MS Achille Lauro

cruise ship launched in 1946

The MS Achille Lauro was an Italian cruise ship registered in Naples and built between 1939 and 1947 in the Netherlands under the name of Willem Ruys.[4] It burned in the Indian Ocean off Somalia in 1994.[2]

Achille Lauro in Piraeus, Greece
History
Name
  • Willem Ruys (1947–1965)[4]
  • Achille Lauro (1965–1994)
Namesake
Owner
  • 1947–1965: N. V. Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd, Vlissingen, Netherlands
  • 1965–1989: Achille Lauro FU G. & C.
  • 1989–1994: Star Lauro S.P.A.[1]
Operator
Port of registry
Ordered7 May 1938
BuilderKoninklijke Maatschappij "De Schelde" Shipbuilding
Yard number214
Laid down25 January 1939[1]
Launched1 July 1946[1] (Delayed due to WWII)
Christenedby HM Queen Wilhelmina[3]
Completed21 November 1947[1]
Maiden voyage2 December 1947[1]
Out of service30 November 1994
Identification
FateSank on 2 December 1994 off the coast of Somalia due to fire on board.[2]
General characteristics
Tonnage
  • 21,119 GRT as built
  • 23,629 GRT after refurbishment
Length642 ft (196 m)[3]
Beam82 ft (25 m)[3]
Draft29.3 ft (8.9 m)[3]
Decks9 [3] (6 passenger accessible)[1]
Installed power
Propulsion2 propellers[1]
Speed22.0 kn (40.7 km/h)[1]
Capacity
  • 869 passengers (as built)[1]
  • 1,372 passengers[3]
Crew300 [3]

She was hijacked by the Palestinian Liberation Front, where Jewish American Leon Klinghoffer was shot dead and thrown overboard from this cruise ship in 1985.[5]

References change

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 "Name ship: Willem Ruys". Stichting Maritiem-Historische Databank. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Cowell, Alan (2 December 1994). "Achille Lauro Smolders After 1,000 Are Rescued". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Ward, Douglas (1995). Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Oxford: Berlitz. ISBN 978-2-8315-1327-0.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Nicolson, Harold (1957). Journey to Java. London: Constable.
  5. Berman, Daphna (9 May 2008). "Klinghoffer daughters recall personal tragedy at commemoration of terror victims outside Israel". Haaretz.

Other websites change