Navigazione Generale Italiana
She operated on the South American service while her sister ran the North Atlantic service. The "Augustus" could reportedly reach South America from Italy in five days at an average speed of 22 knots. In 1932, Navigazione Generale Italiana was forced by Mussolini to merge with other Italian shipping companies to form the Italia Line. Because of this, the funnels of the "Augustus" were repainted in Italia Line colours. In 1933, she began to carry out 129-day world cruises after the Wall Street Crash of 1929. She carried many passengers from New York to a number of ports around the world and back to New York in 129 days.