SS Milazzo

SS Milazzo in port, 1916
History
NameMilazzo
NamesakeMilazzo, Sicily
OwnerNavigazione Generale Italiana
Port of registry Genoa
BuilderFiat-San Giorgio, Muggiano
CompletedJune 1916
Maiden voyageGenoa – New York, 11 June – 1 July 1916
FateSunk by U-14 (Austria-Hungary) on 29 August 1917
Notessister ship of Volturno
General characteristics
Typebulk carrier
Tonnage11,477 GRT
Displacement20,400 long tons (20,700 t)
Length157.7 m (517 ft 5 in) (pp)
Beam20.1 m (65 ft 11 in)
Draft6.2 m (20 ft 4 in)
Depth of hold
Propulsion1 x quadruple-expansion steam engine, 4,000 hp (3,000 kW)
Speed11 knots (20 km/h)

SS Milazzo was an Italian bulk carrier built in 1916 and sunk during World War I. When she entered service, Milazzo was reported as the largest collier and also the largest cargo ship in the world. She was designed with a unique railcar and elevator system that helped to automate the discharge of cargo. SS Volturno was her sister ship.

Milazzo, built for and operated by Navigazione Generale Italiana, sailed to New York on her maiden voyage in June 1916. In October, on her second eastbound voyage, the ship put in at the Azores with three of her cargo holds ablaze; her New York agent attributed the fires to sabotage. On 29 August 1917, Milazzo was sunk by the Austro-Hungarian Navy submarine U-14 under the command of Georg Ritter von Trapp, later more notable as the patriarch of the family featured in The Sound of Music.