Children arrive in U.S. after their Portuguese ship was stopped by German submarine fire.

Children arrive in U.S. after their Portuguese ship was stopped by German submarine fire. Three young boys smile happily at an American Navy officer after their arrival, on May 31, 1944, at an Eastern U.S. port, on a Portuguese ship which was stopped in the mid-Atlantic by German submarine fire. The children were among the neutral Serpa Pinto's 385 passengers and crewmen who spent nine hours in lifeboats after the German submarines commander threatened to torpedo the Portuguese vessel on May 26. Three passengers died during the transfer to the small boats. The U-boat commander took two American citizens prisoner, releasing the rest of the passengers, made up of refugees from occupied Europe en route to Canada, U.S. citizens, and immigrants to be admitted to the United States.