RMS Imperatrice Rossa
Siduri War
In May 1934, while mid-transit from Andria to Fumicino, the Cacertian Admiralty requisitioned the Rossa to be used as a troopship. The Rossa arrived in Fumicino on 8 May 1934 and, after her passengers and cargo had been unloaded, was handed over to the Cacertian Royal Navy for repurposing. Stripped of her peacetime fittings and outfitted with a handful of 90 mm quick-firing guns, Rossa was converted to a troopship with a max carrying capacity of nearly 14,000 troops. In August 1934, the HMT Imperatrice Rossa departed Fumicino carrying some 11,000 infantry bound for Mansuriyyah to fight in the Western Theater.
Ferrying troops from the Empire to the Western Theater would become the Rossa’s main route during the conflict. She would often make direct trips from the home islands to Mansuriyyah, then sail to Andria where she would refuel before returning to the home islands for more troops. Her many visits to Padua and Viareggio carrying troops safely overseas and then back home after the war made her a favorite symbol for both cities. Several paintings of her in Viareggio were made and a large dance hall in Padua—Giardini Rossi—was also named in her honor.
During her four years of service in the war, Rossa sailed some 750,000 kilometers and ferried nearly 400,000 soldiers to and from ports on the western coast of Siduri. She mainly served under the command of Captain Erika Chinnici who recalled the ease of her service and the reliance of her construction.
Post-War Service and Retirement
After the end of the Siduri War, Imperatrice Rossa was handed back to White Star in March 1938 and underwent a rudimentary refit for passenger service. She was then contracted by the Cacertian government to transport war husbands, war brides, and their children back home to Cacertian territories. When she had completed the contract in July, she was taken out of service when her Board of Trade certificate was not renewed.
White Star kept her as part of the company’s roster of vessels afterward, intending to invest in giving the vessel a proper refit but it was deemed cost-prohibitive to bring her up to new safety standards. The company approached the Cacertian government, who briefly entertained the idea of a subsidy, but the war had exhausted the nation’s economy and investing in ocean liners was not considered a priority at the time. Unable to secure additional funding, White Star officially retired her in April 1940 thereby signaling the end of the Rossa’s operational life.
She remained moored in Fumicino until August 1940 when she was sold to the Royal Shipbuilders of Cacerta, the company that had constructed her. En route to the ship breaking yards, Rossa attracted crowds of sightseers numbering in the thousands to see her off and in response the crew fired several rockets in acknowledgment of her long service. The final shutdown of her engines took place 16 August and marked the end of an illustrious career of nearly five million kilometers and 500 voyages. Rossa carried 1.5 million people over 30 years of passenger service, a feat that has yet to be beaten by any other White Star Line ship to date.
Rossa’s dismantling took over a year to complete.
Legacy
The ship’s bell is kept in the lobby of the Padova History Museum as the ship’s namesake, Atria Aurelia, was a princess and eventual Legatus of the Sabrian Empire. Annually, for Victory Day, the bell is rung twice in honor of Cacerta’s servicemen and women.
Some of the furnishings from the Rossa were installed in the bar-restaurant complex called the Red Empress Lounge. Several sections are panelled with great quantities of richly carved Cacertian oak which came from the Rossa’s first class lounge. A neon sign made in 1937 that advertises the Imperatrice Rossa was hung above the entrance in conjunction with the ship’s original bow lettering.
A complete first class reading-writing room, with the original chandeliers and bookcases, was incorporated into a high-class suite of the Fidellis Hotel in Vichenza. It has become a popular booking for both Cacertian and foreign honeymooners looking to experience the opulence of the early 20th century.
The whole of a second class drawing room from the ship forms part of the interior of a private home overlooking the harbor in Padua. The original owner of the home, who had it constructed in 1942, had been a soldier of the Siduri War who had been taken to her theater aboard the Rossa during the conflict and later was returned by her as well. Since 1997, the home is now a museum commemorating the Rossa and her service.
The original model of the Imperatrice Rossa is displayed at the Fumicino Naval History Museum after a long stay on the now retired RMS Regina del Cielo. Another large builder’s model, commissioned by White Star in 1966, is located in the reception area of White Star’s headquarters in Cesena.
The historical noval Heart of Rossa by Syaran writer Boyana Stanislavova Radulova set in Fumicino in the 1900s includes accounts of the building of the Rossa and her sister ship Bianca. It features several historical characters involved in the designing and construction of the Empress-classes with the climax of two love stories concluding as the ship approaches Kenlis on her maiden voyage.