Conte Biancamano
 The Conte Biancamano 1960 in the port of Naples
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
The Conte Biancamano was a 1925 transatlantic passenger steamer of the Italian shipping company Lloyd Sabaudo , which was built for the passenger and mail traffic from Genoa and Naples to New York . During the Second World War , the ship was called the USS Hermitage (AP-54) and served as a troop transport for the United States Navy . After the war, it returned to passenger traffic under the Italian flag until it was scrapped in 1961. In peacetime, the Conte Biancamano made a total of 364 crossings and carried 353,836 passengers.
Passenger ship
The 23,562 GRT steam turbine ship Conte Biancamano was laid down in April 1924 at William Beardmore and Company in Dalmuir, Scotland, with hull number 640. The ship, which is 198.4 meters long and 23.2 meters wide, was launched on April 23, 1925. The Conte Biancamano was named after Humbert I of Savoy , Count Biancamano.
The luxurious and modernly equipped ocean liner was aimed primarily at the wealthier travelers. A total of 3430 passengers could be accommodated, 180 of them in first class, 200 in second class, 390 in economy class and 2660 in third class. Her sister ship was the Conte Grande (25,661 GRT), which was launched three years later at Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino . The twin screw steamer was powered by two Parson turbines that developed 24,870 hp and allowed a cruising speed of 20 knots. The ship had a long black hull , white superstructures, two promenade decks , two masts and two funnels.
The Conte Biancamano was completed on November 7, 1925 and left Genoa on November 20, 1925 on her maiden voyage to New York. The last crossing in service with Lloyd Sabaudo took place on November 25, 1932. In the same year, the largest Italian shipping companies - Navigazione Generale Italiana (headquarters in Genoa), Cosulich Società Triestina di Navigazione (headquarters in Trieste) and Lloyd Sabaudo (headquarters in Turin) - were nationalized and merged to form the Società Italia Flotte Riuniti . The Conte Biancamano came under new management and was henceforth used in the South America service.
In 1934 she brought soldiers and military equipment to Ethiopia in preparation for the Italo-Ethiopian War on behalf of the Italian Navy Ministry . 1936 was Conte Biancamano at the Lloyd Triestino chartered for which they route to the Middle East served. From 1938 the Genoa - Shanghai route developed into one of the main escape routes for German and Austrian Jews to Shanghai , as no emigration visas were required there. In 1940 she was returned to the Società Italia fleet Riuniti and set on the route Genoa - Naples - Panama - Valparaíso - Panama .
US troop carrier USS Hermitage
After the outbreak of World War II , the Conte Biancamano was confiscated in the port city of Cristóbal (Panama) and placed there. After the United States entered the war in December 1941, the ship was claimed by the United States and converted into a troop transport for the United States Navy in Philadelphia . On August 14, 1942, she officially entered service with the US Navy under the name USS Hermitage (AP-54). It was designed to carry up to 7,000 people.
On November 2, 1942, the USS Hermitage sailed from New York with 5,600 soldiers on board and reached Casablanca eight days later , where the men went ashore for Operation Torch . On December 11, 1942, she returned to the USA. In 1943 the ship was mainly used in the South Pacific . After the Allies landed in Normandy , she made several trips between Europe and America to bring supplies to Europe and wounded soldiers home.
When the German Reich surrendered on May 8, 1945, the Conte Biancamano was in Le Havre . After the end of the war, she transported thousands of American soldiers, first from Europe and then from the Pacific region back to the USA. On August 20, 1946, she was discharged from the US Navy. During the war, the Conte Biancamano had covered 230,000 miles and carried 129,695 soldiers.
Late years
In 1947 the Conte Biancamano was returned to Italy and completely renovated in Monfalcone the following year . The ship received a new bow , which lengthened the hull by four meters. This was now painted white instead of black as it was before the war. The passenger accommodations were also rebuilt so that from then on there was space for 252 passengers in first class, 455 in cabin class and 893 in economy class. The conversion work increased the tonnage from 23,562 GRT to 24,416 GRT. In addition, the ship got its old name back.
Well-known painters, designers and architects such as Massimo Campigli , Mario Sironi , Gio Ponti , Gustavo Pulitzer , Paolo De Poli and Roberto Crippa worked on the new interior . Marcello Mascherini designed sculptures that were placed in the great hall, the ceiling of which showed the story of Jason and the golden fleece. With her new look and her new equipment, the Conte Biancamano was one of the best ships in the Italian post-war fleet.
On July 14, 1949, the Conte Biancamano left Genoa for Buenos Aires on her first voyage . From March 21, 1950 she ran on the route Genoa - Naples - Cannes - New York. On March 26, 1960, the now 35-year-old ship set out on its last voyage from Genoa and Naples via Barcelona and Lisbon to Halifax and New York (and back). On August 16, 1960, the Conte Biancamano arrived in La Spezia , where it was scrapped in 1961. The navigating bridge , the ballroom and some first class cabins have been preserved and have since been exhibited in the Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci in Milan .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Astrid Freyeisen: Shanghai and the politics of the Third Reich . Königshausen & Neumann, 2000, ISBN 978-3-8260-1690-5 , p. 398.