The source places everyday fleet administration beside an emergency in Alexandria. An Italian liner caught fire to windward of the First Battle Squadron with about nine hundred people aboard, heeled over, and had to be beached after British equipment cut its cable. Pound contrasts the Italian response with Royal Navy and port personnel who emerged soaked and blackened from the work while the liner's captain remained immaculate. A later note identifies the vessel as a Lloyd Triestino ship, says the cause remained unknown despite sabotage rumors, and records that the hulk was towed to Trieste for breaking up.
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Royal Navy crews fight an Italian liner fire
A 1935 letter from Admiral Dudley Pound recounts British assistance when an Italian liner burned for days in Alexandria harbor.