The origins of the Cristoforo Colombo lie in the situation of the Italian Line at the end of World War II. The war had been devastating to them, as two of their newest and largest ships – the SS Rex and SS Conte di Savoia – had been destroyed. The Italian Line at this point decided to build only moderately-sized ships that were very luxurious, comfortable, and stylish.
The Cristoforo Colombo was built in Genoa at the Ansaldo Shipyards. The Andrea Doria was already built by the time Cristoforo Colombo was completed. She was launched in 1953 and was ready for a 1954 maiden voyage. When launched, the Cristoforo Colombo was larger than the Andrea Doria. Hence, the ship was the largest merchant ship in Italian service.
Italian Line serviceedit
The Cristoforo Colombo departing Genoa on her maiden voyage
After the Andrea Doria was sunk after a collision with the MS Stockholm in 1956, the Cristoforo Colombo was on her own until 1960 when the ship was joined by the Andrea Doria's replacement, SS Leonardo da Vinci.
In the spring of 1964, the Cristoforo Colombo carried the Pietà from the Vatican to the 1964 New York World's Fair. Pietà was put in a crate that was filled with plastic foam, which was lowered onto a rubber base in the first class pool where the least damage was likely to happen to it. During the actual loading, the Cristoforo Colombo had been put in dry dock so that she would not move and jeopardize the crate and its content. Only easily removable snap hooks secured the crate so that it could be released easily in case of accident. In case the Cristoforo Colombo sank during the voyage, the crate had the ability to float. In New York, the crate was lifted by a heavy-lift floating crane onto a barge that was put alongside the ship.
The Cristoforo Colombo and the Leonardo da Vinci were kept as the flagships and the prime Italian ships on the North Atlantic until 1965, when the new SS Michelangelo and SS Raffaello were placed into service[citation needed]. She was painted entirely white in 1966 in order to match with the other ships in the Italian Line, who had abandoned black as a hull color. The ship brought many Italian postwar immigrants to the United States and Canada calling at Halifax and New York in the last decades of large-scale ocean liner immigration to North America. Cristoforo Colombo was the last ship to bring immigrants to the historical Canadian immigration terminal Pier 21 on March 30, 1971, the day before the Pier closed its doors.[1]
In 1973, the Cristoforo Colombo gave up the New York service. It was therefore redirected to the Genoa-Barcelona-Lisbon-Rio-Montevideo-BuenosAires service to replace the MS Giulio Cesare that had suffered serious mechanical problems. As the South American service accepted a ship of sub-standard maintenance, she stayed until 1977. She was then sold to Venezuela, where she was used as an accommodation ship for workers at Ciudad Guayana.
In 1981, the Cristoforo Colombo was sold to US scrappers. However, upon arrival at Kaohsiung, Cristoforo Colombo was towed to Hong Kong with hopes of returning to service. As the ship was expensive to operate (she was designed to operate on an Italian subsidy) and was in poor condition after her time in Venezuela, the Cristoforo Colombo was towed back to Kaohsiung in the autumn of 1982 and scrapped.
Referencesedit
^Steven Schwinghamer and Jan Raska, Pier 21: A History, University of Ottawa Press (2020), p. 192.
