Saturday 17 February 1945 the crew sighted land bearing 255° T identified as mainland Brazil, South America. At 1343 the Brazilian pilot came on board and took the ship into Recife, Brazil. ATR-7 moored to the berth at 1402 and secured the main engines and special sea detail.

Some of the crew shaved their heads bald for the line crossing ceremony. When arriving at the port of Recife, a crowd of men and women lined the dock to see the latest arrival of foreigners. When they saw some of our boys with shaved heads, two women on the dock pointed their fingers at the men and cried out "Calaboose! Calaboose!", thinking that the men were convicts.     Recife, Brazil (called Pernambuco by some foreigners) is a port city located on the mouth of a river.