Background
''Miltiades'' was built for the Aberdeen Line in 1903 in Scotland at Alexander Stephen and Sons, she had an identical sister ship, , that was constructed after her. Both ships were built for the United Kingdom to Australia via South Africa route.Features
''Miltiades'' was measured at , and was long by wide. She was a combined passenger and cargo ship, and her cargo holds were refrigerated for the transport of frozen food products from Australia to the United Kingdom. Her passenger accommodation was built to accommodate 89 passengers in first class, and 158 in third class. ''Miltiades'' and her sister were among the last ships of any size to be built with a clipper bow (or Aberdeen bow) which gave them a striking appearance.Career
''Miltiades'' set out on her maiden voyage from London on 3 November 1903, arriving at Melbourne on 10 December. This set a new record for this route of 34 days and 16 hours. In September 1912 ''Miltiades'' followed her sister ''Marathon'' in going to the Alexander Stephen and Sons shipyard to be cut in half and then lengthened. When this work was completed in 1913, ''Miltiades'' had gained a second Funnel (ship), funnel, and had been lengthened to , with an increased tonnage of . She now had capacity for 150 first class passengers, and 170 passengers in third class. She arrived in Sydney on 18 September 1914, having departed London. From 1914 to 1920 ''Miltiades'' was requisitioned for use as a troopship for the duration of the First World War. She was initially hired, effective 21 September 1914, to convey "Imperial Reservists" of the British Army from Sydney to the British Isles, with the contract terminating on 3 January 1915. One of those men was Issy Smith, who embarked on 21 October 1914. On 8 November 1915, she was re-hired to transport Australian troops. She resumed commercial service on 4 June 1920. In 1920 ''Miltiades'' and her sister were purchased by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, ''Miltiades'' was renamed ''Orcana'' whilst ''Marathon'' was renamed ''Oruba''. In 1922 she was transferred to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, and put onto their "Round South America" service, that departed Liverpool, visited Montevideo, then Valparaíso, the Panama Canal then back to Liverpool. However, after her very first voyage she was found to be too expensive to operate, and she was therefore laid up, firstly at Liverpool and then Dartmouth, Devon, Dartmouth where she remained until she was sold for scrap to Arie Rijsdijk Boss & Zonen in 1923, who had her towed to the Netherlands to be Ship breaking, broken up at Hendrik-ido-Ambracht in 1923.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miltiades Ships of the Aberdeen Line Ships of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Ships of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company 1903 ships Ocean liners of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Troop ships of Australia World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Clyde