MS Vulcania

Last updated

Italy-motonave-Vulcania-1948.jpg
History
Civil Ensign of Italy.svg Italy
NameMS Vulcania
OwnerCosulich Line [1]
Port of registryCivil Ensign of Italy.svg  Italy, Trieste
RouteTrieste – Naples – New York City – Trieste
Builder Cantiere Navale Triestino, Monfalcone, Italy
Yard number161 [1]
Laid down30 January 1926 [1]
Launched18 December 1926 [1]
Completed2 December 1928 [1]
In service1929–1974
Out of service1974
FateSunk on way to scrappers, 1974
General characteristics
Type Ocean liner
Length192.92m
Beam24.3m
Propulsion25,000 HP diesel engine [1]
Sail planTwo masts
Speed19 kn (35 km/h) [1]
Capacity1760 passengers

The MS Vulcania was an Italian ocean liner built by Cantiere Navale Triestino, Monfalcone, northern Italy, in 1926 for the Italian company, Cosulich Line.

Contents

Characteristics

The Vulcania is considered one of the most successful passenger ships ever built. During her career she carried more passengers than any other Italian-flag ship. Like her twin sister Saturnia, she was designed by Niccolò Costanzi, the director of the Cantieri Navale Triestino, and represented a great novelty in the conservative field of naval architecture.

She was a 23,970 gross ton, with an overall length of 192,92m and a breadth of 24.23m. She had one funnel, two masts, twin screw and could reach a maximum speed of 19 knots. There was accommodation for 310 First, 460 Second, 310 intermediate and 700 3rd class passengers. In 1930 her accommodation was altered to 1st, 2nd, tourist and 3rd class, and in 1962 to 1st, tourist and 3rd class only. In 1930 she was fitted with two new Burmeister & Wain diesel engines, which gave her a speed of 19.4 / 21 knots. Later she was rebuilt to a tonnage of 24,469 tons.

Although there had been various ships which offered private verandahs and promenades for the suites, the Vulcania and the Saturnia were the first liners to offer a large number of cabins with private balconies. Casa Artistica was responsible for designing the interior of the ship, in conservative classical style, with contributions from Austrian and British design firms. [2] [3] with works of art like Le Sirene, a 1934 wooden bas-relief by renowned artist Marcello Mascherini, displayed in the tourist-class bar. [4]

History

Launched on 18 December 1926, she sailed from Trieste on her maiden voyage to Patras, Naples and New York City on 19 December of the same year. On 1 January 1932, Vulcania was acquired by the newly formed Italia Flotte Reunite, founded through a merger encouraged by the Italian government of the Genoa-based Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI), the Turin-based Lloyd Sabaudo, and the Trieste-based Cosulich STN lines.

In September 1933, she transported the body of the Italian aviator Francesco de Pinedo to Italy from New York City after his death in a plane crash. [5] In the inter-war years, the Vulcania made many transatlantic routes between the Adriatic and Mediterranean ports and the Americas. In 1933, she stopped many times in Haifa and Palestine. [6] [7] [8] Commandeered by the Italian government, Vulcania's wartime service began with special trooping duties during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935. From 18 February, she made eight voyages Naples – Massawa – Mogadishu carrying troops and colonists. On 12 May, she was given new engines and renovated at the shipyard in Monfalcone to soon resume her transatlantic sailings until Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940. [9]

In December 1936 she commenced her last Trieste-New York voyage for Cosulich. When Italia was liquidated in 1937, Cosulich was absorbed into the replacement Italia Societa Anonima di Navigazione. In 1940, the Vulcania made her last run from Trieste to New York for Italia Line. [10]

On 27 April 1940, before Italy entered the war, she was given the southbound run and made her inaugural voyage to South America from Trieste to Buenos Aires, carrying a number of immigrants from Europe to Brazil and Argentina. [11] [12] She stopped in Split, Naples, Genoa, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Funchal, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Santos. [13] [14] In Gibraltar, the ship was detained for six hours on 6 May by the Allied Forces Port Authorities, who removed 1,750 postal bags originating from Germany and handed back about 1,000 mailing bags previously apprehended on the Oceania and duly examined. [11] [15] The ship landed in Rio on 16 May 1940. According to the board report issued by Captain Nestore Martinelli, she was carrying 1,015 passengers, 336 of which came ashore. Among the first class passengers, there were the new Belgian Ambassador in Rio, Mr. Maurice Cuvalier, the new Italian consul in Belo Horizonte, Tranquillo Bianco, and the secretary for the Dutch legation in Rio, Jonkheer H.M. von der Wijck. [16] In transit to Buenos Aires, continued Count and Countess Pavoncelli, maestro Franco Ghione and 7 lyrical singers: Galliano Masini, Bruno Landi, Armando Borgioli, Filippo Romito, Giacomo Vaghi and Duiliu Baroni, who were to give a performance at the Teatro Colón. [17] The ship managed to return to Europe in the first days of June from Buenos Aires, via Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, evading British vigilance vessels, who had been ordered to detain her. [18]

