Mercy Ships

During World War II, repurposed Swedish cruise ships called "Mercy Ships" participated in about a dozen exchanges between targeted, war-torn, countries; such as Japan and Germany. People of "high-value" like diplomats, businessmen, and other influential people and their families were top priority on these ships. People with less importance were turned away and unfortunately, faced incarceration camps. Prior to boarding these ships, the FBI searched each passenger and confiscated personal items such as books, writings, or other belongings that could be deemed "suspicious".

The journey took several weeks, in fact, it took more than a month to reach the second stop in Mozambique, a neutral Portuguese territory in Africa. While aboard the ship, passengers had no clue what they would face through their journey. The threat of the ship being torpedoed by German forces was a strong possibility.

Luckily, the Gripsholm was able to complete all of its voyages without harm