Oronsay Av

photo Roger Todd, Byron Bay 2010

9 Oronsay Texas Nottage's house 11

ORONSAY 1925

20,043 gross tons, length 659ft x beam 75ft, two funnels, two masts, twin screw, speed 19 knots. Accommodation for 1,836 passengers in two classes. Built 1925 by John Brown Ltd, Clydebank for the Orient Steam Navigation Co., she started her maiden voyage on 7th Feb.1925 when she left London for Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. In Dec.1938 she made one voyage extended to New Zealand ports, but then reverted to regular sailings. In 1939 she was converted to a troop transport and on 9th Oct.1942 was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine ARCHIMEDE in the Atlantic about 500 miles SW from Freetown in position 04.29N 20.52W while sailing on government service on voyage Capetown to the UK via Freetown. She was carrying 50 RAF personnel, 20 Distressed British Seamen, 8 DEMS personnel, 1,200 tons of copper and 3,000 tons of oranges. The Master, Capt. N. Savage, 281 crew, 15 gunners, 25 RAF personnel, DBS and DEMS were rescued by HMS BRILLIANT, landed at Freetown where they transferred to the Union-Castle liner CAERNARVON CASTLE and sailed on 15th Oct.1942 for Glasgow. 6 crew were lost. 37 crew, 1 gunner and 25 RAF personnel were picked up by the Vichy French warship DUMONT D'URVILLE and a French merchant ship and landed at Dakar where they were taken prisoner.

ORONSAY 1950

The ORONSAY was a 27,632 gross ton ship, length 708ft x beam 93.5ft, one funnel, one mast, twin screw, service speed 22 knots. There was accommodation for 668-1st and 883-tourist class passengers and she carried a crew of 622. Built by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow, she was launched for the Orient Line on 30th Jun.1950 and started her maiden voyage from London (Tilbury) to Sydney on 16th May 1951. On 1st Jan.1954 the service was extended beyond Sydney to Los Angeles and in May 1960 she was integrated into P&O-Orient Line. She became wholly owned by P&O in 1966 and was eventually scrapped at Taiwan in 1975. [Great Passenger Ships of the World by Arnold Kludas, vol.5, ISBN 0-85059-265-8 (contains photo)] source

The Oronsay at Abattoirs Wharf in 1933 loading the first cargo of chilled meat for the United Kingdom. The Oronsay pioneered the carrying of chilled (as opposed to frozen) meat from Australian ports, from the 1986 Qld Harbouirs & Marine history