SS Principe Umberto was an Italian passenger and refrigerated cargo ship built in 1908 for Navigazione Generale Italiana.

Principe Umberto was built in 1908 by the Cantieri Navali del Tirreno[2] in Palermo for the Navigazione Generale Italiana[1] a company that sailed to Mediterranean and Black Sea ports, as well as passenger service to North and South America.

[1] Principe Umberto's routes and early activities are not known, but during World War I, the ship was employed as an armed merchant cruiser to transport men and materiel in support of Italy.

[4] On 8 June 1916, Principe Umberto and another transport, the Ravenna, were carrying the 55th Infantry Regiment (col. Ernesto Piano) back from Albania to Italy, under the escort of the Italian scout cruiser Libia and four Regia Marina destroyers.

[5] The Austro-Hungarian U-boat U-5, under the command of Friedrich Schlosser, launched a torpedo attack that successfully hit the Italian ship.