RMS Orontes

Last updated

StateLibQld 1 54592 Orontes (ship).jpg
Orontes
History
Government Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameOrontes
Owner
Operator
Port of registry Glasgow
Route
Builder Fairfield Eng & Shipbuilding Co, Govan
Yard number418
Launched10 May 1902
CompletedSeptember 1902
Maiden voyage24 October 1902, London – Suez – Melbourne – Sydney
Out of service1921–22
Identification
FateScrapped in 1925
General characteristics
Type Ocean liner
Tonnage9,023  GRT, 4,622  NRT
Length513.7 ft (156.6 m)
Beam58.2 ft (17.7 m)
Depth34.4 ft (10.5 m)
Installed power1,700 NHP
Propulsion
Speed18.8 knots (34.8 km/h)
Capacity
  • 200 first class
  • 200 second class
  • 600 third class

RMS Orontes was a steam ocean liner of the Orient Steam Navigation Company that was launched in 1902 and scrapped in 1925.

Contents

Orontes was a troop ship in the First World War. In 1922 she was sold for conversion into an exhibition ship, but the venture fell through so Orient Line repossessed her. Orontes was scrapped in 1925.

This was the first of two Orient Line ships called Orontes. The second was the 19,970  GRT turbine steamship SS Orontes that was launched in 1929 and scrapped in 1962. [1]

Building

The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Govan launched Orontes on 10 May 1902 and completed her that September. [2] At 9,028  GRT she was Orient Line's largest ship until Orsova and her sisters entered service in 1909. [3]

Orient Line registered her at Glasgow. Her UK official number was 115707 and her code letters were TPWN. [4]

Service

Orontes began her maiden voyage on 24 October 1902, taking mail and passengers from London via the Suez Canal and Melbourne to Sydney. This was her regular route.

By 1913 Orontes was equipped for wireless telegraphy, operating on the 300 and 600 metre wavelengths. Her call sign was MOZ. [5] In 1914, between the 11th and the 21st of July, two Polish passengers, Mr. B. Malinowski, anthropologist, and Mr. St. I. Witkiewicz, artist, travel in RMS Orontes from Colombo, Ceylon, to Fremantle, Australia. Mr. Witkiewicz takes part in a scientific expedition to New Guinea. Mr. Witkiewicz soon abandoned the expedition and returned to Europe, to sign up for military service during the First World War. After the First World War began, Orontes remained in service on her regular route until October 1916, when the Admiralty requisitioned her. She was converted into the Royal Navy troop ship HMAT Orontes. HMAT stands for "His Majesty's Australian Transport". She made two more voyages from Britain to Australia, before spending some time on the Africa run.[ clarification needed ] [6] In 1917, the Admiralty released her to her owners, as her refrigerated hold made her more useful for taking dairy products and meat from Australia to Britain. [7]

In 1919 Orontes resumed her Australia service with calls at Gibraltar, Toulon, Port Said, Colombo, Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and an extension to Brisbane. [8]

In 1921 Orontes was laid up in the Thames. In 1922 British World Trade Expeditions Ltd bought her with the intent of converting her to an exhibition vessel. She was to be renamed British Trade, but it is not clear whether her change of name was ever registered. [9] Orient Line repossessed the ship. [2]

Fate

In 1925 Orontes was sold for scrap [10] to Thos. W. Ward. She arrived at Inverkeithing on 22 October that year to be broken up. [2]

The upper part of Orontes smoking room was salvaged and installed in the Woodside Hotel, Aberdour. It includes a stained glass ceiling and expertly turned ornamental woodwork. This remnant of the ship still survives, and the hotel is now a Category B listed building. [11]

Related Research Articles

SS <i>Ceramic</i>

SS Ceramic was an ocean liner built in Belfast for White Star Line in 1912–13 and operated on the Liverpool – Australia route. Ceramic was the largest ship serving the route until P&O introduced RMS Mooltan in 1923.

SS <i>Akaroa</i> (1914)

SS Akaroa was a UK steam ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1914 in Ireland as Euripides for Aberdeen Line. When new, she was the largest ship in the Aberdeen Line fleet.

SS <i>Megantic</i>

Megantic was a British transatlantic ocean liner that was built in Ireland and launched in 1908. She was one of a pair of sister ships that were ordered in 1907 by Dominion Line but completed for White Star Line.

RMS <i>Ophir</i> Orient Line ocean liner

Ophir was an Orient Steam Navigation Company steam ocean liner that was built in 1891 and scrapped in 1922. Her regular route was between London and Sydney via the Suez Canal, Colombo and Melbourne.

SS <i>Potsdam</i> (1899) Steamship that was built as an ocean liner and later converted into a whaling factory ship

SS Potsdam was a steam ocean liner that was launched in Germany in 1899 for Holland America Line. In 1915 Swedish American Line acquired her and renamed her Stockholm.

SS <i>Orsova</i> (1908) Ocean liner of the Orient Steam Navigation Company

Orsova was a steam ocean liner owned by the Orient Steam Navigation Company. She was built by John Brown & Company at Clydebank, Scotland in 1909 to operate a passenger service between London and Australia. Her maiden voyage was 25 June 1909.

SS <i>Noordam</i> (1902) Dutch ocean liner built in Ireland & chartered to Sweden

SS Noordam was a steam ocean liner that was launched in Ireland in 1901 and scrapped in the Netherlands in 1928–29. Holland America Line owned her throughout her career. From 1923 to 1924 Swedish American Line chartered her and renamed her Kungsholm.

