Built in 1920, the Esperia was an Italian-owned steamship that took passengers from the port of Genoa to destinations such as Venice, Brindisi and Naples. It was also put into service on the journey to Alexandria, Egypt, and to Palestine.

The ship had accommodation for 417 passengers, 183 in first class, 118 in second class, and 116 in third class. The public areas were sumptuously decorated and, innovatively for the time, all first-class cabins were equipped with private toilets.

This delightful 1939 menu shows a pelican playing the percussion instrument commonly known as 'chimes' or ‘tubular bells.’  The illustration was to advertise the three daily musical experiences on board. A full orchestra and opera singers – not including the pelican – was on board.

There was also entertainment in the form of ‘moving pictures'. Top of the bill was "Thunder in The City", a 1937 movie starring American actor Edward G Robinson.

Robinson was cast as an American salesman who visits England and is mistaken for a millionaire by a cash-poor family of noble ancestry, who want to sell their stately home which he can’t afford to buy.

Robinson and the aristocratic family join forces and he finds romance (with actress Luli Deste) as well as commercial success.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, the Esperia was requisitioned for military service by the Italian Navy but was hit by torpedoes launched by a British submarine and sank in 1941, with the loss of multiple crew members.