Achille Lauro in Piraeus, Greece
History
Name	Willem Ruys (1947–1965)[4] Achille Lauro (1965–1994)
Namesake	Willem Ruys Achille Lauro
Owner	1947–1965: N. V. Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd, Vlissingen, Netherlands 1965–1989: Achille Lauro FU G. & C. 1989–1994: Star Lauro S.P.A.[1]
Operator	Royal Rotterdam Lloyd (1947–1964) Flotta Lauro Lines (1965–1989) StarLauro (1989–1994)
Port of registry	1947–1965: Rotterdam,  Netherlands 1965–1994: Naples,  Italy
Ordered	7 May 1938
Builder	Koninklijke Maatschappij "De Schelde" Shipbuilding
Yard number	214
Laid down	25 January 1939[1]
Launched	1 July 1946[1] (Delayed due to WWII)
Christened	by HM Queen Wilhelmina[3]
Completed	21 November 1947[1]
Maiden voyage	2 December 1947[1]
Out of service	30 November 1994
Identification	Call sign: PIQF → IBHE[1] IMO number: 5390008
Fate	Sank on 2 December 1994 off the coast of Somalia due to fire on board.[2]
General characteristics
Tonnage	21,119 GRT as built 23,629 GRT after refurbishment
Length	642 ft (196 m)[3]
Beam	82 ft (25 m)[3]
Draft	29.3 ft (8.9 m)[3]
Decks	9 [3] (6 passenger accessible)[1]
Installed power	2 × Sulzer/ Winterthur + 6 × Sulzer/de Schelde 32,000 bhp (24,000 kW)[1]
Propulsion	2 propellers[1]
Speed	22.0 kn (40.7 km/h)[1]
Capacity	869 passengers (as built)[1] 1,372 passengers[3]
Crew	300 [3]

The MS Achille Lauro was an Italian cruise ship registered in Naples and built between 1939 and 1947 in the Netherlands under the name of Willem Ruys.^[4] It burned in the Indian Ocean off Somalia in 1994.^[2]

She was hijacked by the Palestinian Liberation Front, where Jewish American Leon Klinghoffer was shot dead and thrown overboard from this cruise ship in 1985.^[5]

• CNN Interactive: Video Almanac of 1985