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Rex was built for the Italian
shipping company Navigazione Generale
Italiana. The Italian government
subsidized the building of this ship with
one of the conditions being, she would be
fast enough to win the Blue Riband for
Italy. Due to the depression and before
Rex entered service; Mussolini
forced the merger of the three largest
Italian shipping companies, Cosulich,
Lloyd Sabaudo and Navigazione Generale
Italiana. These three lines were from
then on referred to as the Italia Line.
At that time, Lloyd Sabaudo were awaiting
the completion of their largest ever
liner, the 48,500-ton Conti De
Savoi. After Rex and
Conti De Savoi
entered service, instead of being
operated by rival companies, they were
used by the Italia Line to provide an
alternating service between Genoa and New
York.
Capable of carrying 604 1st, 378 2nd
and 1,276 3rd class passengers,
Rex set out on her maiden voyage
from Genoa - New York September 27th
1932. Engine problems on that voyage
forced her to have a three-day stopover
at Gibraltar for repairs. As all attempts
to capture the Blue Riband over the
following months were also plagued by
mechanical failures, it took Rex
until August 1933 to take the westbound
record from the North German Lloyd
Line’s Europa by crossing
from Gibraltar - New York in 4 days, 13
hours and 58 minutes, increasing the
average speed from 27.92 to 28.92 knots.
The Italia Line was disappointed she
never managed to take the Blue Riband
from the North German Lloyd Line’s
Bremen on the eastbound run.
Rex was advertised as
crossing the sunny southern route with
brochures showing her outdoor swimming
pools surrounded by multi colored
parasols. As she attracted fewer first
class passengers than anticipated, the
Italia Line had to rely on the
transportation of westbound immigrants to
run her at a profit. Italian shipping
companies continued operating their ships
after the outbreak of the Second World
War to show Italy’s neutrality in
the conflict. After Italy entered the war
in support of Germany in the spring of
1940, Italian shipping companies withdrew
their ships from service, this leading to
Rex being laid up at Bari on the
Adriatic coast.
British pilots spotted Rex
being towed from Bari - Trieste September
7th 1943. As commanders in the area
believed the German Army intended sinking
her in Trieste Harbor to form a blockade,
they gave orders for the defenseless ship
to be attacked. British aircraft made
numerous attacks over the following two
days firing rockets into her hull until
she finally sank. The extensively damaged
Rex was re-floated in 1947 so she
could be cut up for scrap. All the Italia
Line received of their only ship to have
won the Blue Riband was her half ton
bronze bell. American bombers sunk the
Italia Line’s other large liner
Conte de Savoia
during an attack on Venice September 11th
1943.
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