Ship – Pillory (Panama)
Birth place – Madeira Island
Birth date – 1918
Death date – 05/06/1944
Father –
Mother –
.
José Pimenta, oiler on the Pillory, was one of 25 missing when the ship was sunk by U-539 off Puerto Rico on June 5, 1944.
Pimenta lived with his wife in the USA and was on way to became a US citizen. This is probably the reason why the Portuguese authorities were not informed of his disappearance, as the information of other missing Portuguese from the Pillory was sent by the US Coast Guard on June 15, 1944.
According to information collected by the website uboat.net, the wife, Irene Pimenta, a US citizen, was pregnant and the son - Joseph R. Pimenta -, was born five months after his father's disappearance.
On the same ship also disappeared the Portuguese José Agostinho, António de S. Lima, Manuel Ferreira and António S. De Carvalho.
The vessel flew a Panamanian flag, but on service to the USA trough the Danish Ship Operating Co, and based in New York.
External sources
Pillory - Uboat.net § Pillory - Uboat.net § Pillory - armed-guard.com § Manuel Ferreira - Uboat.net § Manuel Ferreira -Wrecksite.eu § Arquivo Histórico e Diplomático
