Boats sunk by a German submarine in the Algarve are the subject of a lecture in São Brás

On April 24, 1917, the German submarine SM U-35 sank four boats off the Algarve, between Lagos and Sagres. Almost a hundred years later, this moment in history will be remembered in the lecture «Project U-35» that researcher Augusto Salgado will give at the Museu do Trajo of São Brás de Alportel, on October 4th, at 14:30 pm.

This is a little-known episode, whose contours have been unveiled, since 2014, by a team of researchers coordinated by Augusto Salgado and Jorge Russo, who are analyzing the debris left by the attacks.

On that day in 1917, in the midst of World War I, the German submarine sank the Norwegian steam freighter SS Torvore, the ships SS Nordsoen and SS Vilhelm Krag and the Italian sailboat Bieneimé Prof. Luigi.

Commanding the German vessel was Commander Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, «known as “the ace of aces” and who may be responsible for the largest volume of sinking carried out to date, in tons”, according to the City Council of São Brás de Alportel. This submarine alone will have been responsible for placing 20 steamers and 3 sailboats on the seabed, taking into account the existing records.

«The studies of the wreckage of sunken ships off the Algarve region, begun in 2014 under the coordination of Augusto Salgado and Jorge Russo, allow us to gather a vast amount of relevant information at an archaeological, historical-geographic and technological level. The analyzes carried out in this context by the Naval Research Center and the Naval School, the entities responsible for this investigation, represent an important contribution to the knowledge of the submarine warfare strategy in Germany at this time», added the São Brasense autarchy.

«For its contribution to a better knowledge of European History, the work carried out by Project U-35 awarded the Naval Research Center and the Naval School the Adopt a Wreck Award 2015, awarded by the Nautical Archeology Society (Nautical Archeology Society) . This project is part of the commemorations of the 100th anniversary of World War I», concluded the Chamber.