USS <i>Rijndam</i> Dutch ocean liner that was a US troop ship in the First World War

USS Rijndam (ID–2505) was the Holland America Line (HAL) ocean liner Rijndam, also spelt Ryndam, which was launched in Ireland in 1901 and scrapped in the Netherlands in 1929. The US requisitioned her as the United States Navy troopship USS Rijndam from 1918 until 1919. She was the first of four Holland America Line ships to be called Ryndam.

SS <i>Statendam</i> (1898) Ocean liner operated by Holland America Line, Allan Line and Canadian Pacific

SS Statendam was a transatlantic ocean liner that was launched in Ireland in 1898 for Holland America Line. She was the first of several ships in the company's history to be called Statendam. She was NASM's first ship of more than 10,000 GRT, and she was the largest ship in the company's fleet until Potsdam was completed in 1900.

RMS Magdalena was a British steamship that was built in 1889 as a Royal Mail Ship and ocean liner for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. In the First World War she served as the troop ship HMT Magdalena. After a long and successful civilian and military career she was scrapped in 1923.

RMS <i>Victorian</i>

Victorian was the world's first turbine-powered ocean liner. She was designed as a transatlantic liner and mail ship for Allan Line and launched in 1904.

Ramón Alonso R. was a merchant steamship that was built in Scotland in 1898 and scrapped in Spain in 1959. Her original name was Montclair. She was renamed José Gallart in 1901, Balmes in 1911 and Ramón Alonso R. in 1929. Her first owner was the British Elder Dempster Lines, but she spent most of her career with a succession of Spanish owners. She was built as a transatlantic ocean liner with some cargo capacity, but in 1927 she was refitted as a cargo ship. In 1913, when she was called Balmes, the ship survived a serious cargo fire in mid-Atlantic.

SS <i>Themistocles</i> (1911)

SS Themistocles was a UK steam ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1910 in Ireland and scrapped in 1947 in Scotland. She was built for Aberdeen Line, White Star Line managed her for a few years, and she spent the latter part of her career with Shaw, Savill & Albion Line.

SS <i>Osterley</i> Steam powered ocean liner of the Orient Line

SS Osterley was a steam ocean liner owned by the Orient Steam Navigation Company. It was built by the London and Glasgow Shipbuilding Company at Clydebank, Scotland in 1909 for a passenger service between London and Australia via the Suez Canal.

SS <i>Grampian</i> British ocean liner, in service 1907–1921

SS Grampian was a transatlantic ocean liner that was built in Scotland in 1907 and scrapped in the Netherlands in 1925. She was operated originally by Allan Line, and later by Canadian Pacific Steamships. In the First World War she remained in commercial service but carried Canadian troops. In 1919 she survived a collision with an iceberg. In 1921 she was gutted by fire while being refitted. The refit was abandoned, and in 1925–26 she was scrapped.

SS <i>Vasari</i> (1908) Steam ocean liner

Vasari was a 1908 steam ocean liner that was built in England, operated by the British Lamport and Holt Line and used on its service between New York and the River Plate.

SS <i>Otaki</i> (1908) New Zealand cargo steamship

Otaki was a New Zealand Shipping Company refrigerated cargo steamship that was built in Scotland in 1908 and sunk by a German merchant raider in 1917.

SS <i>Demosthenes</i> (1911)

SS Demosthenes was a UK steam ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1911 in Ireland for Aberdeen Line and scrapped in 1931 in England. In the First World War she was an Allied troop ship.

RMS <i>Orama</i> (1911) Ocean liner of the Orient Lne

Orama was a British steam ocean liner and Royal Mail Ship. She was launched in 1911 for the Orient Steam Navigation Company. When new, she was the largest liner sailing between Great Britain and Australia.

SS <i>Goentoer</i> Dutch mail steamship that was a UK troopship in the First World War

SS Goentoer was a Dutch passenger and mail ship that was built for Rotterdamsche Lloyd in 1902 and scrapped in 1925. Her regular route was between Rotterdam and the Dutch East Indies. She was a UK troop ship from 1918 to 1919, after being seized under angary in Singapore.

References

  1. ↑ "Orontes". Shipping and Shipbuilding. Tees Built Ships. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Orontes". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  3. ↑ Dowling 1909, pp. 345–346.
  4. ↑ Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen (1903). Mercantile Navy List. Board of Trade. p. 296. Retrieved 19 January 2021– via Crew List Index Project.
  5. ↑ The Marconi Press Agency Ltd 1913, p. 258.
  6. ↑ Brook, Dennis. "1902-1925: RMS ORONTES, an occasional troopship of the Great War". Flickr. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "ABC OPEN: RMS Orontes Souvenir Spoon - England to Australia Passenger Line || From Project: Object Stories". open.abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "Category:Orontes (ship, 1902)". Wikimedia Commons . Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  9. ↑ Swiggum, Susan; Marjorie, Kohli (3 February 2005). "Orient Steam Navigation Company / Orient-Royal Mail Line / Orient Line". TheShipsList. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Orontes (1115707)" . Miramar Ship Index . Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  11. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "Aberdour, High Street, the Woodside Hotel (Category B Listed Building) (LB3560)" . Retrieved 21 December 2020.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.