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TRINDADE - the rocky island 1,000 kilometers east of Rio de Janeiro in the middle of the south Atlantic (photo below) has been the possession of Brazil for a very long time, but in 1938 the small contingent of Brazilian Navy personnel was pulled off the island and returned to mainland Brazil - and just one week later, the German supply ships arrived to set up their facility.  One would be correct to wonder who set this up in advance since the German ships "just happened" to be a mere week away when the Brazilian Navy left the island.  The photo array below is a comparison with the photographs on the left way the island looked in the time surrounding World War II and the photographs on the right taken by Sharkhunters Founder and President HARRY COOPER (1-LIFE-1983) (photo below right) in October 2009 with the generous help of Member JACK GOODIER (127-LIFE-1985) and the fantastic cooperation of the Navy of Brazil.

 
A VERY long way out to sea   COOPER ready to go ashore by chopper.


We have seen the report on the main Sharkhunters page, but this is the special page with the photographs of the island itself that is not linked from our website and thus, only available to Members.

THEN   NOW
 
The landing place in March 1939
Huts and trees are easily seen.		   The landing place in October 2009.  The red arrow indicates the same peak as seen in the center of the 1939 photo.
     
 
The island has not changed much since 1939 except that in 1939 and for decades, the goats on the island all but denuded it of anything green.   The same peak used for reference is seen directly above the rotor of the Brazilian Navy Bell Jet Ranger III helicopter.
 
Photos above shot from the area marked with the red "X" on the chart below looking at Turtle Beach marked in yellow.
 

If you are not yet a Member, you should join.  Sharkhunters Members get all this information and a whole lot more including a monthly Magazine with facts, veteran's memories and stories you cannot get anywhere else - and when you join, you may select one of our hand-signed photos of veterans of the war as your free gift.  Send us an email at sharkhunters@earthlink.net with your name, and request a FREE sample of our KTB Magazine.  You will love it - and there is NO obligation!

             What was/is ashore for human habitation and operations?

     

 

These huts were built shortly after World War One and again we see that the goats have pretty well denuded the island of all its vegetation but it was the goats living wild on the island that provided some of the food especially for the vessels making their way to South America in the closing months of World War Two and for two years thereafter.

As we have reported in our KTB Magazine, the German contingent was on the island until late 1941 when they departed the island until early 1944.  A German group returned to the island shortly thereafter and managed the stock of the goats, pigs & sea turtles used for food to replenish foodstocks on these vessels headed for south America.  The island also had a plentiful supply of fresh water in the streams and pools all over the island.

The headquarters then and now are at the southern end of Turtle Beach which is marked in yellow on the chart above.

Photographs below were taken by COOPER in October 2009 of this same area.  However, since the goats were removed by the Navy in 2005, the grass and ground cover is rapidly returning and the streams, which had been failing because of the goats eating the retaining grass from the banks have now returned to their former status.
The memorial block for the return of the Brazilian Navy to Trinidade.  
 

Our ship, ADMIRAL SABOIA, where the Kriegsmarine had been 70 years ago; where members of the Reich got their food and fresh water before starting a new life in various south American countries.
         See more photos of the HQ Compound,
                click this photo above.

   Foundation blocks for the old huts.
     
 
More foundation blocks.  

The door on the left is the phone booth where the staff stationed here for two months at a time can call home to anywhere in Brazil - free.  The door on the right is the data center with four computers that the staff may use at no charge for emails, Internet, web browsing etc.
     
 

Believe it or not, I have to hike all the way up where the red arrow is going then around that peak for the first plateau where it is reported the Germans built a radio station.  More on that later.

    


  JOIN SHARKHUNTERS NOW!
Click on our emblem here to see all the benefits of Membership including a FREE photo that has been hand-signed by the veteran.  Almost 100 veterans, all Sharkhunters Members, hand-signed 100 each of their photos for us to give to new Members.  Most of these are not available anywhere else in the world.  Don't miss your opportunity - join now.

 
Some of the old foundation columns are still here.   I have to walk all the way up that path (?) marked in red and around behind that peak to one of the plateaus where the Germans built a radio station.  Note what appears to be a small hole in the side of the peak; that is the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.  More on that later.

Put on your hiking boots, grab the camera and a large bottle of water, and let's head for what was reported to be a German built radio station on the first plateau marked by the yellow oval on the large chart about.  Look at the chart - it is directly to the south of the Navy compound and again looking at the chart................................isn't very far at all.  Right - let's begin..........

 

Did we mention that the ground is ANYTHING but smooth..........

  

......and we are going WAAAYYYYY UP THERE!
     
 
This is where we must go - and that is not even halfway!   But first we begin on fairly simple ground - flat, more or less.
     
 

After what seems like miles, we leave the grassy fields

  

and start up the REALLY rugged parts of this climb.
     
 

Both these photos show how really rough this terrain is.  This is all loose

  

rock and pebbles that slip out from under your feet.  It is NOT easy!
Click on this photo of COOPER at the Grotto of Lourdes to see more photographs of the terrain, beaches, ridges and more on the southeastern corner of the island of Trindade.  

And what do we find at the top of this very high plateau ridge?  Take a look.
                                Click on Any of these Three
                             Photos Below for your Answer

   

At the far southeastern end of the island indicated by the red arrow in the chart above we find this unique natural phenomenon - the tunnel that cuts through the island has plenty of water depth and is very high overhead.  What else was this tunnel used for?

                      Click on this photo for more photos.

  

Now we head for the second plateau which we see more or less by the blue circle on the main chart above. This is up from Portuguese Beach, shown by the blue line on the chart.

The radio station built by the German contingent in 1939 on the second plateau is clearly seen in this photo.  The translation is:
     Geheime Reichssache! = Secret, Reich Affairs
     Geheime Kommandosache! = Secret for the Commander Affairs
     Chefsache! = Chief's affairs
     Trinidate Insel = Trindad Island
     Funkstation, zweites Plateau, März 1939 = Radio station, second plateau, March 1939

Looking at this photo, supplied by S.E.I.G. Agent PIZZARRO, there can be no doubt in anyone's mind.  The HQ facility was there; the radio station was there - it is clearly seen in this March 1939 photograph.  To see more, click on this large photograph above.
Don't forget - Sharkhunters Members get all this information and a whole lot more including a monthly Magazine with facts, veteran's memories and stories you cannot get anywhere else - and when you join, you may select one of our hand-signed photos of veterans of the war as your free gift.  Send us an email at sharkhunters@earthlink.net with your name, and request a FREE sample of our KTB Magazine.  You will love it - and there is NO obligation!

  *  *  *  SPECIAL  *  *  *
 We shot literally hundreds of photographs in high resolution (approx. 4 megapixel - TEN TIMES the resolution of the photos on this page) during our time in Brazil and also two hours of film on this mysterious island, and you have your very own copy of either - or of both!

The photographs are on a Powerpoint presentation and the high resolution makes the photos so clear, it is like you were there.
     Order Trinidade Powerpoint     Only $15

We also offer a two hour long DVD, all shot on the island itself.  This is a beautiful but very rugged island!
  Order Trinidade DVD    Only $25

              Order BOTH - only $40 total!
Please add $5 each shipping in the USA or $10 each elsewhere.

  JOIN SHARKHUNTERS NOW!
Click on our emblem here to see all the benefits of Membership including a FREE photo that has been hand-signed by the veteran.  Almost 100 veterans, all Sharkhunters Members, hand-signed 100 each of their photos for us to give to new Members.  Most of these are not available anywhere else in the world.  Don't miss your opportunity - join now.

 

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