Look at the 3 different versions of the cover art for The Cay.

EDIT ME Theodore Taylors story the cay is takes place in an reagion of the carribbean sea during world war two. During this time the country of Curacao wear Phillip lives is controlled by Holland and is home to one of the largerst oil refineryes in the world. This made the island of great importants to the war efforts and a target for the german submarines.

Find Curacao…

“… the warm, blue Carribean…” page 10

“I was asleep on the second floor of our narrow, gabled green house in Willemstad, on the island of Curacao, the largest of the Dutch islands just off the coast of Venezuela.” page 9

… the city, which looks like a part of old Holland, except that all the houses are painted in soft colors, pinks and greens and blues…” page 10

The island is oddly shaped, with many waterways and ports.

“The fort looks as though it came out of a storybook, with gun ports along the high wall that faces the sea. For years, it guarded Willemstad. But this morning, it did not look like a storybook fort at all. There were real soldiers with rifles and we saw machine guns.” (Page 11).

Queen Emma pontoon bridge, spans the harbor Where Phillip and Henrik went to go see the enemy U-boats

“… we went down to the Koningin Emma Brug, the famous Queen Emma pontoon bridge, which spans the channel that leads to the huge harbor, the Schottegat. The bridge is built on floats so that it can swing open as ships pass in or out.” (page 12)

“… the Germans might attempt to shell the refinery and the oil storage tanks…” (page 14)

SS. Empire Tern, British Tanker