On 30 April 1943, the Omaha collided with her sister ship, the USS Milwaukee (CL-5) while on patrol together. There was considerable damage, but not enough to cancel the patrol. When it was over, both ships put in to Brazil for repairs.
Ordinary rescue and search operations continued until early 1944, when the Omaha and USS Jouett were together and a plane from the Omaha spotted a ship about 55 miles off the Brazilian coast on 4 January. At 10:20, the Omaha challenged the ship with a searchlight that produced no acknowledgement. Lookouts spotted two guns at the front of the unknown ship and then smoke was seen coming from the stern of the ship, indicating that the crew was in the process of scuttling the ship.
The Omaha and Jouett opened fire and the stranger's crew began heading for lifeboats at the stern. The Omaha then opened fire on the crew trying to get them to return to the ship, but by now it was obvious the ship was sinking.
The Omaha then opened fire on the ship and it sank stern first. With fears that they might have alerted lurking U-boats in the area, the two American ships withdrew from the area without picking up survivors.
The ship was later identified as the German blockade runner Rio Grande. The Marblehead was able to rescue 72 Rio Grande survivors later on January 8.
--GreGen
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