Evening star., 1942-02-20
Tiny Sub Sinks
Brazilian Ship;
Captain Quizzed
Rodiomun's Picture
Token After Attack
OFF U. S. Coast
BY the Associated Press.

BY tne associated Press.
NORFOLK, Va. Feb. 20.-The
4,080 ton Brazilian freighter
Olinda was sunk by an Axis sub
marine off the Atlantic Coast
Wednesday afternoon, the fifth
naval district announced today,
and crew members landed here
declared the submersible was
pocket size"
The entire crew of 46 was picked
up from two lifeboats by a rescue
ship after alternately drifting and
rowing for 20 hours.
Francisco Nogueira of Sac Paolo,
Brazil, said that he and Capt. Jacob
Bonemond were ordered aboard the
submarine by its commander and
were questioned concerning the
nature of their cargo. where they
were from and their destination.
The submarine. which fired 1T
or l8 shells-more or less" at the
ship before the crew abandoned
her, sent a torpedo into the Olinda
about amidship after the crew had
taken to the boats, Nogueira said,
adding that the freighter went down
about an hour and half later.
Noguera said the undersea raider
was small enough to put in nv
pocket" The submersible had one
deck gun and two machine guns.
Nogueira was unable to say what
the caliber of the deck gun was.
Crew members said that United
States naval planes were sighted
approaching while the submarine
was still on the surface and that
the submersible Immediately crash
dived.
When the submarine first ap-
peared Wednesday afternoon, Radio
Operator Noguiera said the sub
mersible fired a number of shells
across the bow and over the shin.
The sub was 2 miles away at the
time. The first shell, he said, car
ried away the radio antenna making
impossible the sending of distress
signals. More shells followed and the
captain gave the order to abandon
ship.
Ordered to Board U-Boat.
The crew left the ship in two
| lifeboats and pulled away. Officers
on the subs deck commanded the
two boats to approach and as the
lifeboats drew near the commander,
| speaking in English. Spanish and
Portuguese, ordered the captain and
the radio operator to come aboard.
Noguiera boarded the submarine
/ first and was questioned between
six and ten minutes" He was
treated courteously, the radio opera
tor said, and they took my picture
once" The subs crew also took
pictures of the Olinda's two life
boats.
When Noguiera returned to his
lifeboat, Capt. Benemond boarded
the submarine and stayed about 10
minutes. The sub commander asked
him for his ships papers but Bene-
mond told him the papers were
aboard the ship.
Benemond returned to his. life
boat and the submarine then tor
pedoed the freighter.
Was Bound for New York.
The Olinda listed heavily. turned
over on her side and went to the.
bottom about an hour and a half
after the crew entered the life boats.
The Olinda was out of Bahia for
New York with cargo of cocoa and
castor beans.
Pedro Lama, fireman. of Belem.
| who was in the boiler room when
the attack began, told newspaper
men that fire broke out during the
shelling in the ships No. hold and
| in the engine room.
The Foreign Ministry in Brazil
issued this statement on the sinking:
According to information re-
ceived from our Embassy in Wash
ington and our consulate in Nor
folk, Va, the Brazilian ship Olinda
was sunk by shellfire on February 18.
The crew, composed of As per-
| sons, was saved.
The Brazilian government Is
taking the necessary steps to clarity
this occurrence in order to safe
guard the national interests"
The Olinda sinking was the 30th
attack on vessels operating in At
lantic waters since the Axis SUBJ
marines began their drive in Ameri-
can waters, January Il. The latest
ship casualty was the 11615-ton
tanker e. H. Blum, which was the
victim of attack or a mine explo-
sion. The ship before that was
| another brazilian ono tho Bllarn,1e