tray
Origin: England
Date: 1942
Material: Silver
Dimension: Lenght: 295 mm
MM.06661
During World War II, Portugal did not take sides in the conflict. However, the country could not remain totally oblivious to a world-wide conflict. Much of the fighting at sea occurred in Portuguese waters, and Portuguese ships rescued numerous shipwreck survivors. One of the ships that had a very active participation in these rescue missions was the destroyer Lima, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Sarmento Rodrigues.
This tray was offered by Blue Star Line Limited, London, as recognition of Lima’s action in the rescue of the survivors of the liner Avila Star. The German submarine U-201 had torpedoed this liner on June 5th, 1942. Over a month later, during the night of July 7th to July 8th, the destroyer Lima, which was in transit from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada, found three of the five lifeboats. 110 survivors were rescued and the search for the other two lifeboats began. Although the Lima was not able to locate the survivors before running out of fuel, she still passed on the notice of possible survivors. These were later found by Portuguese aircrafts, and rescued by the dispatch vessel Pedro Nunes.