Vital de Oliveira
| Name | Vital de Oliveira | ||
| Type: | Troop transport | ||
| Tonnage | 1.737 tons | ||
| Completed | 1910 - Ailsa Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Troon | ||
| Owner | Brazilian Navy | ||
| Homeport | Rio de Janeiro | ||
| Date of attack | 20 Jul, 1944 | Nationality:  Brazilian | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-861 (Jürgen Oesten) | ||
| Position | 22.29S, 41.09W - Grid GB 2154 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 275 (100 dead and 175 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Salvador - Vitória - Rio de Janeiro | ||
| Cargo | Troops and wood | ||
| History | Built as steam merchant Itaúba for Cia Nacional de Navegação Costeira, Rio de Janeiro. In 1911 the ship was requisitioned by the Brazilian Navy and used as troop transport to Paraguay. She was then returned to the owner, but on 13 Oct, 1932, requisitioned again as auxiliary and on 2 December renamed Vital de Oliveira. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 04.54 hours on 20 Jul, 1944, U-861 torpedoed the Vital de Oliveria (Capitão-de-Fragata João Batista de Medeiros Guimarães Roxo) which sank within 6 minutes about 25 miles south of São Tomé lighthouse. Her sole escort Javarí (CS 51) was missed by a torpedo and initially searched for the attacker but then rescued the commander and other survivors together with the Brazilian fishing vessel Guanabara. | ||
If you can help us with any additional information on this vessel then please contact us.