The Principe Umberto was an Italian passenger and refrigerated cargo ship built in 1908 by the Cantieri Navali del Tirreno in Palermo for the Navigazione Generale Italiana. She was 145.1 meters long with a beam of 16.3 meters. She was powered by steam engines that moved her at up to 16 knots (30 km/h).
During World War I, Principe Umberto served as an armed merchant cruiser to transport men and materiel in support of Italy.
On 8 June 1916, Principe Umberto and another transport, the Ravenna, were carrying the 55th Infantry Regiment back from Albania to Italy, under the escort of the Italian scout cruiser Libia and four Regia Marina destroyers. The Austro-Hungarian U-boat U-5, launched a torpedo attack that successfully hit the Italian ship.
Principe Umberto went down quickly with the loss of 1,926 men.
