SS Arabutan

SS Arabutan was the fifth Brazilian merchant ship to be sunk during World War II. At 21.10 hours on 7 March 1942, the German submarine GS U-155 (1941) fired a stern torpedo that hit the Arabutan (Master Aníbal Alfredo do Prado) after 102 seconds and caused it to sink in 13 minutes about 81 miles off Cape Hatteras, at 35.15N/73.55W.

The ship had been spotted one hour earlier but no neutrality markings were noticed. One crew member, the nurse Manoel Florêncio Coimbra was lost, he probably was killed by the explosion while sleeping in his cabin. The master, 50 crew members, three sailors from the Brazilian tanker Itamarati and a survivor from Buarque abandoned ship in four lifeboats which were sighted about six hours later by aircraft. On 8 March, the US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Calypso (WPG-104) picked up the survivors and landed them at Little Creek, Virginia after sinking their boats as a hazard to navigation.