SS ''Orontes'' was an

Orient Steam Navigation Company The Orient Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Orient Line, was a British shipping company with roots going back to the late 18th century. From the early 20th century onwards, an association began with P&O which became 51% shareholde ...

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

Vickers-Armstrong Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

, England built her in 1929. She was the second Orient Line ships to be named after the

Orontes River The Orontes (; from Ancient Greek , ) or Nahr al-ʿĀṣī, or simply Asi (, ; ) is a long river in Western Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Hatay Province, Turk ...

. The first was , which had been scrapped in 1925. Her sister ships were ''Orama'', ''Orford'', , and . ''Orontes'' was the last of the ''Orama'' class to be built. Great effort was taken to make her public rooms the best of the class.

Service

''Orontes'' maiden voyage was a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

cruise. From 1929 to 1940, she worked Orient Line's route between England and Australia. She carried the England cricket team on the way to the

Bodyline Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their English cricket team in Australia in 1932–33, 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. It was designed to combat the extraordinar ...

tour in 1932. ''Orontes'' was a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...

from 1940 until 1947. In 1947 she repatriated German prisoners of war from Melbourne to

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is a town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a footprint o ...

, Germany. In 1947 she was refitted, and in 1948 she returned to Orient Line's route between England and Australia. In 1953 John I. Thornycroft & Company refitted her as a one-class ship. In August 1958, she was involved in a collision with ''Empire Baltic'', a

landing ship An amphibious warfare ship (or amphib) is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault. Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most crud ...

used as a ferry on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

. She was scrapped at

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, in 1962.

Service

References

Further reading