SS Conte Biancamano
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Conte Biancamano |
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| Owners: | Lloyd Sabaudo Line / Italian Line | |
| Builders: | William Beardmore & Co. of Glasgow, Scotland | |
| Laid down: | ||
| Launched: | 1925 | |
| Christened: | ||
| Maiden voyage: | ||
| Fate: | Museum | |
| General characteristics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tonnage: | 23,562 or 24,416 gross | |
| Length: | 203.56 m | |
| Beam: | 23.24 m | |
| Height: | 8.36 m | |
| Power: | ||
| Propulsion: | ||
| Speed: | 20 knots | |
| Capacity: | 180 1st, 220 2nd, 390 2nd (econ), 2660 3rd | |
| Crew: | ||
The SS Conte Biancamano (Italian for "White Hand") was a Lloyd Sabaudo Line ocean liner built in 1925 by William Beardmore and Company in Glasgow, Scotland, to service the transatlantic passenger line between Genoa and Naples, Italy, and New York City. Her maiden voyage was a destined for the United States. After being acquired by the Italian Line in 1932, she was transferred to the South America service. In 1934, she served as a troopship for the Italian Navy in over ten voyages to East Africa. She later entered into the Far East service of Lloyd Triestino (also chartered by Italian Line), in 1936.
During World War II, in 1941, she was captured by the United States in Cristóbal and was used as an American troopship -- renamed USS Hermitage (AP-54) -- capable of holding up to 7000 people and transporting them to both the Atlantic and Pacific fronts. After the war, in 1947, she was returned to the Italian Line and returned to the name of Conte Biancamano.
She became the first passenger ship to be refurbished in post-war Italy, setting the guidelines for future refurbishments of other ships which would then form Italy's renovated merchant fleet. After renovation, she was reintroduced into service along the North and South American routes. In 1961, she began a three-year process of being stripped and reassembled for the Milan National Museum of Science and Technology's Air and Sea Transport Building, which was under construction at the time.
She is named in honor of Humbert I of Savoy and her sister ship was the SS Conte Grande.
