SS Conte Verde

<h2 id="lloyd-sabaudos-transatlantic-line">Lloyd Sabaudo's Transatlantic Line</h2>
She started her maiden voyage from Genoa to <a href="/facts/Buenos_Aires/9lUVmS7f">Buenos Aires</a> on 21 April 1923. She set sail for <a href="/facts/New_York_City/YlyvFmVC">New York</a> on 13 June 1923. One of her most famous voyages was when she brought the national <a href="/facts/Association_football/yttjeD0D">association football</a> teams of <a href="/facts/Romania_national_football_team/aAfWYTll">Romania</a>, <a href="/facts/France_national_football_team/sFSXkum8">France</a>, <a href="/facts/Yugoslavia_national_football_team/BB1S6aU4">Yugoslavia</a>, <a href="/facts/Belgium_national_football_team/HIEk1qCR">Belgium</a> and <a href="/facts/Brazil_national_football_team/2wJk8lUD">Brazil</a> to Uruguay to participate in the <a href="/facts/1930_FIFA_World_Cup/5TPQUNyL">1930 FIFA World Cup</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a> The Romanian team boarded in Genoa, the French delegation (including <a href="/facts/FIFA/wC2aqLnn">FIFA</a> president <a href="/facts/Jules_Rimet/QRcvEhrR">Jules Rimet</a>) and Yugoslav team boarded in <a href="/facts/Villefranche-sur-Mer/fFj5rsEU">Villefranche-sur-Mer</a>, the Belgian team boarded in <a href="/facts/Barcelona/8PWLdRbW">Barcelona</a>, and the Brazilian team boarded in <a href="/facts/Rio_de_Janeiro/AVPTJJ2C">Rio de Janeiro</a>. The <a href="/facts/FIFA_World_Cup_Trophy/kM4zdWVc">trophy</a> and three referees, <a href="/facts/Jean_Langenus/0fvev66l">Jean Langenus</a>, <a href="/facts/Henri_Christophe_(referee)/D4E0uIGM">Henri Christophe</a>, and <a href="/facts/Thomas_Balvay/KU6CdAEv">Thomas Balvay</a> also crossed the <a href="/facts/Atlantic_Ocean/EI4uChIb">Atlantic Ocean</a> on the ship.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> Other celebrities who sailed on the Conte Verde include <a href="/facts/Fyodor_Chaliapin/XUITl1f2">Fyodor Chaliapin</a>, a Russian opera singer, <a href="/facts/Josephine_Baker/anfphvwa">Josephine Baker</a>, an American dancer, <a href="/facts/Fosco_Maraini/xul0tuqk">Fosco Maraini</a>, an Italian academic of Tibetan and Japanese studies as well as a photographer and mountaineer, and <a href="/facts/Dacia_Maraini/73uoxzA5">Dacia Maraini</a>, an Italian writer.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a> Giovanni Giotta, owner of a famous San Francisco café, the <a href="/facts/Caffe_Trieste/WuaeqdjJ">Caffe Trieste</a> founded in 1956, was a member of the ship's crew.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a>

<h2 id="lloyd-triestinos-far-east-line">Lloyd Triestino's Far East Line</h2>
After acquisition by Italian Line in 1932, she became a part of <a href="/facts/Italia_Marittima/kmYvwMhz">Lloyd Triestino</a> (also chartered by Italian Line) for service between <a href="/facts/Trieste/I6eRqWpA">Trieste</a> and <a href="/facts/Shanghai/nYyuBo2S">Shanghai</a> via <a href="/facts/Suez/0GflHFFL">Suez</a>, <a href="/facts/Mumbai/BdoEc10R">Bombay</a>, <a href="/facts/Colombo/dcLPUe6t">Colombo</a>, <a href="/facts/Singapore/CQDkhUvD">Singapore</a> and <a href="/facts/Hong_Kong/4nAf3mqQ">Hong Kong</a> in 24 days. [2] For this transfer, she was thoroughly refitted. The first-, second- and third-class accommodations were reduced in capacity to 250, 170 and 220 passengers, respectively, to create wider spaces.
On 1 September 1937, she collided with <a href="/facts/Nippon_Yusen/sSc6ABCk">NYK</a>’s <a href="/facts/Asama_Maru/m5rRuj1p">Asama Maru</a> in an extraordinarily large typhoon in Hong Kong. She had run aground off the shores of <a href="/facts/Cape_Collinson/qcapWa0F">Cape Collinson</a>, and the Asama Maru was at the northernmost part of <a href="/facts/Chai_Wan/zbdPhXIH">Chai Wan Bay</a>. The work of refloating the Conte Verde required one month, and the Asama Maru took half a year.
From 1938 to 1940, the four Lloyd Triestino ships brought a number of Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria to Shanghai. Nazi persecution intensified especially after <a href="/facts/Kristallnacht/U9ovTHbK">Kristallnacht</a> on 9 November 1938. Then the number of the refugees increased dramatically as the ships became their lifeboats. Ultimately, 17,000 Jewish refugees came to Shanghai on the Lloyd Triestino’s ships.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13">13</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14">14</a> The refugee route via the ships was closed on 10 June 1940, when Italy joined the war. The liners’ operation was suspended indefinitely, and the Conte Verde was confined to Shanghai.

