In Earlier Days
History
The Principessa Mafalda spent almost all of its career on the Genoa - Buenos Aires route. This was a busy route primarily because of the surging numbers of Italian immigrants that were heading to Argentina. This gave the Latin American country its distinct Italianate feel. There was a special nature to this immigration for while some fled Italy for a new life many were temporary agricultural workers who travelled every year to Argentina to harvest the massive grain crops and then they returned to Italy to work in agricultural pursuits in the Northern harvest season. This provided a two-way flow in third class which was rare in international shipping of those times.
The First Class Dining Saloon
The ship is recorded as sailing once to the US (New York) when at the beginning of the First World War she transported American citizens fleeing the war back to their homeland.
The Main Stairwell
The Principessa Mafalda has another place in history as she was used by Marconi for his early experiments on the effects of solar activity on radio waves. Working from the deck of the Mafalda in 1908 (as she was being fitted out and trialed) he established that radio transmissions travelled better at night than during the day due to the effect of the sun over the radio waves.
During the First World War the ship was damaged in an attack by an Austrian submarine and was sent to Taranto for repairs. There it was used as lodging for officers of the Italian navy.
Carlos Gardel, the famous Argentine tango singer was said to have favoured the Principessa Mafalda over all others when he sailed between Argentina and Spain.
Harry Graf Kessler, the famous Berlin boulevardier, sailed from Genoa to Barcelona on the PM in 1926 and commented "In the morning, went to the Navigazione Generale, Spanish Consulate etc, in a mad rush. Midday, beginning at 12 o'clock, on the South American ocean liner...the Principessa Mafalda. A lovely ten-thousand-ton ship, really pleasant and even luxurious (though the luxury is somewhat faded), furnished in sober Louis XVI style. Excellent food. Only a few passengers in the first-class salon".
A Traveller relates....
"Acá está, en el primer viaje a Europa en 1924, la Compañía Rivera-De Rosas (pictured below) en pleno. ¿Alcanzan a leer el nombre en el salvavidas? Sí, el barco era el famoso Principessa Mafalda, el del trágico naufragio, con aquel lujo asiático. Mamá contaba que el postre de uno de los almuerzos fué un enorme castillo de helado de frutillailuminado desde el interior. Ese fué el último viaje del Principessa Mafalda. En el siguiente, naufragó."
Diecisiete días en pleno océano. Las fiestas del cruce del Ecuador, la parada en Dakar, con los lugareñitos semidesnudos que se zambullían y les vendían baratijas bellísimas y ámbar, las comidas pantagruélicas a veces en la mesa del Capitán, las reposeras en cubierta, las partidas de poker en el camarote con fulleros profesionales que vivían viajando y jugando y despojando millonarios incautos, pero que de los actores se hacían amigos y con ellos jugaban sin trampa.
Cómo disfruté esos relatos! Cómo envidié esa infancia! Yo también aprendí a deletrear en camarines y jugué al poker con los amigos de mis viejos a los cinco años (y por cierto me dolía la barriga cuando perdía)....."