As Port-de-Bouc's solitary church bell struck six, the shrill blast of a ship's siren split the air. This was the deadline the British had set. If the 4,424 Palestine-barred Jews aboard three British prison ships in Port-de-Bouc's harbor failed to disembark, the British would order the ships to Germany.
Half an hour later, the last supply boat headed for the French shore, carrying six sick refugees—the Jews' reply to the British ultimatum. The Runnymede Park put to sea, with its passengers grasping the grill of their caged-in deck and singing defiantly in Hebrew. The Ocean Vigour and Empire Rival followed.
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