The Italian government requisitioned the Vulcania in 1941 to carry troops to North Africa. In March 1942 she was used on three special missions to repatriate women and children, Genoa – East Africa via South Africa under the aegis of the International Red Cross via Gibraltar, Cape Verde Islands, Port Elizabeth. On 17 September 1943, she was commandeered by the German Navy, then laid up in Venice. [19] In October 1945 she became a United States troopship, repatriating American troops from Naples to New York.

On 29 March 1946, she was chartered to American Export Lines to run between New York – Naples – Alexandria. After 6 round voyages, she commenced her last voyage on this service on 4 October 1946 and was returned to Italia Line on 15 November of the same year. She then sailed New York – Naples – Genoa, where she was reconditioned to carry 240–1st, 270-cabin and 860-tourist class passengers. In July 1947 she made another voyage from Genoa to South America and then, on 4 September 1947, resumed the Genoa – Naples – New York service. On 21 September 1955 she commenced her last voyage on this run and on 28 October of the same year was transferred to run between Trieste, Venice, Patras, Naples, Palermo, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Halifax and New York. On 5 April 1965 she commenced her last voyage on this service. She was sold to the Sicula Oceanica S.p.A. / Grimaldi SIOSA Line, renamed Caribia and then ran as an immigrant ship between Southampton, Vigo, and Lisbon, and various Caribbean islands, before being put into Mediterranean cruise service. [20] [21]

She hit a rock off Cannes in 1972, was damaged and was laid up at La Spezia. She arrived in Barcelona on 18 September 1973 under tow to be demolished but was resold to a Taiwanese demolition company and departed under tow to Kaohsiung for scrapping on 15 March the following year. However, she sank at the bay before reaching the destination. [10]

Technology

The ship was powered by one of the largest two stroke diesel engines of its time. Its cylinders were of the double-acting type, in which combustion takes place both above and below the piston. This required the use of a crosshead.

Related Research Articles

SS <i>Rex</i>

SS Rex was an Italian ocean liner launched in 1931. She held the westbound Blue Riband between 1933 and 1935. Originally built for the Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI) as SS Guglielmo Marconi, its state-ordered merger with the Lloyd Sabaudo line meant that the ship sailed for the newly created Italia Flotta Riunite.

Italian Line and from 1992 Italia Line, whose official name was Italia di Navigazione S.p.A., was a passenger shipping line that operated regular transatlantic services between Italy and the United States, and Italy and South America. During the late 1960s the company turned to running cruises, and from 1981 it became a global freight operator.

SS <i>Giulio Cesare</i>

SS Giulio Cesare was initially a liner of the Navigazione Generale Italiana, which was later operated by the Italian Line. The ship was used to transport first class, second class, and tourist-class passengers.

SS <i>Conte Grande</i>

SS Conte Grande was a Lloyd Sabaudo ocean liner built in 1927 by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino in Trieste, Italy, to service the transatlantic passenger line between Genoa, Italy, and New York City. Launched on 29 June 1927, her maiden voyage was from Genoa to Naples to New York City, which occurred on 13 April 1928. In 1932, after acquisition by the Italian Line, she was transferred to the South America service but was laid up in Santos, Brazil in 1940.

SS <i>Conte Biancamano</i> Italian liner launched in 1925

Conte Biancamano was an Italian ocean liner launched in 1925. The name was chosen in honor of Humbert I Biancamano, founder of the Savoy dynasty. She was built in the Scottish shipyard William Beardmore & Co. in Dalmuir, near Glasgow. She was built for the Genovese shipping company Lloyd Sabaudo, operator of the Conte Rosso and Conte Verde. The engine, equipped with two steam turbines double reduction unit and two propellers, allowed her to reach a speed of 20 knots, and vented in two funnels. She housed 180 passengers in first class, 220 in second class, 390 in economic class and 2,660 in third class.

