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SS Orcades (1937)

Orcades-2 c.1937.jpg
Orcades in about 1937
History
United Kingdom
Name:
  • RMS Orcades (1937–39)
  • HMT Orcades (1939–42)
Owner: Orient Line
Port of registry: United Kingdom London
Route: England – Mediterranean – Suez CanalCeylon – Australia (1937–39)
Builder: Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness, England
Completed: July 1937
Identification:
Fate: Sunk by torpedoes 10 October 1942 fired by U-172
General characteristics
Tonnage:
  • 23,456 GRT
  • tonnage under deck 13,096
  • 14,029 NRT
Length: 639.3 feet (194.9 m)
Beam: 82.2 feet (25.1 m)
Draught: 30 feet 2 inches (9.19 m)
Depth: 33.6 feet (10.2 m)
Decks: 2
Installed power: 4,912 NHP
Propulsion: 6 Parsons steam turbines; single reduction gearing; twin screws
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h)
Capacity: 741 passengers
Crew: 290 crew plus 36 DEMS gunners
Armament:
  • (as DEMS):
  • 1 × 6 in (150 mm) gun
  • 1 × 3 in (76 mm) gun
  • 4 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon anti-aircraft guns
  • 5 × machine guns
Notes: sister ship: RMS Orion

RMS Orcades was a British passenger ship that Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd of Barrow-in-Furness built as an ocean liner in 1937. Her owner was Orient Line, which operated her between Britain and Australia 1937–39, and also as a cruise ship. The Admiralty then requisitioned her and had her converted into a troopship.

In 1942 the German submarine U-172 attacked her off South Africa. Orcades' crew and gunners fought to fend off the submarine and save their ship, and it took U-172 two and a half hours and seven torpedoes to sink her. Orcades' Master, Charles Fox, was decorated by the Crown and Lloyd's of London for his bravery and leadership.

Orcades is the Latin name for the Orkney Islands. She was the second of two sister ships; RMS Orion having been completed in July 1935. At 23,400 GRT each, Orion and Orcades were the two largest liners in Orient Line's fleet. Each had a speed of 21 knots (39 km/h). The New Zealand-born modernist architect Brian OʼRorke designed the interiors of both ships.

Orion and Orcades were registered in London and their homeport was Tilbury. Their route took them via Gibraltar, Palma, Toulon, Naples, Port Said, Suez, Aden, Colombo, Fremantle, Adelaide and Sydney to Brisbane. When not operating their liner route, Orion and Orcades provided cruises to Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea, Mediterranean, Adriatic Sea and Atlantic islands.


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