 Salazar's fears were not groundless as, despite Portuguese neutrality, the steamer "Ganda" was torpedoed and sunk by the Germans in June 1941.On 12 October 1941 the neutral ship "Corte Real" was stopped for inspection by "U-83" 80 miles west of Lisbon.The U-boat opened fire with the deck gun, setting the ship on fire and finally sinking her with two torpedoes.