Home Lines was an Italian passenger shipping company that operated both ocean liners and cruise ships. The company was founded in 1946, and it ceased operations in 1988 when merged into Holland America Line. Although based in Genoa, Home Lines was an international company with ships registered in Panama, while the original company chairman Eugen Eugenides was Greek. By the time Home Lines was merged into Holland America, they were one of the most highly regarded cruise lines in the world.

USS <i>Martha Washington</i> (ID-3019)

USS Martha Washington (ID‑3019) was a transport for the United States Navy during World War I named for Martha Washington, the first First Lady of the United States. She was originally ocean liner SS Martha Washington for the Austro-American Line before the war. Before and after her Navy service she was the United States Army transport USAT Martha Washington. The liner was sold to the Italian Cosulich Line in 1922. In 1932, when Cosulich was absorbed into Italia Flotte Riunite, the ship was renamed SS Tel Aviv. The ship was scrapped in 1934.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosulich Line</span>

The Cosulich Line, formally the Cosulich Societa Triestina di Navigazione, is a steamship line that was based in Trieste, Italy. The company had been founded in 1889 by Antonio F. Cosulich's son as a family business. In 1903 as Unione Austriaca di Navigazione, more commonly called the Austro-American or Austro-Americana Line, when Trieste was under the rule of Austria-Hungary. After the first World War, the company became an Italian-based shipping company. In 1932 the company was forced to merge with the Lloyd Sabaudo and the Navigazione Generale Italiana, to form the Italian Line.

SS <i>Dante Alighieri</i>

SS Dante Alighieri was an Italian ocean liner for Transatlantica Italiana. From 1915 to 1927 the ship was in service between Italy and New York with calls at Lisbon, Gibraltar, Azores and Boston and between Italy and South America. In 1927, she was sold to Japanese firm Nippon Yusen Kaisha and renamed Asahi Maru. Operating as a hospital ship during early World War II, she later served as a transport. Asahi Maru was damaged in a collision in 1944 off the coast of Japan, beached and abandoned. The wreck was eventually scrapped in 1949.

SS <i>Taormina</i> (1908) Transatlantic ocean liner

SS Taormina was a transatlantic ocean liner that was launched in Scotland in 1907 for an Italian shipping line. She was owned successively by Italia Società di Navigazione a Vapore, Lloyd Italiano and Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI). Taormina was briefly chartered as a troop ship for the US Armed Forces in 1918. She was scrapped in 1929.

SS <i>Re dItalia</i>

SS Re d'Italia was an Italian ocean liner for Lloyd Sabaudo named for the King of Italy. Launched in 1906, she sailed between Italy and New York and South America for most of her career. During World War I she was employed as a troopship carrying United States troops to France as part of the United States Navy Cruiser and Transport Force. She was scrapped in 1929.

MS <i>Augustus</i> (1950)

MS Augustus was a 27,090 GRT, luxury ocean liner built in 1950 for Italian Line. She was the sister ship to MS Giulio Cesare that was launched in the same year. These two ships were built to the same design, with similar specifications. After the Augustus was sold to Hong Kong, she sailed under five names. The ship was later sold to Manila Hotel and renamed MS Philippines, functioning as a static hotel. As reported by both Maritimematters, and maritime, the MS Philippines was sold for scrap in September 2011. As of December 2011, she was beached in Alang for scrapping.

SS <i>Duilio</i>

SS Duilio was the first Italian super ocean liner and one of the largest Italian merchant ships until 1925. She measured 24,281 gross register tons and was the sister of the SS Giulio Cesare, which was launched in 1921. She was constructed for the Italian shipping company “Navigazione Generale Italiana” based in Genoa and constructed by Ansaldo Shipyard owned by Sestri Ponente. She was sunk on 10 July 1944.

MS <i>Giulio Cesare</i>

MS Giulio Cesare was a luxurious ocean liner built for the Italian Line. She was a sister ship to MS Augustus which was launched in the same year. She was built for the South America service like her sister. These two ships' specification and design were very similar.

MS <i>Italia</i> (1965)

MS Italia was a cruise ship built in Italy in 1967. She sailed in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Pacific under various names and operators, and was scrapped in May 2012.

