I begynnelsen av April 1940, forlater Rio de Janeiro  havnen i Stettin med mer enn to hundre soldater av 307 Infanteridivision, ca hundre man fra Luftwaffe, åtti hester och annet militært materiell. Rio de Janeiro som helt frem til krigsutbruddet hadde gjort sivil tjeneste, var nå en del av den tyske Kriegsmarines 1. Seetransportstaffel, og er satt opp sammen med mange andre skip til å støtte opp under invasionen av Norge, operasjon Weserübung. Rio de Janeiros mål er Bergen på vestsiden av Norge. Omtrent samtidig forlater den Polske ubåten Orzel Rosyth i England for sin femte patrulje i Skagerak, og ubåten er ført av Kapitan J. Grudzinski. Orzel hadde ved Tyskernes invasjon av Polen utført en dramatisk flukt fra Polen over til England,  og kunne nå settes inn i kampen mot Det Tredje Riket i en stadig økende Polsk styrke som daglig vokste i England. Den 7. April var Orzel kommet i posisjon utenfor den Norske kysten, og nesten umiddelbart etter får hun ordre om å stoppe alla fientlige skip i sin operasjonssone. Den 8 april kl 10:15 befinner Orzel seg utenfor Lillesand da de oppdager røyk fra et uidentifisert skip, og kort tid etter ser man at skipet har kursen rett mot ubåten. Kapitan Grudzinski identifiserer skipet som det tyske Rio de Janeiro selv om skipets opprinnelse er forsøkt kamuflert. Etter å ha verifisert skipets identitet, går Orzel opp til overflatestilling for å signalisere å stoppe Rio de Janeiro. Ordre om å stoppe maskinene blir gitt skipet når Orzel befinner seg ca tusen meter unna, men Rio de Janeiro øker nå farten istedenfor å følge ordren fra Orzel. En kort salve med mitraljøse fra Orzel får allikevel Rio de Janeiro til å stoppe. Mens Rio de Janiro venter på å bli sjekket, fanger man opp signaler på Orzel om at krypterte radiomeldinger blir sendt fra Rio de Janeiro, og kort tid etter dukker også to patruljebåter opp fra den Norske kysten. Kapitan Grudzinski gir da ordre til Rio de Janeiro om å overgi skipet for at hun skal senkes innen fem minutter. Den tyske besetningen signaliserer at de har forstått, men ingen ting skjer ombord på skipet. Orzel har nå gjort klar en torpedo, men like før den skal avføres ser de at en motorbåt har kommet i veien for skuddlinjen. Orzel må nå øke farten og endre kursen for å få den første torpedoen til å bomme, men kort tid etter er den lille motorbåten ute av skuddlinjen og en ny torpedo blir avfyrt. Rio de Janeiro forsøker å akselere vekk fra skuddlinjen, men klokken 12:05 blir skipet truffet av Orzel`s andre torpedo ved midtskipet på styrbord side. Full panikk bryter ut på Rio de Janeiro, og besetningen på Orzel ser overrasket på hvor mange mennesker det befinner seg ombord på skipet. Mange hopper over bord ned i det iskalde vannet, mens andre kaster ut livbøyer og annet redningsmateriell. Orzel sirkler deretter rundt Rio de Janeiro, og flere norske båter har nå kommet frem til stedet og hjelper tyskerne opp av vannet. En tredje torpedo blir nå avfyrt som treffer skipet på babord side klokken 1315. Dette treffet deler Rio de Janeiro i to deler, og baugen forsvinner umiddelbart ned i dypet. Akterskipet hever seg sakte opp  og man kan se propellene en kort stund før også denne delen forsvinner i det kalde vannet. Av alle som var ombord ble 183 mann reddet, mens det er antatt at over 150 omkom. De overlevende Tyskerne ble ført inn Norge, og det ble forklart av disse at de var på vei til Bergen for å hjelpe Norge med forsvaret mot en planlagt Britisk-Frank invasjon. Den spente politiske situasjonen som hadde oppstått i månedene og ukene før kunne gi et bilde av en slik situasjon med tanke på Altmark-affæren og den Britiske mineleggingen ved flere lokasjoner langs den norske kysten, men sannheten viste seg raskt i morgentimene dagen etter. Vraket av Rio de Janeiro er ikke funnet offisiellt, men det antas at vraket hviler på en dybde av rundt 120 meter 2-3 nautiske mil utenfor Reiersskjær lykt ut fra Lillesand. Fiskere har i mange år fått vrakrester i garnene i dette området, og også det norske Sjøforsvar jobber med å lokalisere vraket...

