MS Augustus (1926)

MS Augustus
History
Name	1926–1941: Augustus 1941: Falco 1941–1951: Sparviero
Namesake	Emperor Augustus
Operator	1927–1932: Navigazione Generale Italiana 1932–1942: Italian Line 1942–1943: Royal Italian Navy 1943–1944: National Republican Navy 1945–1951: Italian Navy
Port of registry	Genoa  Italy
Builder	Ansaldo Shipyard
Launched	13 December 1926
Christened	December 1926
Maiden voyage	10 November 1927
Out of service	Laid up from 1940 to 1942
Fate	Scuttled as a blockship in 1944, then raised in 1947 and scrapped in 1951
General characteristics
Type	Combined ocean liner/cruise ship
Tonnage	32,650 GRT
Length	215.25
Beam	25.20 m
Decks	9 decks
Installed power	28,000 hp
Propulsion	4 Savoja MAN Mixed/Dual Cycle diesel engines; four propellers.
Speed	20 knots (37.4 km/h)
Capacity	1,675 passengers

MS Augustus was a combined ocean liner and cruise ship built in 1926 for the Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI). Augustus operated mostly on the Europe to South and North America routes, on the former being one of, if not the largest and fastest liner to sail on regular crossings.^[1]

At the time of its construction, the Augustus was the largest motor ship in the world, and remains to this day the largest quadruple-screw, diesel-powered ocean liner ever built. The ship was later transferred, together with her steam turbine-powered sister ship SS Roma to the new Italian Line after the merger of the Navigazione Generale Italiana with the Lloyd Sabaudo and the Cosulich Line.^[2]

During World War II the Augustus was converted into an aircraft carrier by the Regia Marina and first renamed Falco, and at a later time, Sparviero, while the Roma became the aircraft carrier Aquila. Neither of them ever entered combat service under these new roles. In 1944, both ships were taken over by the occupying German troops, but on 25 September of that same year Augustus was scuttled as a blockship at the entrance to the port of Genoa. After the war, she was raised in 1947 and ultimately scrapped in 1951.^[3]