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SS Rex
SS Rex was an Italian ocean liner launched in 1931. She held the westbound Blue Riband between 1933 and 1935, for a passenger liner in regular service crossing the Atlantic Ocean with the record highest average speed. Originally built for the Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI) as SS Guglielmo Marconi, its state-ordered merger with the Lloyd Sabaudo line meant that the ship sailed for the newly created Italia Flotta Riunite (Italian Line).
Rex operated transatlantic crossings from Italy with its running mate, Conte di Savoia prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Rex maintained a commercial service in the Mediterranean Sea for eight years, but when Italy entered the war in June 1940 Rex was laid up for safe-keeping. On 8 September 1944, off Koper, Rex was hit by cannon fire and 123 rockets launched by Royal Air Force aircraft, caught fire from bow to stern. She rolled onto the port side, burned for four days, and sank in shallow water. The ship was partially broken up in situ in 1950.
Following North German Lloyd's successful capture of the Blue Riband with its Bremen and Europa duo of ocean liners, Rex was intended to be Italy's effort to do the same. Amid intense competition from other shipping companies, the Italian Line carried out an extensive publicity campaign for its two largest passenger ships, Rex and Conte di Savoia. Originally, the Rex's owners intended to name her after Italian engineer Guglielmo Marconi, who pioneered the radio telegraph.
Both ships were dubbed "The Riviera afloat". To carry the theme even further, sand was scattered in the outdoor swimming pools, creating a beach-like effect highlighted by multicolored umbrellas. Rex was decorated in a classical style while the norm of the time was the Art Deco or the so-called "Liner Style" that had been premiered onboard the French Line's Ile de France in 1927, Rex's running mate Conte Di Savoia followed this rule, but also had rooms with classic style like her First Class Social Room also known as "Colonial Hall" . The ship's exterior design had followed the trend set by Germany's Bremen and Europa. Rex sported a long hull with a moderately raked bow and two working funnels with the colours of the Italian flag (red, white and green stripes), but still featured the old-type overhanging counter stern (also known as a fantail) found on such liners as Olympic and Aquitania.
Rex was the first to be completed and was christened on 1 August 1931, in the presence of King Victor Emmanuel III and Queen Elena. She was both larger and faster than Conte di Savoia. Her attempt of a record-breaking maiden voyage was unsuccessful. She sailed from Genoa in September 1932, after a send-off from Premier Benito Mussolini, with a passenger list of international celebrities. While approaching Gibraltar, serious mechanical difficulties arose. Repairs took three days. Half her passengers requested to leave, preferring to reach Germany's coasts and take Europa; arriving in New York they found Rex already at dock. Lengthy repairs were required in New York before returning to Europe. She arrived in Genoa on 26 October 1932, making her first west-to-east crossing in six and a half days.
In August 1933, Rex fulfilled the promises of her designers and captured the Blue Riband on its westbound crossing from the Bremen with a time of four days and thirteen hours, with an average speed of 28.92 knots (53.56 km/h; 33.28 mph). This record would last until 1935 when it was captured by the French Line's Normandie.
On 12 May 1938, in a demonstration of U.S. air power, three B-17 bombers of the U.S. Army Air Corps intercepted Rex 620 nautical miles (1,100 km) at sea in a highly publicized event.
Following the outbreak of war, both Rex and Conte di Savoia continued regular Mediterranean cruises as if totally unaffected by events to the north. In the end, Italian liners proved to be among the final ships trading on a commercial basis. Their voyages ceased in the spring of 1940 and they were returned to Italian ports for safekeeping, with Rex laid up at Genoa, but after the city was bombed, the Italian Line decided to move it to Trieste. To prevent German forces from using the liner to blockade the harbour entrance, Rex was moved near Pula, where she lay for some time.
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SS Rex
SS Rex was an Italian ocean liner launched in 1931. She held the westbound Blue Riband between 1933 and 1935, for a passenger liner in regular service crossing the Atlantic Ocean with the record highest average speed. Originally built for the Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI) as SS Guglielmo Marconi, its state-ordered merger with the Lloyd Sabaudo line meant that the ship sailed for the newly created Italia Flotta Riunite (Italian Line).
Rex operated transatlantic crossings from Italy with its running mate, Conte di Savoia prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Rex maintained a commercial service in the Mediterranean Sea for eight years, but when Italy entered the war in June 1940 Rex was laid up for safe-keeping. On 8 September 1944, off Koper, Rex was hit by cannon fire and 123 rockets launched by Royal Air Force aircraft, caught fire from bow to stern. She rolled onto the port side, burned for four days, and sank in shallow water. The ship was partially broken up in situ in 1950.
Following North German Lloyd's successful capture of the Blue Riband with its Bremen and Europa duo of ocean liners, Rex was intended to be Italy's effort to do the same. Amid intense competition from other shipping companies, the Italian Line carried out an extensive publicity campaign for its two largest passenger ships, Rex and Conte di Savoia. Originally, the Rex's owners intended to name her after Italian engineer Guglielmo Marconi, who pioneered the radio telegraph.
Both ships were dubbed "The Riviera afloat". To carry the theme even further, sand was scattered in the outdoor swimming pools, creating a beach-like effect highlighted by multicolored umbrellas. Rex was decorated in a classical style while the norm of the time was the Art Deco or the so-called "Liner Style" that had been premiered onboard the French Line's Ile de France in 1927, Rex's running mate Conte Di Savoia followed this rule, but also had rooms with classic style like her First Class Social Room also known as "Colonial Hall" . The ship's exterior design had followed the trend set by Germany's Bremen and Europa. Rex sported a long hull with a moderately raked bow and two working funnels with the colours of the Italian flag (red, white and green stripes), but still featured the old-type overhanging counter stern (also known as a fantail) found on such liners as Olympic and Aquitania.
Rex was the first to be completed and was christened on 1 August 1931, in the presence of King Victor Emmanuel III and Queen Elena. She was both larger and faster than Conte di Savoia. Her attempt of a record-breaking maiden voyage was unsuccessful. She sailed from Genoa in September 1932, after a send-off from Premier Benito Mussolini, with a passenger list of international celebrities. While approaching Gibraltar, serious mechanical difficulties arose. Repairs took three days. Half her passengers requested to leave, preferring to reach Germany's coasts and take Europa; arriving in New York they found Rex already at dock. Lengthy repairs were required in New York before returning to Europe. She arrived in Genoa on 26 October 1932, making her first west-to-east crossing in six and a half days.
In August 1933, Rex fulfilled the promises of her designers and captured the Blue Riband on its westbound crossing from the Bremen with a time of four days and thirteen hours, with an average speed of 28.92 knots (53.56 km/h; 33.28 mph). This record would last until 1935 when it was captured by the French Line's Normandie.
On 12 May 1938, in a demonstration of U.S. air power, three B-17 bombers of the U.S. Army Air Corps intercepted Rex 620 nautical miles (1,100 km) at sea in a highly publicized event.
Following the outbreak of war, both Rex and Conte di Savoia continued regular Mediterranean cruises as if totally unaffected by events to the north. In the end, Italian liners proved to be among the final ships trading on a commercial basis. Their voyages ceased in the spring of 1940 and they were returned to Italian ports for safekeeping, with Rex laid up at Genoa, but after the city was bombed, the Italian Line decided to move it to Trieste. To prevent German forces from using the liner to blockade the harbour entrance, Rex was moved near Pula, where she lay for some time.