MS Giulio Cesare

MS Giulio Cesare was a luxurious ocean liner built for the Italian Line. She was a sister ship to MS Augustus which was launched in the same year. She was built for the South America service like her sister. These two ships' specification and design were very similar.

During World War II, the Italian Line had lost a large portion of its fleet, including the ocean liner SS Rex. The surviving ships were refitted and repaired, and returned to passenger service after the war was over. However, the surviving ships like MS Saturnia and her sister ship MS Vulcania, and the SS Conte Grande and her sister ship SS Conte Biancamano, all could carry small numbers of passengers. The Italian Line needed new liners for the South American service. It placed an order with Cantieri Riuniti dell' Adriatico to build two new 27,000 GRT ocean liners, to be christened Giulio Cesare and Augustus.

The building of the 27,000 GRT Giulio Cesare and Augustus marked the start of a new era for the Italian Line; furthermore, other large Italian liners were being built, such as the SS Andrea Doria and her sister ship SS Cristoforo Colombo, both 29,000 GRT. In 1958, these two great liners were followed by SS Leonardo da Vinci. SS Michelangelo and her sister ship SS Raffaello which were the last and the biggest liners of the Italian Line.