The Rotterdamsche Lloyd ordered the ship in 1938 , whose name was to be WILLEM RUYS . The hull was laid in 1938 in Vlissingen , the Netherlands, but due to the construction of the 2nd World War it was delayed.
In July 1946 he launched and was completed at the end of 1947. The 02 . December 1947 he made the maiden voyage was equipped with a desalination plant to extract drinking water from sea water . Until 1963 effected the service between Europe and Australia , it was later used for cruises in the Mediterranean.
In 1964 , it was purchased by the Navy and renamed Achille Lauro . She underwent radical restructuring and rocostruzione work on construction of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian sea .In 1966 it was put into service on the North Eurropa and Australia routes for the transport of passengers, later due to the decrease in travelers due to the development of civil aviation it was converted into a cruise ship.In April 1975 while sailing in the straits of the Dardanelles collided with a livestock transport ship that sank YOUSSET . In 1982, following the failure of the Fleet Lauro , passed to Lauro Line Mediterranean Shipping Company .
During this period underwent 4 fires (1965, 1972 , 1981, and 1994), the last of which erupted November 30, 1994 it caused the sinking December 2 , three days later.

The period of service with the line Lauro Mediterranean Shipping was also marred by a hijacking took place on 7 October 1985. While maintaining a Mediterranean cruise with on board 201 passengers and 344 crew members off the coast of Egypt , was hijacked by a commando of the Front for the Liberation of Palestine (FLP ) . For the solution of this episode were active all international diplomacy , and at first it seemed that the matter would be resolved positively and without incident , however it was discovered that the terrorists had killed his passenger paralyzed jew nationality American Leon Klinghoffer .

On 30 November 1994 , at sea off the coast of Somalia, a fire broke out three days later, on December 2, 1994 caused it to sink . This incident caused two deaths , one of them crushed by a lifeboat during a wrong maneuver in the early stages of evacuation and one for cardiovascular complications. Most of the passengers and crew were rescued from the Panamanian ship HAWAIAN KING , the rest of the crew was rescued by the Treaty itself ZEFFIRO the Italian Navy frigate that was part of a mission to Jeddah . The investigations that followed the sinking stated that there was no fault or willful misconduct. The ship lies at about 5,000 feet deep to about 95 mg of the coast of Somalia .

Update made on 08.19.2019 thanks to the contribution of Mr. Leonardo WEMBAGHER

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