S.S. Conte Biancamano

The S.S. Conte Biancamano was an Italian liner launched in 1925. The name was chosen in honor of Humbert I Biancamano, founder of the Savoy dynasty. She was built in the Scottish shipyard William Beardmore & Co. in Dalmuir, near Glasgow for the Genovese shipping company Lloyd Sabaudo. S.S. Conte Biancamano was the first of two sister ships, her sister S.S. Conte Grande not seeing completion until 1927.

S.S. Conte Biancamano was launched on April 23rd, 1925, and made her maiden voyage on November 20th,1925 from Genoa to New York, sailing, as expected, on a direct route to North America. The ship, provided with all the most innovative amenities of its time, was intended primarily as a luxury liner.The last trip for the Lloyd Sabaudo departed from Genoa to New York on 25 November 1932.

In 1932, Lloyd Sabaudo, together with other Italian shipping companies, merged to form the famous Italian Line. The S.S. Conte Biancamano was then used for direct routes to South America. This was continued for six trips, the last of which began on July 1st, 1932.

In 1934, she was used for military purposes. She carried troops and military equipment on behalf of the Ministry of the Navy in preparation for the war in Ethiopia.

In 1936, she was transferred to Lloyd Triestino, one of the companies in the group, which took a direct route to the Middle East.

In March 1939, the ship carried the first team of climbers (led by the mountaineer Fritz Wiessner) to attempt the summit of the Himalayan peak K2. Scenes of the team on board feature in a BBC documentary titled 'Mountain Men: The Ghosts of K2'.

In 1940, she returned to Italian Line and was used for a trip from Genoa to Naples to Panama to Valparaiso and back to Panama.

At the start of the Second World War, she was seized and interned in the Panamanian port of Cristóbal, where she was moored. In December 1941, with the entry of the United States into the war, she was seized by the United States. She was converted into a troop transport and commissioned into the United States Navy as U.S.S. Hermitage (AP-54) in 1942. The conversion work was carried out in Philadelphia and when completed the ship could accommodate up to seven thousand men. The ship was armed with one 127/38mm gun and six 76/50mm guns.

On November 8th, 1942, the allies began the invasion of North Africa, called Operation Torch. U.S.S. Hermitage departed from New York on November 2nd, 1942 carrying 5,600 troops that landed in Casablanca. Later on December 11th, she returned to the United States and was then used in the Pacific during 1943.

Following the Normandy Landings in 1944, she made several trips between Europe and the U.S. to transport troops and return wounded prisoners. She was at Le Havre on May 8th 1945, the day of Germany's surrender. After the end of hostilities, she was used for the repatriation of thousands of American veterans of war, first from Europe and then the Pacific. She was withdrawn from service on August 20th, 1946. During her service with the U.S. Navy, she traveled over 230,000 miles and carried 129,695 soldiers from different nations.

In 1947, the ship was returned to Italy and in 1948 underwent refit and modernization at a shipyard in Monfalcone, which restored her name back to S.S. Conte Biancamano. With her structural and interior refit and modernization completed, she became the premiere ocean liner of the renewed Italian merchant fleet.

In July 1949, S.S. Conte Biancamano was placed on the Genoa to Buenos Aires route until March 21st,1950 when she was moved to the Genoa to Naples, Cannes, and New York route.

On March 26th, 1960, she began her last voyage on the Genoa to Naples, Barcelona, Lisbon, Halifax, and New York route. In La Spezia 1964, during the ship's scrapping, the bridge, some first-class cabins and the large ballroom were dismantled and reassembled in the Air and ship pavilion of the National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci" in Milan.

• Length: 199 m (653 ft)
• Beam: 21.6 m (71 ft 1 in)
• Propulsion: Two steam turbine engines, twin screw, 24,000 horsepower
• Speed: 21 knots (23-24 Mph)
• Capacity: 24,416 tons
• Occupancy: 252 1st class passengers, 455 cabin class passengers, 893 economic class passengers

Ancestors Traveled