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The Italia Line lost all of their large
liners during World War Two. In the early
1950s, they ordered the 29,083-ton
Andrea Doria and her near
identical sister ship Cristoforo
Colombo to build up their fleet.
With these two liners, the Italia Line
was again established as the premier
shipping line on the Southern Atlantic
route. After Andrea Doria
collided with the liner Stolkholm
in 1956 and sank, the Italia Line ordered
Leonardo da Vinci as
a replacement. This ship, an improved
design of the Andrea Doria class, set out
on her maiden voyage from Genoa - New
York June 30th 1960. The Italia
Line’s 45,900-ton sister ships
Michelangelo and Raffaello
entered service in 1965. This led to
Leonardo da Vinci
and Cristoforo Colombo
being taken off the Atlantic run to be
used solely for cruising.
A coat of white paint was applied to
Leonardo da Vinci
and Cristoforo Colombo
before they set out in their new role as
full time cruise ships. After 11 years
cruising throughout the Mediterranean and
Caribbean, Leonardo da
Vinci was taken out of service in
1976. At one time it looked like Costa
would buy her to be operated on cruises
out of Miami. After the Miami deal fell
through, rumors began circulating that
she would be used as a casino ship moored
on the River Thames/London. The failure
of these interests to materialize led to
her being laid up at La Spezia/Italy next
to the scrap yard. On July 4th 1940,
Leonardo da Vinci
mysteriously caught fire. The fire raged
for four days until all that remained was
a burned out shell. Amid speculation of
sabotage, the wreck of Leonardo
da Vinci was towed to the
nearby ship breakers to be cut up.
Leonardo da Vinci after the
fire
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