In 1958, the Italian Line began planning new ships to replace the ageing Saturnia and Vulcania.

The Italian Line planned the ships as true ocean liners, divided into three classes.

Oddly even for a liner, all cabins below A-deck were windowless, but on the technical side the ships were among the most advanced of their time.

They featured retractable stabiliser wings, highly modernised engineering panels, and many other advantages.

As a result, Raffaello gained highly futuristic, more distinctive, but more sterile interiors than the Michelangelo.

In 1970 the ship suffered the most serious accident of its career when, under command of Senior Captain Luigi Oneto, it collided with a Norwegian oil tanker off the south coast of Spain in May 1970.

Raffaello would have become Ciro il Grande (named after ancient Achaemenid ruler Cyrus the Great), a luxury cruiser accommodating 1,300 passengers.

In 1983 plans were again made to bring Raffaello and Michelangelo back into service as cruise ships.

But Raffaello had been hit by a missile during the Iran–Iraq War in 1983 and partially sank in shallow waters outside Bushehr.

[1] As of 2006[update], Raffaello's hull remained partially submerged, and there have been reports of plans to scrap the ship completely.