In the beginning of April 1940, Rio de Janeiro leaves the harbor in Stettin with more than two hundred soldiers form 307. Infanteridivision, approx. one hundred men from Luftwaffe, eighty horses and other military material. Rio de Janeiro that all up to the outbreak of the war had done civil service, was now a part of the German Kriegsmarines 1. Seetransportstaffel, and was set up with many other ships to support the invasion of Norway, operation Weserübung. Rio de Janeiros target is the city of Bergen in western Norway. Almost at the same time the Polish submarine Orzel leaves Rosyth in England for her fifth patrol in Skagerak, led by Kapitan J. Grudzinski. Orzel had under the German invasion of Poland made a dramatic escape from Poland over to England, and could now be put into the fight against the Third Reich in a continually increasing force which on a daily basis did grow in England. 7. April Orzel had got in position outside the Norwegian coast, and received almost immediately after order to stop all enemy vessels in her operation zone. On 8. April at 10:15 Orzel is located outside Lillesand when they spot smoke from an unidentified ship, and shortly after they see that the ship has course straight towards their submarine. Kapitan Grudzinski identifies the ship as the German Rio de Janeiro even if the identity of the vessel has been camouflaged. After having verified the the identity, Orzel submerge to signalize and stop Rio de Janeiro. Order to stop the engines is given when Orzel is one thousand meters away, but Rio de Janeiro increases the speed rather than follow the order from Orzel. A short burst from the machine-gun form Orzel manages Rio de Janeiro to stop. While Rio de Janeiro awaits the inspection, radio signals are heard onboard Orzel that Rio de Janeiro sends encrypted, and shortly after also two patrol boats appears from the Norwegian coastline. Kapitan Grudzinski now gives the order to turn over the ship since she is about to be sunk within five minutes. The German crew signals that they has understood, but nothing happens onboard the ship. Orzel makes ready a torpedo, but just before it is about to be fired they see that a motor vessel has got in the way for the line of sight. Orzel must now increase the speed and change the angel of her bow to get the first torpedo to miss, but shortly after the small motor vessel is out of sight and a new torpedo is launched. Rio de Janeiro tries to accelerate away from the torpedo, but at 12:05 the ship is hit by Orzel`s second torpedo at midship on port side. Full panic emerges on Rio de Janeiro, and the crew on Orzel watches in astonishment on how many peoples there are on board the ship. Many jumps over board in the cold water, while others throws out life buoys and other emergency material. Orzel now circles around Rio de Janeiro, and also several Norwegian vessels has arrived the site and helps the Germans out of the water. A third torpedo is fired which hit the ship on port side at 1315 o'clock. This hit tears Rio de Janeiro in two pieces, and the bow immediately disappears down in the deep. The stern arises slowly, and the propellers can bee seen for a short while before also this section disappears in the cold water. By all the peoples on board 183 were rescued, while it is presumed that more than 150 perished under this sinking. The surviving Germans were taken in to Norway, and it was told by these that they were on their way to Bergen city to help with the defense against a planned British-French invasion. The tensed political situation those days that had emerged in the months and weeks before could give a realistic picture of such a situation concerning the Altmark affair and the British minefields that was laid out at several locations along the Norwegian coastline, but the truth appeared quickly in the morning hours the day after. The wreck of Rio de Janeiro is not officially been found, but it is assumed that the wreck rests on a depth of approx. 120 meters 2-3 nautical miles from Reiersskjær light outside Lillesand. Fishermen has in many years got wreck debris in their nests in this region, and also the Norwegian navy is working to locate this wreck...

 

Name:
Former names:
 Material:
Dimensions:
Rio De Janeiro
 Santa Ines
Steel
122,5x 16,8x 11,8 m.
       
Brt \ Nrt: Built: Homeport: Cargo:
5177 \ 3224 Vegesack ( D ) 1914 Stettin ( D ) War supplies, soldiers

 

3 April 1914; launched under her first name Santa Ines for HSDG.
16 May 1914; first tour. Hamburg to Rio de la Plata.
August 1914; Located in Valparaiso, Chile when First World War breaks out. Stays for the rest of the war there.
26 September 1918; the ship is besieged by soldiers form Chile. Engine destroyed by the crew.
16 September 1920; arrives Hamburg after towing from South America. Heavy damaged en-route to Germany.
14 October1921; delivered to Allied Shipping Commission, UK. The ship stays in Hamburg, Germany.
15 November 1921; sold back to HSDG and renamed Rio de Janeiro.
23 October 1934; Rio de Janeiro is heavily damaged by fire at Victoria in Brasil. Salvaged, repaired.
7 March 1940; requisitioned by Kriegsmarine.

