The SS ''Principessa Mafalda'' was an Italian
transatlantic
Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to:
Film
* Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950
* Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s
* ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...
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 for the
Navigazione Generale Italiana
Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI) was an Italian shipping company.
History
The company formed in 1881 by the merger of '' I & V. Florio'' of Palermo and ''Raffaele Rubattino'' of Genoa. At the time of the merger, the two companies both operate ...
(NGI) company. Named after
Princess Mafalda of Savoy
Princess Mafalda of Savoy (19 November 1902 – 28 August 1944) was the second daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and his wife Elena of Montenegro. The future King Umberto II of Italy was her younger brother.
Biography
Princess Mafa ...
, second daughter of
King Victor Emmanuel III
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
, the ship was completed and entered NGI's South American service between
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 ...
and
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
in 1909. Her sister ship had sunk immediately upon launching on 22 September 1907.
On 25 October 1927, while off the coast of Brazil, a propeller shaft fractured and damaged the hull. The ship sank slowly in the presence of rescue vessels, but confusion and panic resulted in 314 fatalities out of the 1,252 passengers and crew on board the ship. The sinking resulted in the greatest loss of life in Italian shipping and the largest ever in the
Southern Hemisphere in peacetime, with the ship that was called "the Italian
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
".
Early history
''Principessa Mafalda'' was built at Cantiere Navale di
Riva Trigoso
Riva may refer to:
People
* Riva (surname)
* Riva Castleman (1930–2014), American art historian, art curator and author
* Riva Ganguly Das (born 1961), Indian diplomat
* Riva (footballer), Brazilian former footballer Rivadávio Alves Pereir ...
with her sister, the , which capsized and sank at her launch on 22 September 1907. The ''Principessa Mafalda'' was launched on 22 October 1908 without her
superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships.
Aboard ships and large boats
On water craft, the superstruct ...
installed in order to avoid the same accident.
[Raffaele Staiano]
"Un varo sfortunato"
Retrieved 10 August 2012. She was finally completed on 30 March 1909 and became the
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
of the NGI. In 1910 she played a part in the development of long distance radio communication when
Guglielmo Marconi
Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italians, Italian inventor and electrical engineering, electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegrap ...
conducted experiments on board.
Specifically designed for voyages between
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 ...
and
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, ''Principessa Mafalda'' was considered the best ship on this route for several years, travelling at a relatively rapid 18 knots. Her amenities included a two-story ballroom and spacious cabins in
Louis XVI style
Louis XVI style, also called ''Louis Seize'', is a style of architecture, furniture, decoration and art which developed in France during the 19-year reign of Louis XVI (1774–1793), just before the French Revolution. It saw the final phase of t ...
. On the eve of World War I, 22 August 1914, she made her one and only voyage between Genoa and New York City. During the war she was requisitioned by the
Italian Royal Navy
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("M ...
and housed officers at
Taranto
Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...
. She resumed her prewar South American service in 1918. She remained the NGI's flagship until 1922, when the assumed the role. By 1926 the ''Mafalda'' had made over 90 long but uneventful round trips.
On 10 January 1920, the ship was reported missing due to hitting a mine with a full loss of life. Two days later, it sent a radio signal that it was safe and was proceeding as normal.
Last voyage and sinking
On 11 October 1927 ''Principessa Mafalda'' sailed from
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 ...
for
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
with intermediate stops scheduled at
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
,
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
,
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
,
Santos and
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
. The ship was under the command of Captain Simone Gulì with 971 passengers and 281 crew aboard. She also carried 300 tonnes of cargo, 600 bags of mail, and 250,000 gold
lire destined for the
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
government. The trip was to take 14 days.
It soon became apparent that the ship was in poor condition. ''Principessa Mafalda'' left Barcelona almost a day late due to mechanical problems and several times she slowed to a complete stop on the
high seas
The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regiona ...
, sometimes for hours. Water in bathrooms became intermittent.
[Christopher Ecclestone]
''The Sinking of the "Principessa Mafalda" – Portents''
(Principessa Mafalda Resource, 2010). Retrieved 10 August 2012. A refrigeration system failure caused tons of food to spoil, resulting in numerous cases of food poisoning. At the stop at
Cape Verde
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
, Captain Gulì telegraphed the company to request a replacement vessel, but was told "Continue to Rio and await instructions." With the ship resupplied with fresh food and partially repaired, he took her out onto the Atlantic.
[Bertoldi Silvio]
"Addio Calma piatt"
''Corriere della Sera.'' 8 August 1995. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
By 23 October ''Principessa Mafalda'' had developed a small but noticeable
list
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
to
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
. The passengers, who had received few explanations for the previous breakdowns, now began to worry that the ship was taking on water. Although far behind schedule, she was finally traveling at full steam off the coast of northern Brazil on the 24th.
