SS Orcades (1937)
Orcades in about 1937
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
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| Name: |
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| Owner: | Orient Line |
| Port of registry: |
 London
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| Route: | England – Mediterranean – Suez Canal – Ceylon – Australia (1937–39) |
| Builder: | Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness, England |
| Completed: | July 1937 |
| Identification: |
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| Fate: | Sunk by torpedoes 10 October 1942 fired by U-172 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | |
| 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: |
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| 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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