SS Conte di Savoia
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Kingdom of Italy | |
| Name | SS Conte di Savoia |
| Owner | Italian Line |
| Port of registry | .svg){kind=small} Kingdom of Italy |
| Builder | Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico of Trieste, Italy |
| Launched | 28 October 1931 |
| Christened | Marie José of Belgium |
| Maiden voyage | 30 November 1932 |
| Fate | Scrapped in 1950 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 48,502 gross register tons |
| Length | 248.25 m (814.5 feet) |
| Beam | 29.28 m (96 feet) |
| Height | 35 m (114.8 feet) |
| Draught | 9.5 m (31.2 feet) |
| Installed power | Steam turbines |
| Propulsion | Quadruple propellers |
| Speed | 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
| Crew | 786 total |
SS Conte di Savoia ("Count of Savoy") was an Italian ocean liner built in 1932 at the Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Trieste.[1]
Conte di Savoia was originally ordered for the Lloyd Sabaudo line; however, after a merger with the Navigazione Generale Italiana, the ship was completed for the newly formed Italia Flotte Riunite.[1] The new Italia Line also controlled Rex, a similar though slightly larger ship completed just two months before Conte di Savoia. The Conte di Savoia was more modern in decoration and appearance than Rex and was the first major liner fitted with gyroscopic stabilisers.
History
In November 1932, she made her maiden voyage to New York.[1] Unlike Rex, she never made a record transatlantic crossing, reaching a best speed of 27.5 knots (31.6 mph) in 1933.[1]
Conte di Savoia had one unusual feature designed to increase passenger numbers. Three huge anti-rolling gyroscopes were fitted low down in a forward hold. These rotated at high revolutions and were designed to mitigate rolling - a persistent problem on the rough North Atlantic crossing that affected all shipping lines.[2] In practice they reduced the rolling by slowing down the rolling period, however, they also caused the vessel to "hang" annoyingly when the vessel was on the extreme limit of her rolls. For safety reasons the system was quickly abandoned on eastbound crossings where the prevailing weather produced following seas, although it was still used on westbound crossings. This was because with a following sea (and the deep slow rolls this generated) the vessel tended to 'hang' with the system turned on, and the inertia it generated made it harder for the vessel to right herself from heavy rolls.[2] None of this ever affected the operation of the shipping lines advertising department and the benefits of a "smooth crossing" were heavily promoted during the life of the ship.
In 1931, Italian architect, Melchiorre Bega was selected to design the interior lay-out and furnishings of the Conte di Savoia.[3] Bega, who was well-known for his innovative designs of stores, cafés and hotels,[4] created a modernist interior.
Conte di Savoia was requisitioned for war service in 1940.[5] She was sunk in 1943, and despite being refloated to be rebuilt in 1945, was scrapped in 1950.[5][6]
See also
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d Dawson, p. 108
- ^ a b "Italian Liner To Defy The Waves" Popular Mechanics, April 1931
- ^ Corradini, Nicola. "Melchiorre Bega - Architekt und Designer". ArchInform.net. archInform-Internationale Architektur-Datenbank. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ Savorra, Massimiliano (October 2017). "Il lusso borghese negli anni '30. I negozi di Melchiorre Bega (Bourgeois Luxury in the 1930s - The shops of Melchiorre Bega". Casabella. 2017 (878): 26–34. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ a b Dawson, p. 245
- ^ "Italian Line - SS Conte Di Savoia". ssmaritime.com. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
Bibliography
- Dawson, Philip (2005). The Liner. New York, NY: WW Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-06166-3.
External links
- Page at 20th Century Liners website
- 1931 Popular Mechanics article detailing gyro system.
- History
- Statistics
- Winchester, Clarence, ed. (1937), "The Rex and the Conte di Savoia", Shipping Wonders of the World, pp. 1341–1345, illustrated description of the Rex and the Conte di Savoia
