Espreitando cardumes de aço

os pescadores e marítimos baianos na Segunda Guerra Mundial

Abstract

After Brazil's declaration of war on the Axis, in August 1942, the country began to organize its active and passive defense systems. This last included several measures related to the preparation of civilian populations to face an enemy that attacked us specially through submarine weapons. Among the many social groups that made up this front were coastal workers, seafarers and artisanal fishermen who lived and worked along the immense Brazilian coastline. This article aims to investigate how and to what extent these people effectively acted in the surveillance and protection actions of our sea and our beaches. Here, we focus specifically on the individuals who inhabited the coast of Bahia, the most extensive in the country and the scene of some of the most remarkable episodes related to our participation in the Second World War.