A WORLD War Two warship mystery has finally been solved after the wreck snagged on a fisherman’s net.
The Vital de Oliveira had disappeared for 81 years after it was torpedoed by the Nazis killing 100 people.
This war boat had been the only Brazilian Navy vessel lost to the enemy in World War Two when it sank in 1944.
The ship was hit just before midnight on July 19 and took just three minutes to disappear under the night waves.
The Vital de Oliveira had been lost to history for 81 years until a fisherman’s net became tangled in one of the ship’s guns.
This incredible shipwreck was found some 40 miles off shore from the municipality of Macaé, Brazil – around 100 miles north of Rio de Janeiro.
Scientists then used sonar technology to confirm the lost warship had been found.
Lieutenant Captain Caio Cezar Pereira Demilio of the Brazilian Navy, who participated in the survey, shared the details of how they made this incredible discovery.
He said: “The location and documentation of the shipwreck were conducted using a multibeam echo sounder and side-scan sonar.
“This is essential equipment for hydrographic and archaeological surveys, especially in the field of shipwreck archaeology.”
Although this World War Two wreck has only just been confirmed, these recent fishermen were not the first to come across the boat.
It was first discovered in 2011 by diving brothers José Luiz and Everaldo Pompermayer Meriguete.
They were alerted by a fisherman whose net became stuck to the seabed.
The duo, called in deep-sea diver Domingos Afonso Jório, found the net entangled in a cannon.
They alerted the Navy but the discovery was confirmed 14 years later.
WAR LOSS
The Vital de Oliveira was sunk by the U-861 U-boat.
The German submarine attacked when dozens of men were dozing though their rest shift.
This warships stern was ripped open, and the force of the blast reportedly toppled a “load of wood”, blocking passages that were needed for escape.
Some of the wood would later float to the surface, creating a lifeline for the survivors, who’d faced “strong whirlpools” when the ship went down.
The U-861 survived the war, and was surrendered at Trondheim, Norway, before being scuttled off the coast of Ireland on December 31, 1945.
It’s captain Jürgen Oesten would live to the age of 96, passing away on August 5, 2010.
