In accordance with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1944 executive order authorizing 1,000 refugees to enter the United States, 982 people boarded the ship, leaving Naples, Italy, in July, 1944, and making the trans-Atlantic crossing. Throughout the voyage, the Henry Gibbins was hunted by Nazi seaplanes and U-boats. The story was captured by Ruth Gruber, who played an instrumental part in the mission in her book Haven: The Dramatic Story of 1000 World War II Refugees and How They Came to America.
