The SS ''Principessa Jolanda'' 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 built by 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 ...

for the

Navigazione Generale Italiana Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI) was an Italian shipping company. History The company formed in 1881 by the merger of ''Florio, I & V. Florio'' of Palermo and ''Raffaele Rubattino'' of Genoa. At the time of the merger, the two companies both ...

(NGI) shipping company. Named after

Princess Yolanda of Savoy Princess Yolanda of Savoy (1 June 1901 – 16 October 1986) was the eldest daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. Biography She was born Principessa Iolanda Margherita Milena Elisabetta Romana Maria di Savoia ( en, Princess Yolanda M ...

, the eldest 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 intended for the NGI's

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n service. At 9,210 tons and 141 m (463 ft) in length, she was the largest passenger ship built in Italy up to that time. Constructed at a cost of 6 million lire to designs by Erasmo Piaggio, the ''Principessa Jolanda'' has also been called the first true Italian luxury liner. She was among the first transatlantic vessels fitted with

Marconi Wireless Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for ...

telegraphy, electric lighting throughout and telephones in each cabin. At 12:25 pm on 22 September 1907 the nearly completed ''Principessa Jolanda'' was launched before a large audience of onlookers, government officials and foreign journalists. After travelling down the

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

, the ship immediately became unstable and heeled sharply 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 H ...

. Efforts by tugboats and shipyard workers to rescue the situation, including lowering the anchors to starboard to counteract the movement, were unsuccessful. After 20 minutes the vessel's list was such that it began taking on water through openings in the upper decks. She soon

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 ...

with her funnels a few metres above and parallel to the water. Within an hour she finally slid lower until only a few feet of the side were visible. The captain, his guests and the workers onboard had just enough time to escape in the

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

s. There were no casualties. Although brand new, she was deemed unsalvageable and the wreck was broken up on site. The engines were salvaged and used in another vessel, now believed to be the '' SS Milazzo''.

Causes of the sinking

Shipyard technicians concluded that launching the ''Jolanda'' with all her fittings and furnishings already installed but without any coal or ballast resulted in the

center of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force ma ...

being too high.Eugenio Errea Echarry
"Principessa Jolanda: Hundido antes de su estreno"
''Historia y Arqueología Marítima'' (Buenos Aires: Fundación Histarmar, 2008) Retrieved 08-Aug-2012 Once the ship began heeling, a large amount of movable material increased the list, an example of the

free surface effect The free surface effect is a mechanism which can cause a watercraft to become unstable and capsize. It refers to the tendency of liquids — and of unbound aggregates of small solid objects, like seeds, gravel, or crushed ore, whose behavior app ...

involving solid objects as opposed to the more common liquids. Water entered through portholes and other openings in the superstructure as the ship heeled over. These and other errors, such as launching the ship too rapidly, caused the fatal instability that led to disaster."The Accident at the Launch of the SS Principessa Jolanda"
''Engineering,'' Volume 84 (London: Design Council, Jul-Dec 1907) p. 814 It was further theorized that the abrupt change in transverse rotational axis during the ship's descent down the long launch ramp caused the bow to press against the chute itself as the stern hit the water. This may have caused a crack somewhere in the keel, contributing to admission of water to the hull. Regardless of the exact cause, it was eventually determined that full responsibility for the loss of the steamship was due to the shipyard's technical mistakes during launch and not in the design or construction of the vessel.Raffaele Staiano

Retrieved 8 August 2012.

Sister ship

At the time of SS ''Principessa Jolandas launch construction on her sister ship, SS ''Principessa Mafalda'', was well advanced with most of the framework completed. The ''Mafalda'' was launched in 1908 with much of her superstructure uninstalled in order to prevent the same disaster. The launch was successful and ''Mafalda'' was fully completed in March 1909. She became the flagship of the NGI and also served as an officers billet during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1927 ''Mafalda'' sank in a separate disaster.C. Ecclestone
"The Sinking of the ''Principessa Mafalda''"
''Principessa Mafalda Resource''. 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2012.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Principessa Jolanda, SS Shipwrecks of Italy Passenger ships of Italy 1907 ships