January 01, 1970
cristoforo, colombo, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, 2022, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources SS Cristoforo Colombo news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message SS Cristoforo Colombo Italian pronunciation kriˈstɔːforo koˈlombo was an Italian ocean liner built in the 1950s sister ship of the SS Andrea Doria SS Cristoforo Colombo photographed in the port of Venice in October 1972History Italy NameSS Cristoforo Colombo NamesakeChristopher Columbus OwnerItalian Line Port of registryItaly BuilderAnsaldo Shipyards of Genoa Italy Launched10 May 1953 Maiden voyage1954 FateScrapped in 1982 at Kaohsiung Taiwan General characteristics Class and typeAndrea Doria class Ocean liner Tonnage29 191 gross register tons Length700 feet 216 6 m Beam90 feet 27 9 m Installed powerSteam turbines PropulsionTwin screws Speed23 knots CapacityPassengers 229 First Class 222 Cabin Class 604 Tourist Class 1 055 total Contents 1 Origins and construction 2 Italian Line service 3 In popular culture 4 Retirement from Italian Line service 5 ReferencesOrigins and construction edit nbsp Contemporary postcard of the Cristoforo Colombo The origins of the Cristoforo Colombo lie in the situation of the Italian Line at the end of World War II The war had been devastating to them as two of their newest and largest ships the SS Rex and SS Conte di Savoia had been destroyed The Italian Line at this point decided to build only moderately sized ships that were very luxurious comfortable and stylish The Cristoforo Colombo was built in Genoa at the Ansaldo Shipyards The Andrea Doria was already built by the time Cristoforo Colombo was completed She was launched in 1953 and was ready for a 1954 maiden voyage When launched the Cristoforo Colombo was larger than the Andrea Doria Hence the ship was the largest merchant ship in Italian service Italian Line service edit nbsp The Cristoforo Colombo departing Genoa on her maiden voyage After the Andrea Doria was sunk after a collision with the MS Stockholm in 1956 the Cristoforo Colombo was on her own until 1960 when the ship was joined by the Andrea Doria s replacement SS Leonardo da Vinci In the spring of 1964 the Cristoforo Colombo carried the Pieta from the Vatican to the 1964 New York World s Fair Pieta was put in a crate that was filled with plastic foam which was lowered onto a rubber base in the first class pool where the least damage was likely to happen to it During the actual loading the Cristoforo Colombo had been put in dry dock so that she would not move and jeopardize the crate and its content Only easily removable snap hooks secured the crate so that it could be released easily in case of accident In case the Cristoforo Colombo sank during the voyage the crate had the ability to float In New York the crate was lifted by a heavy lift floating crane onto a barge that was put alongside the ship The Cristoforo Colombo and the Leonardo da Vinci were kept as the flagships and the prime Italian ships on the North Atlantic until 1965 when the new SS Michelangelo and SS Raffaello were placed into service citation needed She was painted entirely white in 1966 in order to match with the other ships in the Italian Line who had abandoned black as a hull color The ship brought many Italian postwar immigrants to the United States and Canada calling at Halifax and New York in the last decades of large scale ocean liner immigration to North America Cristoforo Colombo was the last ship to bring immigrants to the historical Canadian immigration terminal Pier 21 on March 30 1971 the day before the Pier closed its doors 1 In popular culture editThe Cristoforo Colombo is prominently featured in the 1962 Warner Brothers film Rome Adventure starring Suzanne Pleshette Troy Donahue and Rossano Brazzi The opening titles of the 1971 film The Burglars Le Casse by Henri Verneuil shows the Cristoforo Colombo at dock in Athens Greece The ship s name is clearly seen Retirement from Italian Line service editIn 1973 the Cristoforo Colombo gave up the New York service It was therefore redirected to the Genoa Barcelona Lisbon Rio Montevideo BuenosAires service to replace the MS Giulio Cesare that had suffered serious mechanical problems As the South American service accepted a ship of sub standard maintenance she stayed until 1977 She was then sold to Venezuela where she was used as an accommodation ship for workers at Ciudad Guayana In 1981 the Cristoforo Colombo was sold to US scrappers However upon arrival at Kaohsiung Cristoforo Colombo was towed to Hong Kong with hopes of returning to service As the ship was expensive to operate she was designed to operate on an Italian subsidy and was in poor condition after her time in Venezuela the Cristoforo Colombo was towed back to Kaohsiung in the autumn of 1982 and scrapped References edit Steven Schwinghamer and Jan Raska Pier 21 A History University of Ottawa Press 2020 p 192 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title SS Cristoforo Colombo amp oldid 1180339094, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
