[1][2] Lim was Second Mess Steward on SS Benlomond, a British cargo ship that the German submarine U-172 sank on 23 November 1942.

After Lim returned to the United Kingdom, King George VI awarded him the British Empire Medal.

In 1942 Lim was Second Mess Steward on the Ben Line cargo ship Benlomond,[3] which was en route from Suez to New York via Cape Town and Paramaribo.

On 23 November, U-172 intercepted and hit Benlomond with two torpedoes at position 0°18′N 38°27′W / 00.30°N 38.45°W / 00.30; -38.45, about 250 miles (400 km) north of the coast of Brazil.

[6][7] Lim at first kept himself alive by drinking the water and eating the food on the raft, but later resorted to fishing, catching seabirds, and collecting rainwater in a canvas life jacket covering.

Lim had braided his fishing line to double thickness, and had wrapped his hands in canvas to give them a little protection.

The plane reported back to US Navy authorities in Belém, Brazil, but a storm hit the area at the same time and he was lost again.

[citation needed] By April 1943, Lim realized that he was nearing land, as the color of the sea was no longer a deep ocean blue.

On 5 April three Brazilian fishermen found him, about 9 nautical miles (16 km) off the coast of Pará, east of Salinas.

[6] On 10 April the British Consul in Pará telegraphed a report to the Ministry of War Transport in London, seeking confirmation of the loss of Benlomond.

[11] His citation states that "Poon Lim displayed exceptional courage, fortitude and resource in overcoming the tremendous difficulties with which he was faced during the long and dangerous voyage on the raft".

When the plant closed he went back to being a sailor[10] becoming a messman for the United States Lines and worked for them until retiring in 1983 as a Chief Steward.

However, because of his fame and the aid of Senator Warren Magnuson, he received a special dispensation and eventually gained citizenship[14] in 1952.

[13] After becoming a US citizen, Lim was prohibited from returning to his homeland as travel was not permitted to the now People's Republic of China, so he had to ask his parents to meet him in Hong Kong to visit them.

"[11] People have since lived longer lost at sea: three Mexican sailors floated for 10 months from 2005 to 2006 in the Pacific Ocean in a disabled fishing boat.

The writer Alfred Bester later stated that Lim's ordeal was used in his novel The Stars My Destination, which opens with a man stranded in space.