SS König Albert

Photochrom image of the promenade deck
History
German Empire
Name	König Albert
Owner	Norddeutscher Lloyd
Builder	Stettiner Vulcan, Stettin, Germany
Yard number	242
Launched	24 June 1899
Maiden voyage	4 October 1899
Fate	Seized by Italian Government 25 May 1915
Kingdom of Italy
Name	Fernandino Palasciano
Acquired	1915
Renamed	1923, Italia
Fate	Broken up in Italy, 1926
General characteristics
Tonnage	10,484 GRT
Length	521 ft (158.8 m)
Beam	60.2 ft (18.3 m)
Propulsion	2 × quadruple-expansion steam engines, 8,000 hp (6,000 kW) twin screw propellers
Speed	15.5 knots (28.7 km/h)
Capacity	257 first class, 119 second class, 1,799 third class. 2,175 total
Crew	230

SS König Albert was a German Barbarossa-class ocean liner owned by the Norddeutscher Lloyd Line. Interned in Italy at the outbreak of World War I, she was seized by the Italian Government in 1915 and converted to a hospital ship. Sold into merchant service in 1920, she was used as a transport for the Royal Italian Navy, before being scrapped in 1926.^[1]

König Albert was built by Stettiner Vulcan of Stettin, Germany for the Norddeutscher Lloyd Line of Bremen, and launched in 1899. She sailed on her maiden voyage from Hamburg, via the Suez Canal to the Far East. She completed eight round voyages on this service and was then transferred on 3 March 1903 to the Bremen - Cherbourg - New York City route for a single voyage. On 16 April 1903 she went to the Genoa - Naples - New York City run and stayed mainly on this service until commencing her last voyage on 11 June 1914.^{[citation needed]}

On the outbreak of World War I, König Albert, like many other German ships, was interned in a neutral country to avoid capture by the Royal Navy. When Italy joined the war in May 1915, the ship was seized by the Italian Government.^{[citation needed]}

The ship was converted to a hospital ship and renamed the Ferdinando Palasciano,^[1] after the Italian physician and politician Ferdinando Palasciano. On 20 January 1916 off the Albanian coast she was captured as a prize by the Austro-Hungarian Navy U-boat U-11, and escorted into their naval base of Cattaro (the event famously painted by Alexander Kircher). She was later handed back to the Italians.^[2] The reasons for this are unknown, but possibly done due to her hospital .

In 1920, the ship was chartered to Navigazione Generale Italiana of Genoa and on 15 June 1920 commenced her first voyage Genoa - Naples - New York. She completed six round trip voyages on this route, the last one commencing 13 April 1921.

Media related to SS König Albert at Wikimedia Commons

• S.S. Konig Albert Passenger Ship at RootsWeb
• SS Konig Albert