in the only aircraft carrier ever operated by the Portuguese Navy), two auxiliary cruisers, two transport ships and four naval trawlers, that join the cruiser Vasco da Gama, a destroyer and three gunships, to constitute the naval forces organized to retake Madeira. These forces carried on board four CAMS 37 flying boats and an Army landing force. The naval expedition leaves Lisbon on 24 April, with the landing operations starting on 26 April. The air support, provided by the Naval Aviation flying boats operating from the Cubango, was crucial for the success of the landings and the advance of the Government forces inside the island. After several days of combat, on 2 May 1931, the rebels cease the resistance. The rebellion in Madeira made it more clear that an Atlantic country like Portugal, with islands and overseas territories, could not survive without a capable and adequately equipped Navy. An important investment in the Portuguese Navy was authorized by the Government, with Minister Magalhães Correia launching a new naval program, partially based in early plans conceived by Admiral Pereira da Silva. The naval program foresee the existence of a European naval force for Atlantic control centered in destroyers and an overseas naval force for colonial service centered in avisos (sloops). These forces would be supported by a surface strike force of two cruisers, a seaplane carrier, naval aircraft, submarines and support vessels. Although only half of the program was executed, from 1933 to 1939, the Portuguese Navy acquired a total of 22 new warships, including state of the art Vouga-class destroyers, Delfim-class submarines and Afonso de Albuquerque-class, Gonçalo Velho-class and Pedro Nunes-class avisos. The cruisers ended by not to be built and the seaplane carrier started to be built, but was later cancelled and replaced by other additional ships. World War II Portugal remained a neutral country during World War II, but its Government would later assume a neutral collaborating attitude toward the Allied powers. The Navy contributed for the defense of the Portuguese neutrality at sea and air. In the beginning of the war, the Portuguese Navy included six destroyers, seven avisos, three submarines, three torpedo boats, five gunships, two river gunboats, three patrol boats, two mine warfare vessels, four survey vessels, two support vessels and two training ships. Naval Aviation included around 40 aircraft, mainly seaplanes operating from the naval air stations of Lisbon, Aveiro and Macau and from