SS Dante Alighieri

Career
Name:	1914: SS Dante Alighieri 1928: Asahi Maru
Namesake:	Dante Alighieri
Owner:	1914: Transatlantica Italiana 1928: Nippon Yusen Kaisha
Route:	1914–1927: Genoa–Palermo–New York
Builder:	Società Esercizio Bacini Riva Trigoso
Launched:	28 November 1914
Maiden voyage:	Genoa–Palermo–New York, 10 February 1915
Fate:	Scrapped, 1949
General characteristics
Tonnage:	9,754 GT
Length:	503.7 ft (153.5 m)
Beam:	59.5 ft (18.1 m)
Propulsion:	two steam engines twin screw propellers
Speed:	16 knots (30 km/h)
Notes:	1914: two funnels, four masts 1940: one funnel

SS Dante Alighieri was an Italian ocean liner for Transatlantica Italiana. During World War I she was employed as a troopship carrying United States troops to France as part of the Cruiser and Transport Force. In 1927, she was sold to Japanese firm Nippon Yusen Kaisha and renamed Asahi Maru. Operating as a hospital ship during WWII, she was damaged in a collision in 1944 in Japan, and was eventually scrapped in 1949.

History

"Dante Alighieri" was built by Società Esercizio Bacini of Riva Trigoso in 1914 for Transatlantica Italiana. She was a 9,754 GT vessel, with a 503.7 feet (153.5 m) length overall and a 59.5 feet (18.1 m) beam. She had accommodations for 100 first-class, 260 second-class, and 1,825 third-class passengers. Launched on 28 November 1914, she sailed on her maiden voyage from Genoa to Palermo and New York on 10 February 1915.^[1] After the United States entered World War I, she was chartered as a troop transport and attached to the United States Navy Cruiser and Transport Force.^[2] After the war ended, Dante Alighieri resumed her Genoa–New York service, continuing on the same route through October 1927. She departed New York for Lisbon, Naples and Genoa in November 1927. In 1928, the liner was sold to the Japanese firm of Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and renamed Asahi Maru. In 1937 she was converted into a hospital ship. In 1940, she had one of her funnels removed. On 24 January 1942, the hospital ship was hit by gunfire from the destroyer USS John D. Ford, during an American incursion on Balikpapan. On 5 February 1944, Asahi Maru was damaged in a collision in the Japanese Inland Sea. She was scrapped in 1949.^[1][3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Immigrant Ship Information". http://www.fortunecity.com/littleitaly/amalfi/13/shipdf.htm. Retrieved 24 June 2008. 
2. ^ Gleaves, Albert (1921). A History of the Transport Service: Adventures and Experiences of United States Transports and Cruisers in the World War. New York: George H. Doran Company. p. 240. OCLC 976757. http://books.google.com/books?id=_7lDrNswDnoC.  (Page 240 shows the date as "July 1, 1916", but is wrong. See p. 102 for a description of the appendices with the correct date of July 1, 1918, listed.)
3. ^ IJN Hospital Ship Asahi Maru

Coordinates: 34°21′N 133°46′E / 34.35°N 133.767°E / 34.35; 133.767