Shenandoah anchored off the glamorous Italian resort of Portofino

Until the mid-1920s, she was briefly owned by Godfrey Williams. He instigated what would become Shenandoah’s most glamorous phase when he sold her to a flamboyant Italian Prince, Ludovico Potenziani.

Prince Ludovico Potenziani

Potenziani again renamed her, this time Atlantide, and added even more opulence to the interior, including immaculate hand-carved wood panelling.

“…sold to a flamboyant Italian Prince…”

For a time, Potenziani was the Mayor of Rome but his open defiance of Mussolini during the rise of fascism in Italy saw him forced into exile. During one especially decadent party in 1929 – when she was berthed in Naples – a guest was received on board and within minutes had declared he would buy the ship, along with the crew (made up of 12 Italian brothers and cousins) there and then. This guest was the wealthy Danish yachtsman, philanthropist and renowned sculptor, Count Viggo Jarl.

Shenandoah when she was known as ‘Atlantide’