[1][2] Constructed at a cost of 6 million lire to designs by Erasmo Piaggio, the Principessa Jolanda has also been called the first true Italian luxury liner.

[5] Shipyard technicians concluded that launching the Jolanda with all her fittings and furnishings already installed but without any coal or ballast resulted in the center of gravity being too high.

[6] Once the ship began heeling, a large amount of movable material increased the list, an example of the free surface effect involving solid objects as opposed to the more common liquids.

[7] It was further theorized that the abrupt change in transverse rotational axis during the ship's descent down the long launch ramp caused the bow to press against the chute itself as the stern hit the water.

Regardless of the exact cause, it was eventually determined that full responsibility for the loss of the steamship was due to the shipyard's technical mistakes during launch and not in the design or construction of the vessel.