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Description
On October 11, 1927, the ship SS Principessa Mafalda set sail from Genoa on a voyage to Buenos Aires, with planned stops at Barcelona, Dakar, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, and Montevideo. The vessel, under the command of Captain Simone Gulì, carried 971 passengers and had a crew of 288. Additionally, it was loaded with 300 tons of cargo, 600 bags of mail, and 250,000 gold lire intended for the Argentine government. The journey was scheduled to take 14 days.

It was soon apparent that the ship was not in good shape. Mechanical problems caused the ship to postpone its departure from Barcelona, and there were several occasions when it completely stopped in the open ocean, sometimes for long periods of time. The bathrooms' water supply also started to fluctuate. Many incidences of food poisoning resulted from a large volume of food spoilage due to malfunctioning refrigeration equipment. Captain Gulí asked for a replacement ship during a halt at Cape Verde, but the corporation told him to go to Rio and wait for more orders. He continued the voyage across the Atlantic after making some repairs and replenishing the ship with supplies.

As of October 23, Principessa Mafalda was clearly on the list for port, which alarmed passengers who had not been given any information about why the preceding problems had occurred. On October 24, the ship was finally sailing at full speed off the coast of northern Brazil, albeit much behind schedule. Everything appeared to be getting back to normal on board, and passengers even held a celebration on deck to commemorate crossing the Equator, replete with big cakes and orchestra music.

The ship experienced many violent shocks about 5:15 PM on October 25, 1927, close to the Abrolhos Archipelago, some 80 miles off the coast of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. The loss of a propeller was initially explained to passengers as a non-dangerous event. On the bridge, however, it was found that the hull had been damaged due to a fracture in the starboard propeller shaft. The impenetrable doors couldn't be completely shut, which made the situation worse.

At 5:35 PM, Captain Gul sounded the alarm and sent an SOS signal. He believed the ship could remain afloat until the following day, and two nearby ships, the Empire Star (British) and Alhena (Dutch), arrived promptly. The situation appeared to be under control with clear weather and nearby rescue vessels.

Divergent reports exist regarding the subsequent events. According to some reports, the ship kept moving in a broad circle for a considerable amount of time, which confused the rescue boats and made it impossible to launch lifeboats because of the list. At 10:03 PM, the power finally went out, sending terror across the ship. As the passengers started to plunge into the water, some of them were attacked by sharks. When Captain Gul saw the ship was sinking quickly, he ordered the remaining lifeboats to be lowered; however, the starboard lifeboats were difficult to deploy due to the list.

Finally, around 10:10 p.m., or about four hours and twenty minutes after the first mishap, Principessa Mafalda fell stern first. Given that the disaster happened in a major maritime corridor, several ships arrived to help. At dawn, Alhena had saved 450 lives; Avelona had saved 300; Empire Star had saved 202; Formosa had saved 151; Rosetti had saved 122; Moselle had saved 49; and 22 of them had landed at Bahia. After being moved to Formosa, a few of the people saved by the Empire Star touched down in Rio de Janeiro. The event was shrouded in controversy, with claims of shooting, sharks, bursting boilers, and other ships supposedly declining to assist.

The sinking of the Principessa Mafalda was, at the time, the largest loss of life on an Italian ship in the Southern Hemisphere.

Following the sinking, the Italian Navy Board's inquiry found that the propeller casing joint was the cause of the mishap. In order to avert such mishaps, it was mandated that safety mechanisms be installed on the propeller shafts of all boats registered in Italy. The age, upkeep, or activities of the crew of the ship were not the subject of the study. However, the relatives of the dead were forced to receive a sizable payment from the NGI (Navigazione Generale Italiana).

Description
On October 11, 1927, the ship SS Principessa Mafalda set sail from Genoa on a voyage to Buenos Aires, with planned stops at Barcelona, Dakar, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, and Montevideo. The vessel, under the command of Captain Simone Gulì, carried 971 passengers and had a crew of 288. Additionally, it was loaded with 300 tons of cargo, 600 bags of mail, and 250,000 gold lire intended for the Argentine government. The journey was scheduled to take 14 days.

It was soon apparent that the ship was not in good shape. Mechanical problems caused the ship to postpone its departure from Barcelona, and there were several occasions when it completely stopped in the open ocean, sometimes for long periods of time. The bathrooms' water supply also started to fluctuate. Many incidences of food poisoning resulted from a large volume of food spoilage due to malfunctioning refrigeration equipment. Captain Gulí asked for a replacement ship during a halt at Cape Verde, but the corporation told him to go to Rio and wait for more orders. He continued the voyage across the Atlantic after making some repairs and replenishing the ship with supplies.

As of October 23, Principessa Mafalda was clearly on the list for port, which alarmed passengers who had not been given any information about why the preceding problems had occurred. On October 24, the ship was finally sailing at full speed off the coast of northern Brazil, albeit much behind schedule. Everything appeared to be getting back to normal on board, and passengers even held a celebration on deck to commemorate crossing the Equator, replete with big cakes and orchestra music.

The ship experienced many violent shocks about 5:15 PM on October 25, 1927, close to the Abrolhos Archipelago, some 80 miles off the coast of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. The loss of a propeller was initially explained to passengers as a non-dangerous event. On the bridge, however, it was found that the hull had been damaged due to a fracture in the starboard propeller shaft. The impenetrable doors couldn't be completely shut, which made the situation worse.

At 5:35 PM, Captain Gul sounded the alarm and sent an SOS signal. He believed the ship could remain afloat until the following day, and two nearby ships, the Empire Star (British) and Alhena (Dutch), arrived promptly. The situation appeared to be under control with clear weather and nearby rescue vessels.

Divergent reports exist regarding the subsequent events. According to some reports, the ship kept moving in a broad circle for a considerable amount of time, which confused the rescue boats and made it impossible to launch lifeboats because of the list. At 10:03 PM, the power finally went out, sending terror across the ship. As the passengers started to plunge into the water, some of them were attacked by sharks. When Captain Gul saw the ship was sinking quickly, he ordered the remaining lifeboats to be lowered; however, the starboard lifeboats were difficult to deploy due to the list.

Finally, around 10:10 p.m., or about four hours and twenty minutes after the first mishap, Principessa Mafalda fell stern first. Given that the disaster happened in a major maritime corridor, several ships arrived to help. At dawn, Alhena had saved 450 lives; Avelona had saved 300; Empire Star had saved 202; Formosa had saved 151; Rosetti had saved 122; Moselle had saved 49; and 22 of them had landed at Bahia. After being moved to Formosa, a few of the people saved by the Empire Star touched down in Rio de Janeiro. The event was shrouded in controversy, with claims of shooting, sharks, bursting boilers, and other ships supposedly declining to assist.

The sinking of the Principessa Mafalda was, at the time, the largest loss of life on an Italian ship in the Southern Hemisphere.

Following the sinking, the Italian Navy Board's inquiry found that the propeller casing joint was the cause of the mishap. In order to avert such mishaps, it was mandated that safety mechanisms be installed on the propeller shafts of all boats registered in Italy. The age, upkeep, or activities of the crew of the ship were not the subject of the study. However, the relatives of the dead were forced to receive a sizable payment from the NGI (Navigazione Generale Italiana).