The 19,777 GRT steam turbine ship Orama was built by Vickers-Armstrong Ltd. built in Barrow-in-Furness . The 192.6 meter long passenger and mail ship was 22.9 meters wide, had a draft of 10.1 meters and was equipped with two funnels, two masts and two propellers . It was powered by six sets of Parsons turbines providing 20,000 Shaft Horsepower (SHP) and a speed of 18 knots. The ship could accommodate 590 passengers in the first class and 1240 in the third class on eight decks . There were also 420 crew members.
The Orama was one of five sister ships, all of which weighed around 20,000 GRT and entered service in the second half of the 1920s. The others were the Oronsay (I) (1925), the Otranto (II) (1926), the Orford (1928) and the Orontes (II) (1929). The Orama was launched on May 20, 1924, was completed in October and left London on November 15, 1924 on her maiden voyage to Melbourne , Sydney and Brisbane . She stayed on this route throughout her civilian career.
In the spring of 1940, the Orama was drafted for use as a troop transport for the British Expeditionary Force and converted accordingly. It was supposed to help with the evacuation of Allied troops from the Wehrmacht occupied Norway . On June 8, 1940, she was alone in the Northern European Sea . The HMT Orama was under the command of Captain FG Sherburne. She had no soldiers on board, but was on the way to Harstad to pick up troops there.
About 300 miles west of Narvik , the Orama was taken under artillery fire by the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and sunk by a torpedo hit at position 67.45N / 4.00E. 19 crew members were killed. The 280 survivors, including Captain Sherburne, were taken on board by Admiral Hipper and taken prisoner of war for the remainder of the war .
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