SS Baependy

Baependy was a merchant steamship, which was in Brazilian ownership when a U-boat sank her in 1942. Her sinking killed 270 people; including numerous women and children; and was instrumental in Brazil declaring war on Germany and Italy. Her sinking has the biggest death toll of any Brazilian ship sunk by an act of war, and the fourth deadliest in history involving a Brazilian ship.

The ship was built in Germany in 1899 as the mail steamer Tijuca for Hamburg Südamerikanische DG. She was what in German is called a "kombischiff": a term roughly equivalent to "cargo liner" in English. She was the last of 11 Asuncion-class ships to be built for Hamburg Süd.

For nearly 15 years, Tijuca carried emigrants and cargo on a regular route between Hamburg and the east coast of South America. At the beginning of the First World War, she took refuge in a port in neutral Brazil. In 1917, after Germany started sinking Brazilian merchant ships, the Brazilian government seized her and renamed her Baependy. Lloyd Brasileiro was managing her by 1923, and owned her by 1927.

In August 1942 a German U-boat sank Baependy, killing 270 people. Only 36 people survived. German and Italian submarines had been sinking Brazilian-owned ships since that February, and some of those sinkings had killed crew members. However, the sinking of Baependy killed twice as many people as all previous attacks, and they included numerous women and children. This was compounded by the same U-boat, U-507, sinking another four Brazilian ships in the 48 hours after she sank Baependy. Brazilians were outraged. After resulting public protests, and some civil disorder, Brazil declared war on Germany and Italy a week later.