[ Life aboard then flowed more quietly with the longest part of the journey nearly complete. On crossing the Equator, a ]line-crossing ceremony
The line-crossing ceremony is an initiation rite that commemorates a person's first crossing of the Equator. The tradition may have originated with ceremonies when passing headlands, and become a "folly" sanctioned as a boost to morale,Robert Fitz ...
was organized on deck with orchestra music and a huge cake.[Osvaldo Sidoli]
"El fin del Principessa Mafalda"
''Historia y Arqueología Marítima.'' (Buenos Aires: Fundación Histarmar 2008) Retrieved 10 August 2012
Around 17:15 hours on 25 October 1927, near the Abrolhos Archipelago
The Abrolhos Archipelago () are a group of 5 small islands with coral reefs off the southern coast of Bahia state in the northeast of Brazil, between 17º25’—18º09’ S and 38º33’—39º05’ W. Caravelas is the nearest town. Their name c ...
, 80 miles off Salvador de Bahia
Salvador (English: ''Savior'') is a Brazilian municipality and capital city of the state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognized throughout the country and internationally for its cuisine ...
, Brazil, the ship was rocked by several strong shudders. Passengers were initially assured that this was only due to the loss of a propeller and the situation was not dangerous. However, on the bridge the engineer reported that the starboard propeller shaft had indeed fractured, but it had also traveled off its axis and cut a series of gashes in the hull. Complicating matters, the watertight doors could not be fully closed. At 17:35 Captain Gulì sounded the alarm and ordered the radio officer to send SOS. He also stated this was merely a precaution as he believed his ship could stay afloat until the next day. Two ships, the (British) and (Dutch), arrived quickly. With clear weather and rescue nearby, it seemed that the situation was in hand. However, panic began to spread among both passengers and crew.
There are many conflicting versions about what happened next. What is known is that officers had difficulty maintaining order, some passengers were armed, and the ship kept moving forward in a wide circle for at least an hour. Rescue vessels received confusing signals about how to assist. Not all the lifeboats could be launched due to the list, some were rushed by the crowd, and many were not even seaworthy
Seakeeping ability or seaworthiness is a measure of how well-suited a watercraft is to conditions when underway. A ship or boat which has good seakeeping ability is said to be very seaworthy and is able to operate effectively even in high sea stat ...
. An Argentinian newspaper claimed that the first lifeboat away was filled almost entirely with crew, including the purser
A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...
.[M Elinder]
"Every man for himself: Gender, Norms and Survival in Maritime Disasters"
. ''Department of Economics Working Paper 2012:8.'' (Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet, 2012) p. 30. The rescue vessels, fearing a possible boiler explosion, kept themselves at a distance. A few remaining lifeboats did shuttle between ''Principessa Mafalda'' and ''Alhena'', but some were capsized
Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fro ...
by the panicked throngs. Captain Gulì went down with the ship, and the chief engineer
A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "ChEng" or "Chief", is the most senior engine officer of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that department..Chief engineer's ...
, Silvio Scarabicchi, reportedly committed suicide by shooting himself. Gulì was posthumously decorated for bravery at sea, as were the two radio operators, Luigi Reschia and Francesco Boldracchi, who had remained at their post until they drowned.
At 22:10, nearly five hours after the initial accident, ''Principessa Mafalda'' sank stern first. Since she went down on a busy shipping lane
A sea lane, sea road or shipping lane is a regularly used navigable route for large water vessels (ships) on wide waterways such as oceans and large lakes, and is preferably safe, direct and economic. During the Age of Sail, they were determined b ...
, a number of vessels arrived to assist. By daybreak,[ ''Alhena'' had picked up 450 survivors. rescued 300, ''Empire Star'' rescued 202, 151. rescued 122. rescued 49 people, 22 of whom were landed at Bahia. Those rescued by ''Empire Star'' were transferred to ''Formosa'' and landed at Rio de Janeiro.] Many controversies remain about exactly what transpired and who was responsible for the death toll. Reports of gunfire, sharks in the water, exploding boilers, and nearby ships refusing to assist were widely published but never confirmed. Even the exact wreck site remains a matter of dispute today. At the time, the sinking was the largest loss of life on an Italian ship and in the Southern Hemisphere.
Aftermath
An investigation by the Italian Navy
"Fatherland and Honour"
, patron =
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...
Board began immediately following the tragedy. It determined that a joint in the propeller casing was to blame for the accident and it ordered that propeller shafts on all Italian-registered vessels be fitted with devices designed to avoid such accidents. It also determined that six lifeboats located on the stern could not be used because of poor placement. Issues of the vessel's age, inadequate maintenance, and the problematic actions of the crew were not investigated. However, the NGI was ordered to pay heavy compensation to the families of victims.
A 2012 analysis discovered that while the number of casualties among steerage
Steerage is a term for the lowest category of passenger accommodation in a ship. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century considerable numbers of persons travelled from their homeland to seek a new life elsewhere, in many cases North America ...
passengers was indeed high, more first-class passengers died (51.8%) than did steerage class passengers (27.8%).
Citations
References
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Principessa Mafalda
1908 ships
Ships built in Italy
Ocean liners
Passenger ships of Italy
Merchant ships of Italy
World War I passenger ships of Italy
World War I merchant ships of Italy
World War I naval ships of Italy
Maritime incidents in 1927
Maritime incidents in Brazil