' was a cargo steamship. She was built in Germany for in 1913 as '. She became ' in 1917, when Brazil seized her and renamed her after the ParnaÃÂba River. Lloyd Brasileiro was managing ' by 1923, and owned her by 1927.
In May 1942 a U-boat sank ' in the North Atlantic, killing seven of her crew. She was the seventh ship attacked since the beginning of the war, and the sixth after Brazil terminated diplomatic relations with the Axis powers in January 1942.
She was the first of two ships to be called '. The second was built in 1921 as '; bought by in 1923 and renamed '; and transferred in 1925 or 1926 to Norddeutscher Lloyd. Hamburg Südamerikanische DG bought her in 1937 and renamed her '. A mine sank her in 1940.
She was also the first of two ships to be named after the ParnaÃÂba River. The second was a Type C1-M-AV1 motor ship that was built in 1945 as Blackwall Hitch. bought her in 1947 and renamed her '. She was scrapped in 1969.
Between 1912 and 1914, took delivery of a class of four new cargo ships. AG Weser in Bremen built ' in 1912 and ' in 1914. in Bremerhaven built ' in 1913, and Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft in Flensburg built ', also in 1913. All four were built to a similar specification, with four masts; two decks; one screw; and one quadruple-expansion steam engine. ' and ' were slightly shorter and broader than ' and '.
built ' as yard number 327. She was launched on January 25, 1913, and completed that March. Her registered length was ; her beam was ; her depth was ; and her draught was . Her tonnages were and . Her engine was rated at 670 NHP, and gave her a speed of .
registered ' in Bremen. Her code letters were QKGD. She was equipped with wireless telegraphy. By 1914, her German call sign was DAQ.
' was in Rio de Janeiro when the First World War began, and she remained there to avoid Entente naval patrols. In February 1917, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. That April and May, German U-boats sank three Brazilian steamships. On April 11, Brazil terminated diplomatic relations with Germany. On June 2, Brazil seized 46 German merchant ships that were sheltering in Brazilian ports. They included ' and ' in , which were renamed ' and ' respectively.
' was registered in . By 1921, the Government of France had chartered her. was managing her by 1923, and owned her by 1927. By 1934, her four-letter call sign was PUBU, and this had superseded her code letters.
On April 5, 1942, ' left . She called at Recife in Pernambuco, where she left on April 24, bound for New York. Her Master was Captain . She carried 70 other officers and men, and one passenger,and was defensively armed with one naval gun on her poop.
On May 1, ' was about 220 miles east of Trinidad, and a similar distance north of British Guiana, steaming at . At 14:46 hrs local time (20:46 hrs Central European Time), on a calm sea in clear weather, fired one torpedo at her. It struck her port side, aft of amidships, breaching the empty port bunker. Six men were killed in her engine room: her Third Engineer; three stokers; and three trimmers. The explosion also destroyed one of her four lifeboats.
' was sinking slowly by the stern. Captain immediately ordered her crew to abandon ship in her remaining three lifeboats. Her wireless officer transmitted a distress signal. By the time he had sent the signal, all three boats had been launched. Wearing a life jacket, he jumped overboard, and swam to one of the boats. However, just as he reached the boat, a shark caught him, and dragged him underwater to his death.
Ten minutes later, after the three boats were clear of the ship, U-162 surfaced. The U-boat fired 66 rounds from her 105 mm deck gun and 20 rounds from her 37 mm anti-aircraft gun, setting ' on fire. Two and a half hours later the cargo ship sank, at position .
After the sinking, Captain set a course for the lifeboats to head for land. But the weather roughened, with wind and large waves that threatened to capsize the lifeboats. At dawn the next day, a patrolling US flying boat sighted the lifeboats, and landed to provide drinking water and provisions. An hour later, the plane returned, and dropped parachute flares above the lifeboats to mark their position.
Half an hour later, the Spanish cargo ship ' found one of the lifeboats, and rescued its occupants. On the afternoon of May 3, the Canadian motor ship Turret Cape found one of the lifeboats, and rescued its 26 occupants. The next day, she landed them at Georgetown, British Guiana. The other lifeboat was not found, but its 16 occupants successfully sailed her to Trinidad.