SS <i>Utopia</i> British transatlantic passenger steamship (1874–1900)

SS Utopia was a transatlantic passenger steamship built in 1874 by Robert Duncan & Co of Glasgow. From 1874 to 1882 she operated on Anchor Line routes from Glasgow to New York City, from Glasgow to Bombay and from London to New York City. After 1882 she carried Italian immigrants to the United States.

SS Verona was a transatlantic ocean liner that was built in Ireland in 1908 for an Italian shipping line. She was a troop ship in the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–12 and in the First World War in 1917–18. In 1918 a German submarine sank her in the Mediterranean with great loss of life.

MS <i>Saturnia</i> Italian ocean liner later converted to troopship and later hospital ship

MV Saturnia was an Italian ocean liner named after Saturnia, Tuscany, the first of two sister ships built in Trieste for Cosulich Soc. Triestina di Nav. of Trieste and launched in 1925. Sister ship MS Vulcania was launched the next year. Saturnia served into World War II for Italy and upon the Italian armistice with the Allies was delivered to the U.S. War Shipping Administration (WSA) in an arrangement made between Italy and Admiral Cunningham of the Royal Navy, approved by General Eisenhower.

SS <i>Kaiser Franz Joseph I</i> Passenger liner ship

The SS Kaiser Franz Joseph I was a Austro-Hungarian passenger liner built by Cantiere Navale Triestino for the Austro-American line. After her launching, in February 1912 the steamer was put into service and she set off from Trieste to Buenos Aires. During World War 1 the ship was laid up in Trieste, but was commissioned by the Italian navy after the war. the Kaiser Franz Joseph I now the Presidente Wilson of the Cosulich Line, was sold to other Italian company until World war 2 happened. During The war she was commissioned by the Italians navy once again and was laid up in La Spezia in 1943. On May 12, 1944, as the Allies Advance to Italy the ship was Scuttled by the Germans to pervert capture. Her wreck was raised and scrapped in 1949.

The MS Neptunia was an Italian ocean liner built by Cantiere Navale Triestino, Trieste for the Cosulich Line. She was launched on 27 December 1931 and on 5 October 1932, she left Trieste on her maiden voyage to Buenos Aires. During 1935 the ship began operating on the Bombay to Shanghai route. During 1937 the Cosulich Line was amalgamated into the Italian Line.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Italian Liners".
  2. ↑ Wealleans, Anne (24 October 2006). "Floating art deco showcases". Designing Liners: A History of Interior Design Afloat. New York: Taylor & Francis e-Library. p. 80. ISBN   0-415-37466-9.
  3. ↑ HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN LINE and THE MS VULCANIA
  4. ↑ Le Sirene, Marcello Mascherini
  5. ↑ aeronautica.difesa.it Il portale dell'Aeronautica Militare: Francesco De Pinedo, il trasvolatore
  6. ↑ "N. Y. Vulcania Tourists Safely Arrive at Haifa". 14 April 1933.
  7. ↑ "Bernard Richards Breaks in on Pro-german Lecture". 4 May 1933.
  8. ↑ "Body of Israel Rokeach to be Interred in Palestine". 18 October 1933.
  9. ↑ "Vulcania « Marcello Mascherini".
  10. 1 2 "HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN LINE and THE MS VULCANIA".
  11. 1 2 "Correio da Manhã (RJ) - 1940 a 1949 - DocReader Web".
  12. ↑ Brazilian Museum of Immigration Passenger List
  13. ↑ On the website of the National Digital Library of Brazil, the Brazilian newspaper Correio da Manhã, published in Rio de Janeiro from 1901 to 1974, shows 17 matches for the keyword "Vulcania" in the 1940 folder.
  14. ↑ "Correio da Manhã (RJ) - 1940 a 1949 - DocReader Web".
  15. ↑ "Correio da Manhã (RJ) - 1940 a 1949 - DocReader Web".
  16. ↑ "Correio da Manhã (RJ) - 1940 a 1949 - DocReader Web".
  17. ↑ "Correio da Manhã (RJ) - 1940 a 1949 - DocReader Web".
  18. ↑ "Correio da Manhã (RJ) - 1940 a 1949 - DocReader Web".
  19. ↑ "Britain Saves Ethiopia's Italian Civilian Population - Evacuated en Masse from Abyssinia, C. 25 May 1942".
  20. ↑ "Sicula Oceanica S.p.A. / Grimaldi SIOSA Line".
  21. ↑ "Navi e Armatori - Approdi di Passione".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.