ORZEL: THE LEGEND OF WWII
ORZEL FIGHTS FOR NORWAY'S FREEDOM
At 16:00 hours, Orzel returned to the position where the sinking had taken place. Through the periscope, Grudzinski could see a terrible scene. The bodies of many German soldiers were floating on the surface. About five hours later a British radio station announced that a "British" submarine had sunk the German transport ship, Rio de Janeiro, of 6800 tons, and that the German invasion of Norway had started. On 9 April Grudzinski saw three German trawlers. The next day at 06:00 hours, after being on the surface all night, Orzel dived, and again three trawlers were seen. The trawlers were armed with 2x88 mm guns and depth charges, but they did not have good sonar for locating submarines. Orzel kept an eye on the three trawlers, and before noon Grudzinski decided to fire two torpedoes at one of them. Just as the torpedoes were being fired, however, an aircraft attacked Orzel with bombs. Orzel was undamaged, and Grudzinski did not wait to see the result of the torpedo attack, but immediately dived to 50 meters. Two big explosions were soon heard. The torpedoes must have found their target! Shortly after this, the trawlers dropped depth charges, but they fell some distance away from Orzel. Orzel left the area, but returned later and saw only two trawlers. Grudzinski assumed that he must have sunk one of the three he had seen earlier! On 11 April, west of Kristiansand, Orzel saw a ship of about 15,000 tons, but before torpedoes could be fired, a German aircraft attacked Orzel with depth charges, fortunately without success. Orzel dived to 50 meters again. Another aircraft dropped depth charges in the position where Orzel had dived, and the two trawlers, which at that time were escorting a small convoy, also dropped depth charges, but by then, Orzel had moved about 600 meters away. The aircraft dropped several depth charges, and they were getting closer, but the aircraft abandoned their mission. Presumably they had run out of depth charges. According to German records U-5 under the command of KL Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, unsuccessfully engaged a British submarine east of Lindesnes on the 11th. As Orzel was patrolling near this area, it seems possible that she may have been attacked by the U-5, without being aware of it, but on the other hand, the British submarine Severn was also in that area on the 11th. At 21.45 hours that day she fired two torpedoes (without success), at a ship of about 6000 tons "off Kristiansand", and Kristiansand is about 40 miles east of Lindesnes. That night, a German communiqué reported that two of their trawlers had sunk an Allied submarine earlier in the day. The crew was happy to be "considered dead" as this might give them some peace from their hunters. Unfortunately the two trawlers again found Orzel at periscope depth on the morning of April 12, and she dived to 40 meters in an attempt to evade them.
The ensuing depth charge attack was a nightmare for Orzel's crew, and the submarine went down to 85 meters. This was 5 metres below her maximum designed depth. Later the two trawlers eventually left the area, probably thinking they had finally sunk the submarine. On Saturday 13 April, Orzel moved to another area after receiving an order from Rosyth. That afternoon she was near the north coast of Denmark, where German cutters attacked Orzel without success. At 20.00 hours on 14 April, three big submarine chasers were seen. Orzel dived to avoid them and resurfaced four hours later to charge her batteries. The next day, at 10:00, Orzel saw three submarine chasers through the periscope, and inadvertently surfaced. She was seen by the German ships, but could not dive again immediately. The three submarine chasers were getting close to Orzel when she crash-dived and reached 105 meters before control was regained, and the submarine brought to 50 meters depth. The attack started. Depth charges were dropped, and the crew was very nervous, as the search went on for a long time, and the oxygen in the submarine was running low. Orzel remained submerged for 24 hours while the search for her continued. During this time other vessels had probably joined the original three sub-chasers. During April 11 to 15, 111 depth charges were dropped around Orzel. Some claimed that about 200 were dropped, without causing any damage. On 16 April Orzel left to return to her base, but on 17 April an Arado aircraft attacked her. Again Orzel's luck held. Later, as they neared the British coast, explosions were heard far away. They were depth charges but obviously British, since were louder than the German depth charges they knew so well. Through the periscope, Grudzinski saw three destroyers, which he recognised as British. Orzel surfaced and exchanged recognition signals with the destroyers, which had detected and were attacking a U-boat at that time. Grudzinski wished them luck, and Orzel continued without further problems on her route to the base. At noon on 18 April Orzel reached Rosyth with pride. The British welcomed the submarine and Captain Stephens, the Commander of the 2nd Submarine Flotilla, congratulated the crew, saying "Very good Orzel, very good!" Reporters who were awaiting Orzel's arrival, started to ask the crew many questions about their adventures, and exaggerated reports later appeared in some newspapers, which reported that Orzel had sunk three or four ships including a destroyer, but the reality was that two German ships had been sunk. On this patrol Orzel had managed to cause casualties to the Kriegsmarine, and proved that she was not just a phantom submarine, but capable of causing terror and damage to the Germans.


Edited 29.06.2007