damaged one of Melbourne Stars machine gun posts. The bottoms of Melbourne Stars lifeboats were burnt to charcoal. The damage, fire and smoke were so close that many of Melbourne Stars crew assumed she had been hit and 36 of them leapt into the sea, although fuel on the surface of the sea was also on fire. The entered the fire and smoke, rescuing 22 men from Melbourne Star and a few survivors from Waimarama. Nine of Melbourne Stars crew and five of her DEMS gunners were not found. Melbourne Star reached Valletta's Grand Harbour later the same day. Twelve hours after entering port a shell from Waimaramas cargo was found embedded in the deck above the captain's day cabin. It had been blown in the air when Waimarama exploded, smashed through the wooden surface of Melbourne Stars deck, embedded itself in the steel plate beneath but failed to explode. Captain MacFarlane was one of three Merchant Navy captains from Operation Pedestal who shortly afterwards were awarded the DSO "for fortitude, seamanship and endurance... in the face of relentless attacks... from enemy submarines, aircraft and surface forces". For their part in the Malta convoys chief officer Leslie Parsons and chief engineer Harry Blandford were awarded the DSC, and boatswain J Cook, chief steward Herbert O'Connor, lamp-trimmer Frederich McWilliam and able seamen James Fleming and Alexander Greenwood were awarded the DSM. petty officer H Ince was awarded the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct. second officer W.E. Richards, third officer G.D. Knight and chief refrigerating engineer C.W. Almond were mentioned in dispatches. On 7 December 1942 Melbourne Star left Malta with Convoy ME 11, which reached Suez four days later. She seems to have passed through the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean, for on 2 February 1943 she left Montevideo in neutral Uruguay for Liverpool, where she arrived on 22 February. In 1943 Blue Star transferred her ownership from Union Cold Storage to Frederick Leyland and Co. Loss On 24 March 1943 Melbourne Star left Liverpool for Sydney via the Panama Canal. She carried torpedoes, ammunition, other materiel, 76 crew, 11 DEMS gunners and 31 passengers. Melbourne Stars Master was now James Hall, who had commanded the liner until she was sunk in October 1942. Several of his officers and men were veterans of Melbourne Stars participation in Operation Pedestal. Six other crewmen were survivors of another Imperial Star-class ship, ,