Memória, patrimônio e arqueologia dos torpedeamentos (1942): Sergipe no cenário da Segunda Guerra Mundial

• Ano de defesa: 2024
• Autor(a) principal: Rosa, Roberta da Silva
• Orientador(a): Rambelli, Gilson
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Pós-Graduação em Arqueologia
• Palavras-chave em Português: Arqueologia; Arqueologia submarina; Guerra Mundial, 1939-1945; Naufrágios; Patrimônio cultural
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Archaeology of Aquatic Environments; Conflict and War Archaeology; Archaeology of the Contemporary Past; World War II; Torpedoings in Sergipe
• Palavras-chave em Espanhol: Arqueología de Ambientes Acuáticos; Arqueología del Conflicto y de la Guerra; Arqueología del Pasado Contemporáneo; Segunda Guerra Mundial; Ataques por Torpedos en Sergipe
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CIENCIAS HUMANAS::ARQUEOLOGIA::ARQUEOLOGIA HISTORICA
• Link de acesso: https://ri.ufs.br/jspui/handle/riufs/25727

During the winter of August 1942, in the context of World War II, three Brazilian merchant ships were attacked by the German submarine U-507 off the coasts of Sergipe and Bahia. The torpedoing and subsequent sinking of the vessels Baependí, Araraquara, and Aníbal Benévolo resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Brazilians, including military personnel and civilians, among whom were women and children. These tragic maritime events, known as the Brazilian Pearl Harbor, were considered the trigger for Getúlio Vargas's government to declare war on Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. In this context, the present thesis aims to investigate the histories of the three mentioned merchant ships using the theoretical andmethodological framework of the Archaeologies of War, Conflict, Aquatic Environments, and the Contemporary Past. The research is based on material, oral, documentary, iconographic, cartographic, and bibliographic sources, seeking to identify the technological characteristics of the vessels, their routes, the profile of the crews and passengers, and to document the stories of some victims and contemporaries of the time through material culture. As a development, the thesis includes the Second World War Submerged Project, which aims to conduct a sonar survey to detect the possible locations of two of these torpedoed ships. To this end, fieldwork is conducted using methods and techniques from Underwater Archaeology to locate the archaeological shipwreck sites of Aníbal Benévolo and Baependí and investigate their conservation conditions after 82 years on the floor of the South Atlantic. The relevance of the thesis lies in the fact that it is an unprecedented study proposing two archaeological expeditions in search of these remnants of torpedoed shipwrecks, which are part of Brazil's Underwater Cultural Heritage. One confirmed result of the research is that the wreck of the Aníbal Benévolo is not located at the sites indicated by historical sources. However, for Archaeology, the absence of material evidence constitutes valuable information. Consequently, new hypotheses suggest that the ships may lie at greater depths, near thecontinental slope, in an area not yet mapped. Although the wrecks were not located, the archaeological research has generated interpretations that challenge the historical understanding consolidated over the past 80 years. This justifies the investment andm demonstrates advances, such as the production of a documentary showcasing the development of the research and its contributions to disseminating the stories of the torpedoing events that occurred during the most far-reaching global conflict of the 20th century.