SS ''Conte Grande'' was a

Lloyd Sabaudo The Lloyd Sabaudo was a Shipping transport line formed in Turin in 1906. It began passenger service in 1907, expanding to link Italy to ports in Asia as well as North and South America. In 1932 it merged with several other Italian shipping lines ...

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

built in 1927 by

Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT) ("Technical Establishment of Trieste") was a private shipbuilding company based in Trieste from the mid-19th to early 20th century, and the most important naval shipbuilding firm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, Italy, to service the

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

passenger line between

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, Italy, and New York City. Launched on 29 June 1927, her maiden voyage was from Genoa to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

to New York City, which occurred on 13 April 1928. In 1932, after acquisition by the

Italian Line Known as Italian Line and from 1992 Italia Line, whose official name was Italia di Navigazione Società per Azioni, S.p.A., was a passenger shipping line that operated regular transatlantic crossing, transatlantic services between Italy and the ...

, she was transferred to the South America service but was laid up in

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

, Brazil in 1940. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she was acquired by the United States and was used as an American troopship—renamed USS ''Monticello'' (AP-61) in 1942. After the war, in 1947, she was returned to the Italian Line and renamed ''Conte Grande''. After a two-year hiatus, in 1949, she resumed service to South America. In 1960, she was transferred from the Italian Line to

Lloyd Triestino Lloyd Triestino was a major shipping company, created in 1919 when the city of Trieste became part of Italy in the settlement after the First World War. It ran passenger services on ocean liners around the world. Seriously harmed by Second World W ...

(also chartered by Italian Line), where she served for another year until being scrapped in 1961. Her sister ship was the .

Beginnings

SS Conte Grande 1928 Maiden Voyage New York Arrival

''Conte Grande'' was built by

as an Italian-flagged

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

. She was launched on 28 June 1927 and entered service with

at Cantieri San Marco for service on the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

tourist and passenger trade. In 1933 she transferred to the South American tourist trade. Early in June 1940 the ''Conte Grande'' was in Santos, Brazil, on one of her regular South American cruises. Here her officers held her awaiting developments after Mussolini's attack on France on 10 June 1940. On 27 February 1942 she was transferred to Brazilian registry and a Brazilian crew replaced the Italian crew who were interned. She was purchased on 16 April 1942 by the United States and renamed USS ''Monticello''. She was commissioned the same day at

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

in Brazil under the command of Captain Morton L. Deyo, USN.

World War II

The USS ''Monticello'' sailed north under the escort of the destroyer to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

for conversion to a troop transport which was completed 10 September 1942. She left New York on 2 November for

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

, the invasion of North Africa, carrying troops to

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

. Returning to New York, she sailed again on 25 December, carrying men for the various commands of the China-Burma-India Theater to Karachi, by way of the Panama Canal, Australia, and Ceylon. The transport returned to New York on 24 April 1943, carried reinforcements to Oran on two voyages, then sailed from Africa to San Francisco by way of the Panama Canal. Through the first half of 1944, she carried men from San Francisco to Californian ports, Australia, Hawaii, and the burgeoning bases of the South West Pacific theatre of World War II, South Pacific. In June 1944, she began the first of a series of transatlantic voyages bringing men to win victory in Europe. She reported to New York for an eight-week availability on 20 July 1945 and while there her Navy crew transferred off and were replaced by a United States Coast Guard, Coast Guard crew beginning on 21 July 1945. Her first Coast Guard commanding officer was Commander George R. Leslie. He took command on 6 August 1945 and was replaced the next day by Captain R. S. Patch, USCG.

Postwar service

The vessel remained under repair at Todd's Shipyards, Brooklyn, until 2 October. During this time all of her Weapon, armament was removed. She departed New York, bound for

, on 8 October 1945, with 176 Italian officers, 5,590 Italian Army enlisted men, 13 United States Army, U.S. Army officers and 34 Army enlisted men, a total of 5,813. She arrived at

safely on 19 October. She departed Naples on 22 October and arrived in Norfolk, Virginia on 3 November 1945. She departed Norfolk on 8 November and arrived at Le Havre, France on the 17th. She departed Le Havre on 19 November and arrived back at her home port of New York on 27 November. She then departed New York on 10 December, bound for Marseille, arriving there on 20 December. She departed Marseille on 22 December, arriving at New York on 1 January 1946.

Decommission and transfer

She decommissioned at Norfolk on 22 March 1946 and returned to the War Shipping Administration for disposal on 27 May 1946. She was returned to the Italian government in June 1947, redubbed ''Conte Grande'', and after being laid up for two years, resumed service as a passenger vessel in South America. She was scrapped in 1961.

Awards

''Monticello'' earned one Service star, battle star for the

service.''Monticello''
NavSource Online.

Footnotes

References

United States Coast Guard website.
''Monticello'' AP-61
– DANFS Online. * *http://www.silverhillnet.com/monticello.htm *http://www.ussmonticello.com/moboat_history.pdf (including the second ''Monticello'') *

External links

* http://www.monticello.org/press/newsletter/2008/fall/ships.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Conte Grande 1927 ships Ships built in Trieste Ocean liners Steamships of Italy Passenger ships of Italy Steamships of the United States World War II auxiliary ships of the United States