SS ''Cristoforo Colombo'' () was an Italian
ocean liner
An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships).
Ca ...
built in the 1950s,
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
of the .
Origins and construction
The origins of the ''Cristoforo Colombo'' lie in the situation of the
Italian Line
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 ...
at the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The war had been devastating to them, as two of their newest and largest ships – the and – had been destroyed. The Italian Line at this point decided to build only moderately-sized ships that were very luxurious, comfortable, and stylish.
The ''Cristoforo Colombo'' was built in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
at the
Ansaldo Shipyards. The ''Andrea Doria'' was already built by the time ''Cristoforo Colombo'' was completed. She was launched in 1953 and was ready for a 1954 maiden voyage. When launched, the ''Cristoforo Colombo'' was larger than the ''Andrea Doria''. Hence, the ship was the largest merchant ship in Italian service.
Italian Line service
After the ''Andrea Doria'' was sunk after a collision with the in 1956, the ''Cristoforo Colombo'' was on her own until 1960 when the ship was joined by the ''Andrea Dorias replacement,
SS ''Leonardo da Vinci''.
In the spring of 1964, the ''Cristoforo Colombo'' carried the
''Pietà'' from the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
to the
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...
. ''Pietà'' was put in a crate that was filled with plastic foam, which was lowered onto a rubber base in the first class pool where the least damage was likely to happen to it. During the actual loading, the ''Cristoforo Colombo'' had been put in
dry dock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
so that she would not move and jeopardize the crate and its content. Only easily removable snap hooks secured the crate so that it could be released easily in case of accident. In case the ''Cristoforo Colombo'' sank during the voyage, the crate had the ability to float. In New York, the crate was lifted by a heavy-lift floating crane onto a barge that was put alongside the ship.
The ''Cristoforo Colombo'' and the ''Leonardo da Vinci'' were kept as the flagships and the prime Italian ships on the
North Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...
until 1965, when the new and were placed into service. She was painted entirely white in 1966 in order to match with the other ships in the Italian Line, who had abandoned black as a hull color. The ship brought many Italian postwar immigrants to the United States and Canada calling at Halifax and New York in the last decades of large-scale ocean liner immigration to North America. ''Cristoforo Colombo'' was the last ship to bring immigrants to the historical Canadian immigration terminal
Pier 21
Pier 21 was an ocean liner terminal and immigration shed from 1928 to 1971 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Nearly one million immigrants came to Canada through Pier 21, and it is the last surviving seaport immigration facility in Canada. The fac ...
on March 30, 1971, the day before the Pier closed its doors.
[Steven Schwinghamer and Jan Raska, ''Pier 21: A History'', University of Ottawa Press (2020), p. 192.]
In popular culture
The ''Cristoforo Colombo'' is prominently featured in the 1962 Warner Brothers film ''
Rome Adventure
''Rome Adventure'', also known as ''Lovers Must Learn'', is a 1962 romantic drama film, based on the 1932 novel ''Lovers Must Learn'' by Irving Fineman. It was directed by Delmer Daves and stars Troy Donahue, Angie Dickinson, and Suzanne Pleshet ...
'' starring
Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette (January 31, 1937 – January 19, 2008) was an American theatre, film, television, and voice actress. Pleshette started her career in the theatre and began appearing in films in the late 1950s and later appeared in prominent ...
,
Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue (born Merle Johnson Jr., January 27, 1936 – September 2, 2001) was an American film and television actor and singer. He was a popular sex symbol in the 1950s and 1960s.
Biography Early years
Born in New York City, Donahue was ...
and
Rossano Brazzi
Rossano Brazzi (18 September 1916 – 24 December 1994) was an Italian actor.
Biography
Brazzi was born in Bologna, Italy, the son of Maria Ghedini and Adelmo Brazzi, an employee of the Rizzoli shoe factory. He was named after Rossano Vene ...
.
The opening titles of the 1971 film ''
The Burglars
''Le Casse'' (US title: ''The Burglars'') is a 1971 French-Italian neo noir crime film directed by director Henri Verneuil and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Omar Sharif. It is based on the 1953 novel by David Goodis and revolves around a team ...
'' ("
Le Casse") by
Henri Verneuil
Henri Verneuil (; born Ashot Malakian; 15 October 1920 – 11 January 2002) was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who made a successful career in France. He was nominated for Oscar and Palme d'Or awards, and won Locarno International Fi ...
shows the ''Cristoforo Colombo'' at dock in Athens, Greece. The ship's name is clearly seen.
Retirement from Italian Line service
In 1973, the ''Cristoforo Colombo'' gave up the New York service. It was therefore redirected to the Genoa-Barcelona-Lisbon-Rio-Montevideo-BuenosAires service to replace the that had suffered serious mechanical problems. As the South American service accepted a ship of sub-standard maintenance, she stayed, until 1977. She was then sold to
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, where she was used as an accommodation ship for workers at
Ciudad Guayana
Ciudad Guayana () (in English Guayana City) is a city in Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar State, Venezuela. It stretches 40 kilometers along the south bank of the Orinoco, Orinoco river, at the point where it is joined by its main tributary ...
.
In 1981, the ''Cristoforo Colombo'' was sold to
US scrappers. However, upon arrival at
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
, ''Cristoforo Colombo'' was towed to
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
with hopes of returning to service. As the ship was expensive to operate (she was designed to operate on an Italian subsidy) and was in poor condition after her time in Venezuela, the ''Cristoforo Colombo'' was towed back to Kaohsiung in the autumn of 1982 and scrapped.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cristoforo Colombo
Ocean liners
Passenger ships of Italy
1953 ships
Ships built in Genoa
Ships built by Gio. Ansaldo & C.