SS ''Conte di Savoia'' ("Count of Savoy") was an Italian

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for 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). The ...

built in 1932 at the

Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico ("United Shipbuilders of the Adriatic") was an Italian manufacturer in the sea and air industry which was active from 1930 to 1966. This shipyard is now owned by Fincantieri. History In 1930, Stabilimento Tecnic ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. Dawson, p. 108 ''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. The new Italia Line also controlled , 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 stabilizers.

History

In November 1932, she made her maiden voyage to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Unlike ''Rex'', she never made a record transatlantic crossing, reaching a best speed of in 1933. ''Conte di Savoia'' had one unusual feature designed to increase passenger numbers. Three huge

anti-rolling gyro Ship stabilizing gyroscopes are a technology developed in the 19th century and early 20th century and used to stabilize roll motions in ocean-going ships. It lost favor in this application to hydrodynamic roll stabilizer fins because of reduced ...

scopes were fitted low down in a forward hold. These rotated at high revolutions and were designed to mitigate

rolling Rolling is a Motion (physics)#Types of motion, type of motion that combines rotation (commonly, of an Axial symmetry, axially symmetric object) and Translation (geometry), translation of that object with respect to a surface (either one or the ot ...

- a persistent problem on the rough North Atlantic crossing that affected all shipping lines."Italian Liner To Defy The Waves"
''Popular Mechanics'', April 1931 In practice they reduced the rolling by slowing down the rolling period, but 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. None of this affected the operation of the shipping line's 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. Bega, who was well-known for his innovative designs of stores, cafés and hotels, created a modernist interior. ''Conte di Savoia'' was requisitioned for war service in 1940, Dawson, p. 245 and was sunk in 1943. The hulk was refloated in 1945 and later scrapped in 1950.

References

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External links

*
1931 Popular Mechanics article detailing gyro system.

*, illustrated description of the ''Rex'' and the ''Conte di Savoia'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Conte di Savoia Ocean liners Passenger ships of Italy Steamships of Italy Troop ships of Italy 1931 ships Ships built by Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico Ships built in Trieste Maritime incidents in September 1943

History

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