The Ghost of U-513

On the 27th of July 1943, a US patrol plane spotted a German U-boat on the water surface. There was no time for the vessel to dive: 2 bombs were direct hits. The U-boat was U-513. It took 46 of its crew to their deaths – only 7 men survived. But until now, the final resting place of U-513 and what exactly happened to it has remained a mystery. The adventurer Vilfredo Schürmann made it his mission to find the submarine off the Brazilian coast, and in the spring of 2012 finally struck gold: followed by our cameras, he managed to locate the wreck. It allows us to piece together the puzzle of the U-boat’s final mission and grisly end.