CONTE VERDE was completed in 1923 as a passenger-cargo ship for the Lloyd Sabaudo Line of Turin, Italy. In the 1920s, she saw passenger service between Genoa and New York City and Genoa and Shanghai. In the 1930's, she was in service on the Genoa - South America route. In 1940, after fascist Italy declared war on the Allies, CONTE VERDE was moored in Shanghai. In 1942, the Japanese government chartered CONTE VERDE for use as a diplomatic exchange ship managed by the Nippon Yusen Kaisha K.K. (NYK) Line. In 1943, when Italy surrendered, CONTE VERDE's Italian crew scuttled her off Shanghai. In 1944, the Japanese raised her and renamed her KOTOBUKI MARU. Later, she made Japan, but was bombed and had to be beached. In 1949, she was scrapped.