<h2 id="exchange-ship">Exchange ship</h2>
In December 1941, Japan declared war on the Allies. In May 1942, Japan and the US agreed to exchange interned diplomats and other citizens, chartering three ships—Conte Verde (known as Teikyo Maru while chartered), Asama Maru and <a href="/facts/MS_Gripsholm_(1925)/5CR616g5">Gripsholm</a>—for this purpose. The Conte Verde and Asama Maru were sent by Japan, and the Gripsholm by the US. They met at <a href="/facts/Maputo/EfDH2aPa">Lourenco Marques</a>, exchanged the internees and returned.
The Conte Verde and Asama Maru were moored at <a href="/facts/Yokohama/q5RcVlLf">Yokohama</a> while waiting for the second exchange voyage, but negotiations between Japan and the US collapsed. The Conte Verde left Yokohama on September and returned to Shanghai.

<h2 id="sinking">Sinking</h2>
Due to the <a href="/facts/Armistice_with_Italy/m1ylac4D">Italian Armistice</a> in 1943, Conte Verde was scuttled in <a href="/facts/Shanghai/nYyuBo2S">Shanghai</a> by her Italian crew to prevent seizure by <a href="/facts/Empire_of_Japan/gMpNKg2W">Japanese</a> forces,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15">15</a> preventing ships from entering or leaving a Japanese naval yard where ships were being repaired, until it was raised July 1944.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16">16</a> She was then bombed and sunk by a <a href="/facts/B-24/xAzkkWGS">B-24</a> of the 373rd Bomb Squadron on 8 August before being raised and repaired once more, renamed Kotobuki Maru, converted into a troopship, and towed to <a href="/facts/Maizuru/Wctr9JrP">Maizuru</a>, a port town in the north of <a href="/facts/Kyoto_Prefecture/v9q4S8Sk">Kyoto Prefecture</a> in June 1945, before being beached by damage from an aircraft raid on 25 July, and was finally scrapped in 1949.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17">17</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18">18</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19">19</a>

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Augustin_Chantrel/5eq4wcBQ">Augustin Chantrel</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Henri_Christophe_(referee)/D4E0uIGM">Henri Christophe (referee)</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Jean_Langenus/0fvev66l">Jean Langenus</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Thomas_Balvay/KU6CdAEv">Thomas Balvay</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/1930_FIFA_World_Cup/5TPQUNyL">1930 FIFA World Cup</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">"Conte Verde SS (1934~1944) Kotobuki Maru (Conte Verde) (+1944)". Wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 27 May 2022. <a href="https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?147962" target="_blank">https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?147962</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">The Ships List Archived 19 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved 19 February 2008 <a href="http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/italia.htm" target="_blank">http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/italia.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">“The Propelling Machinery of the Twin-Screw Atlantic Liners ‘Conte Rosso’ and ‘Conte Verde’.” The Shipbuilder (Shipbuilder Press, London), September 1922, pp. 117-127. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">“The Italian Liner ‘Conte Verde’.” Shipbuilding and Shipping Record (London), 13 September 1923, pp. 325-335. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Kyoto popular front : Anti-Fascist movement at a café in Kyoto during the 1930s. Kyoto: Hokuto Shobo Books. 2012. pp. 40–50. ISBN 9784894672239. <a href="9784894672239" target="_blank">9784894672239</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">The New York Times, 19 February 1922. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Brinnin, John Malcolm. “The Decoration of Ocean Liners: Rules and Exceptions.” The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Vol. 15, Transportation Theme Issue, Winter-Spring, 1990. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">"1930 FIFA World Cup Uruguay". FIFA. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2009. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090202113439/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition%3D1/overview.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20090202113439/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition%3D1/overview.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">FIFA World Cup 1930 - Official FIFA World Cup web site <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070603185201/http://fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1/index.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20070603185201/http://fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1/index.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">Maraini, Dacaia. Ein Schiff nach Kobe: Das japanische Tagebuch meiner Mutter. Translated from the Italian by Eva-Maria Wager. München: Pieper Verlag GmbH, 2003. <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">"Giovanni Giotta & Kristen Jensen, "Giovanni Giotta---Song of the Fisherman"". Istrianet.org. Retrieved 27 May 2022. <a href="http://www.istrianet.org/istria/people/biographies/giotta/giotta1.htm" target="_blank">http://www.istrianet.org/istria/people/biographies/giotta/giotta1.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">Cope, Elizabeth W. “Displaced Europeans in Shanghai.” Far Eastern Survey (Institute of Pacific Relations), Vol. 17, No. 23, 8 December 1948. <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:13">Kranzler, David H. “The history of the Jewish refugee community of Shanghai 1938-1945.” PhD thesis, Yeshiva University, 1971. <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:14">Ross, James R. Escape to Shanghai: A Jewish Community in China. New York: Free Press, 1994, pp. 42-50. <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:15">"Repatriation Day: 1943", North China Daily News Sunday 18 September 1949 <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:16">"World Cup stunning moments: The Conte Verde's trip to Uruguay in 1930". TheGuardian.com. 10 May 2018. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/may/13/world-cup-stunning-moments-25-conte-verde-uruguay" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/may/13/world-cup-stunning-moments-25-conte-verde-uruguay</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:17">Sinking of the Conte Verde Rickshaw.org. Retrieved on 15 February 2007. <a href="http://www.rickshaw.org/sinking.htm" target="_blank">http://www.rickshaw.org/sinking.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:18">Ships That Brought Us Rickshaw.org. Retrieved on 15 February 2007. <a href="http://www.rickshaw.org/ships_that_brought_us.htm" target="_blank">http://www.rickshaw.org/ships_that_brought_us.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:19">"Kokansen". Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 25 October 2013. <a href="http://www.combinedfleet.com/Kotobuki_t.htm" target="_blank">http://www.combinedfleet.com/Kotobuki_t.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

SS Conte Verde open-in-new

SS Conte Verde