sinking Brazilian merchant ships, the Brazilian government seized her and renamed her '. Lloyd Brasileiro was managing her by 1923, and owned her by 1927. In 1924, during the state of emergency in Brazil, she was a government prison ship. In 1943 a German U-boat sank her, killing 12 people.

She was the first of two ships to be named after Asunción, the capital of Paraguay. The second was a refrigerated cargo steamship that was built for Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) in 1921 as '. chartered her from 1934, and bought and renamed her in 1936. A mine sank her in 1942.

'-class ships

In 1895, took delivery of a set of three new mail steamers from Hamburg shipyards for its route between Hamburg and the east coast of South America. Blohm+Voss built ', followed by '; while Reiherstiegwerft built '. Each ship had a single screw, driven by a quadruple-expansion engine that was designed for economy. They carried both first class and steerage passengers, and the accommodation was more comfortable than that of earlier ships on the route.

The trio proved reliable, popular, and competitive, so ordered more ships to the same design. completed ' in 1896; ' and ' in 1897; and ''Tijuca'' in 1899. completed ' and ' in 1897; ' in 1898; and ' in 1899.

Building and registration

built ' as yard number 109. She was launched on 4 September 1895, and completed on 16 October. Her registered length was ; her beam was ; and her depth was . She had berths for 24 passengers in first class, and 440 in steerage. Her tonnages were ; ; and . built 's quadruple-expansion engine. It was rated at 302 NHP or 1,800 ihp, and gave her a speed of .

registered ' in Hamburg. Her code letters were RKHG. On 31 October she left Hamburg on her maiden voyage, which was to Santos in Brazil. By 1914 she was equipped with wireless telegraphy. Her call sign was DAC.

First World War

On 3 August 1914, Germany declared war on France and Russia. The next day, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, and ' took refuge in to avoid Entente naval patrols.

However, the Imperial German Navy requisitioned her as an auxiliary ship, so she later left with fresh food, spare parts, and 1,200 tons of coal for the light cruiser . The two ships met near Lavandeira Reef, off the north coast of Brazil, on 31 August. They were joined by the Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) steamship ', which had come from Rio de Janeiro; and 's '' Rio Negro'', which had come from Belém.

' also assisted the auxiliary cruiser SMS .

On 23 October, the ''Daily Mail''s reporter in Tenerife reported that NDL's ' had arrived there the previous day; carrying the interned crews of British merchant ships that ' had captured and sunk. The report added that three other German merchant ships accompanied ' into Santa Cruz de Tenerife: 's ' and '; and HAPAG's '.

On 26 October, ' captured the Lamport and Holt liner about 690 miles west of St Paul's Rocks. She carried more than 200 passengers; many of whom were US citizens. That night, '; '; and a prize ship, the captured British ''Indrani''; all rendezvoused with ' and ''Vandyck''. The next day, the Germans transferred ''Vandyck''s interned crew and passengers to '; a total of 419 people; with a party of marines to guard them. ' then sank ''Vandyck''. ' carried also the interned crews of four other ships that ' had captured. She took them to in Brazil, where she arrived on 1 or 2 November. Thereafter, ' remained in port in .

'

In February 1917, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. That April and May, German U-boats sank three Brazilian steamships. On 9 April, Brazil terminated diplomatic relations with Germany; placed armed guards on German ships in Brazilian ports; and removed "essential machinery". On 2 June, Brazil seized 46 German merchant ships that were sheltering in Brazilian ports. They included four '-class ships: ' in ; and '; ' and ' in .

' was renamed '. By 1920 she was registered in . On 16 June 1920; she struck rocks in Victoria Girazill Bay; and was beached at to save her from sinking. Lloyd Brasileiro was managing her by 1923, and owned her by 1927. The company operated her on cabotage routes along the Brazilian coast. By 1934, her call sign was PUAP, and this had superseded her code letters.

During the São Paulo Revolt of 1924, the Brazilian Navy requisitioned ships including ', and used them as prison ships in Guanabara Bay. ' held about 800 tenentist prisoners, including workers, sailors, soldiers, and non-commissioned officers.

The political prisoner Everardo Dias condemned conditions aboard her as the worst of the Brazilian prison ships. Prisoners worked ten hours a day: chipping rust off her steelwork; cleaning her decks, machinery, and boilers; unravelling ropes; and doing laundry. They wore the same clothes for months on end; and slept on the iron decks below her main deck. Their diet was a cup of coffee and bread in the morning, a ladle of beans with flour for lunch, and another for dinner.

Second World War

In the early part of the Second World War, Brazil was again neutral. However, from February 1942 onward, German U-boats sank a number of Brazilian merchant ships. On 15 August, a U-boat sank the Brazilian ship , killing 270 people. (' was the former ', one of ' sister ships.) Brazilians were outraged, and on 22 August the country declared war against Germany and its allies.

German attacks on Brazilian ships continued. In October 1943, ' was under way in ballast from to Rio Grande do Sul. Her Master was Captain . She carried 56 other officers and men, and six passengers. On the morning of 23 October, sighted her at about 06:00 hrs local time. This was 10:00 hrs Central European Time, which was the time that the Kriegsmarine used. The U-boat fired a spread of two torpedoes at ' at 08:03 hrs (12:03 hrs CET); but both missed. At 08:09 hrs (12:09 hrs CET), about south of Alcatrazes Islands, ''U-170'' fired a third torpedo, which hit ' starboard bow.

' crew and passengers launched four of her lifeboats to abandon ship. However, the crew did not shut down her engine; so she remained under way; and turned in circles. As she did so; her screw struck and smashed two of the lifeboats; killing seven men. At 12:33 hrs, ''U-170'' torpedoed her again, hitting her port side just forward of her bridge. This sank her at position .

A total of ten crew members and two passengers were killed. 51 survivors in the remaining two boats headed for land. One boat reached , and the other landed at Ilhabela.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Campos, SS

1895 ships
Maritime incidents in 1920
Maritime incidents in October 1943
Passenger ships of Brazil
Prison ships
Ships built in Hamburg
Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
Steamships of Brazil
Steamships of Germany
World War I merchant ships of Germany
World War I passenger ships of Germany
World War II merchant ships of Brazil