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SS Principe Umberto

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History
NameSS Principe Umberto
NamesakePrince Umberto
OwnerNavigazione Generale Italiana
Port of registryGenoa[1]
BuilderCantieri Navali del Tirreno, Palermo[1]
Yard number13[1]
CompletedApril 1909[1]
FateSunk by U-5, 8 June 1916
General characteristics
Tonnage7,838 GRT[1]
Length145.1 m (476 ft 1 in) (pp)[1]
Beam16.3 m (53 ft 6 in)[1]
Propulsion2 × quadruple expansion steam engines[1]
Speed16 knots (30 km/h)[1]

SS Principe Umberto was an Italian passenger and refrigerated cargo ship built in 1908 for Navigazione Generale Italiana. During World War I, Principe Umberto served as an armed merchant cruiser.

While transporting troops in the Adriatic in June 1916, the ship was sunk by Austro-Hungarian U-boat U-5 with the loss of 1,926 men. It was the worst naval disaster of World War I in terms of human lives lost.

Career

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Principe Umberto was built in 1908 by the Cantieri Navali del Tirreno[2] in Palermo for the Navigazione Generale Italiana[1] a company that sailed to Mediterranean and Black Sea ports, as well as passenger service to North and South America.[3]

She was 145.1 meters (476 ft 1 in) long (pp) with a beam of 16.3 meters (53 ft 6 in). She was powered by two quadruple expansion steam engines that moved her at up to 16 knots (30 km/h).[1]

Principe Umberto's routes and early activities are not known, but during World War I, the ship was employed as an armed merchant cruiser to transport men and materiel in support of Italy.[4]

On 8 June 1916, Principe Umberto and another transport, the Ravenna, were carrying the 55th Infantry Regiment (col. Ernesto Piano) back from Albania to Italy, under the escort of the Italian scout cruiser Libia and four Regia Marina destroyers.[5] The Austro-Hungarian U-boat U-5, under the command of Friedrich Schlosser, launched a torpedo attack that successfully hit the Italian ship.[6] Principe Umberto went down quickly with the loss of 1,926 men[7] (1,750 according to other sources[4][5]).

The wreck was discovered in May 2022 off the coast of Albania near Cape of Gjuhez using an underwater robot by the Swiss-Italian engineer Guido Gay.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Principe Umberto". Miramar Ship Index. R.B.Haworth. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  2. ^ english: United Tyrrhenian Shipyards
  3. ^ "Navigazione Generale Italiana". TheShipsList.com. 26 November 2007. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  4. ^ a b Sieche, p. 22.
  5. ^ a b Rider, p. 459.
  6. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Principe Umberto". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  7. ^ Franco Favre, La marina nella Grande Guerra. Le operazioni navali, aeree, subacquee e terrestri in Adriatico, p. 145
  8. ^ "Von Österreich versenktes Kriegsschiff entdeckt". news.ORF.at (in German). 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2022-06-16.

Bibliography

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  • Rider, Fremont, ed. (1917). Information Annual 1916: A Continuous Cyclopedia and Digest of Current Events. New York: Cumulative Digest Corporation. OCLC 67878688.
  • Sieche, Erwin F. (1980). "Austro-Hungarian Submarines". Warship, Volume 2. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-976-4. OCLC 233144055.

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