SS Rex (shipwreck)

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Remains of the SS Rex.

From Wikipedia:

The SS Rex was an Italian ocean liner launched in 1931.[1] It held the westbound Blue Riband between 1933 and 1935. Originally built for the Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI) as the SS Guglielmo Marconi, its state-ordered merger with the Lloyd Sabaudo line meant that the ship sailed for the newly created Italia Flotta Riunite (Italian Line). On May 12, 1938, in a demonstration of U.S. air power, three YB-17 bombers of the U.S. Army Air Corps intercepted the Rex 610 miles at sea in a highly publicized event.[2]

The Rex operated transatlantic crossings from Italy with its running mate, the Conte di Savoia. 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. The ship was broken up at the site beginning in 1947.

For further information, follow the URL below.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Rex
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   45°32'56"N   13°41'31"E

Comments

  • wikipedia says about 1/5 of her hull remains
  • On December 27 1934 my mother and I boarded the RR Rex to go to America to join my father. I was 5 years old and had never seen my father. He left Italy to go to the United States in 1921 after 7 years he went back to marry the sweet heart he left behind. He went back to the United States and his job in March 1929. I was born on September 1929 and the next month the Great Depression started. Jobs and money was hard to come by. So my father became a US citizen saved what he could and finally we became a family. The depression continued and times were hard. I was very unhappy other than my mom I did not know anyone, I could not speak English, my dad was a stranger to me and I was to start school. I did survive, did well in school, got married at age 21, was widowed at age 55 . I have 2 sons 2 wonderful daughter- in -laws and 4 grand children. My Papa, Mother, baby sister and husband.are all gone. I worked for 40 years. Had all the ups and downs of life, I am now retired and doing OK. I believe that that I learned how to survive on that December 1934 when I left all I had ever known the day after Christmas and went to Genoa and the next day boarded the RR REX. I have always told myself that if I survived leaving all I ever knew grandparents, aunts,uncles, playmates,language and starting all over at age 5 , I could handle anything. I am now 85 years old and still remember that December 27, 1934 morning and the next 7 days of very cold weather, the fog horns going on one very dark stormy night ,being very sea sick, a big New Years eve party that I was too sick to attend, the beautiful dinning room that I could not enjoy too often, and finally Jan. 3, 1935 landing in New York harbor and this strange man ( my Papa) came to get us and hugged and kissed us. He took us off the ship, and I will always remember his pointing to the Statue if Liberty,and said you are now in America. I have lived that week on the RR Rex, every year for 80 years,
  • There is a framed set of floor plans of the Rex in a pizza shop in Baltimore,MD. Matthews pizza on Eastern avenue in Baltimore City was the city's 1st pizza shop; opened in 1943. I have no idea why the plans are there, but they appear original. Perhaps the owner sailed her.
This article was last modified 6 years ago