SS Rex
Interception of the Rex in 1938
Career
Owners:	Italian Line
Built:	by G. The Italian Line or Italia Line, also known as the Società di navigazione Italia, was a passenger shipping line that operated regular transatlantic service between Ansaldo & Co. of Sestri Ponente, Genoa, Italy
Launched:	1931
Maiden voyage:	September 27, 1932
Fate:	Destroyed by Allied bombers in 1944
General characteristics
Tonnage:	51,062 gross tons
Length:	880 feet (268. Events 489 - Odoacer attacks Theodoric at the Battle of Verona and is defeated again Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. 8 m)
Beam:	96 feet (29. 3 m)
Power:	Steam turbines, powered by fuel oil
Propulsion:	Quadruple screws
Speed:	28 knots
Passenger Capacity:	604 first-class, 378 second-class, 410 tourist-class, 866 third-class, total 2,258

The SS Rex was an Italian ocean liner launched in 1931. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one Seaport to another along regular long-distance Maritime routes according to a schedule ^[1] It held the westbound Blue Riband between 1933 and 1935. For use of the related term "Blue Ribbon" see Blue ribbon (disambiguation. Originally built for the Navigazione Generale Italiana, its state-ordered merger with the Lloyd Sabaudo line meant that the ship sailed for the newly created Italian Line. The Lloyd Sabaudo was formed in Turin in 1906 and began passenger service in 1907 expanding to to link Italy to ports in Asia as well as North and South America The Italian Line or Italia Line, also known as the Società di navigazione Italia, was a passenger shipping line that operated regular transatlantic service between In May 1938, in a demonstration of U. S. air power, YB-17 bombers of the U.S. Army Air Corps intercepted the Rex at sea in a highly publicized event. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC was the predecessor of the U

The Rex operated transatlantic crossings from Italy with its running mate, the Conte di Savoia. History In November 1932 she made her maiden voyage to New York. On 8 September 1944, off Koper, Rex was hit by 123 rockets launched by RAF aircraft, caught fire from stem to stern, rolled onto the port side, and sank in shallow water. Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Koper (Capodistria is a coastal town and municipality and the largest commercial Port in Slovenia, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The ship was broken up at the site beginning in 1947.

History

Following North German Lloyd's successful capture of the Blue Riband with its Bremen and Europa duo of ocean liners, the Rex was intended to be Italy's effort to do the same. Hapag-Lloyd is a German transportation company comprising a cargo container Shipping line Hapag-Lloyd Container Line, and a cruise History Bremen and her sister were designed to have a cruising speed of 27 History Europa and her sister were designed to have a cruising speed of 27 Amid great competition from other steamship companies, the Italian Line carried out a very attractive and enthusiastic publicity campaign for its two largest liners, the Rex and the Conti di Savoia.

The first-class grand staircase aboard the Rex, demonstrating the liner's classic interiors

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. ^[2] Both ships were 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. Art Deco was a popular international design movement from 1925 until 1939 affecting the decorative arts such as Architecture, Interior design, and Industrial The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (shortened to " CIE Construction and launch The construction of the Ile de France was part of the agreement between the French Line and the French government dating back to November The ship’s exterior design had followed the trend set by Germany’s Bremen and Europa. The Rex sported a long hull with a moderately raked bow, two working funnels, but still featured the old-type overhanging stern found on such liners as the Olympic and Aquitania. History J Bruce Ismay, the chairman of White Star Line, and William Pirrie, the chairman of Harland and Wolff Shipyard Origin The origins of Aquitania lay in the rivalry between the White Star Line and Cunard, Britain 's two leading shipping companies

The first of this pair to be completed was, appropriately, the largest and fastest. It was christened the Rex in August 1931 in the presence of King Emmanuel III and Queen Elena. Victor Emmanuel III (Vittorio Emanuele III 11 November, 1869 – 28 December, 1947) was a member of the House of Savoy and Helen of Montenegro (born Princess Jelena Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro) ( 8 January 1873 - 28 November 1952) was the daughter In its goal of a record-breaking maiden voyage, its first run was a dismal failure. It sailed from Genoa in September, 1932, after a send off from Premier Benito Mussolini, with a passenger list of international celebrities. Unfortunately, while approaching Gibraltar, serious mechanical difficulties arose. Gibraltar (dʒɨˈbrɒltər is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar Repairs took three days. Half its passengers requested to leave. Further complications arose on the Atlantic; lengthy repairs were required in New York before returning to Europe. ^[3]

In August 1933, the Rex fulfilled the promises of its designers and captured the Blue Riband on its westbound crossing with a time of four days and thirteen hours, with an average speed of 28. 92 knots. ^[4] This record would last until 1935 when it was captured by the French Line's Normandie. Origin The beginnings of Normandie can be traced to the Roaring Twenties when shipping companies started to look for new ships to replace the aging veterans Following the outbreak of World War II both the Rex and Conte di Savoia continued regular sailings to the Mediterranean as if totally unaffected by events in Northern Europe. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including In the end Italian liners proved to be among the final ships trading on a commercial basis. Their sailings ceased in the spring of 1940 and they were returned to Italian ports for safekeeping. Ultimately however this effort proved futile as the Rex was destroyed by Allied bombers in 1944 in a successful effort to prevent German forces from using the liner to blockade the port of Trieste. Trieste (Trieste Slovene and Croatian: Trst; German: Triest) is a city and port in northeastern Italy very near to ^[5]

The remains of Rex - about one fifth of the ship, mostly unrecognizable metal parts - are located off the Slovenian coast in the Gulf of Koper. Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija) is a Country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west Koper (Capodistria is a coastal town and municipality and the largest commercial Port in Slovenia, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.

Other uses

The Rex was featured in William Wyler's 1936 film Dodsworth and Federico Fellini's 1973 film Amarcord. William Wyler ( July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a four-time Academy Award -winning motion picture director Dodsworth is a satirical Novel by American writer Sinclair Lewis first published by Harcourt Brace & Company in 1929. Federico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI ( January 20 1920 &ndash October 31 1993) was an Italian Film Amarcord (1973 directed by Federico Fellini, is a semi- Autobiographical coming-of-age tale that combines poignancy with bawdy comedy

The SS Rex was the last ship allowed in 1940 to sail for the US, taking Jewish refugees from Germany.

SS Rex was also the name of a gambling ship operated by mobster Tony Cornero and anchored off Santa Monica Bay in California from 1938 to 1939. A gambling ship was a barge or other large vessel used to house a Casino and often other venues of entertainment Anthony "Admiral" Cornero ( August 18, 1899 - July 31, 1955) was an organized crime figure in Southern California from the Santa Monica Bay is an arm of the Pacific Ocean in southern California, United States. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.

See also

• SS Conte di Savoia
• Italian Line

References

External links

• Classic Liners of Long Ago
• The Myth and the Legend, a page dedicated to the ship Rex (sl,it,de)