The 20,097 GRT steam turbine ship Orontes was built at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness . The 194.52 meter long and 22.92 meter wide ship had two chimneys, two masts and two propellers . She was powered by two steam turbines that made 20,000 SHP and allowed a speed of 18.5 knots. The ship was designed to accommodate 460 first class passengers and 1112 third class passengers.
The Orontes was the last of five sister ships to be completed, all of which measured around 20,000 GRT. The others were the Orama (II) (1924), the Oronsay (I) (1925), the Otranto (II) (1926) and the Orford (1928). The Orontes was launched on February 26, 1929, and in June of the same year she made her maiden voyage on a Mediterranean cruise. On October 26, 1929, she ran from Tilbury on her first trip to Australia to Melbourne , Sydney and Brisbane . In 1932 she brought the English cricket team to Australia for the Ashes internationals, and in 1938 the Australian team to Great Britain.
In 1940 the Orontes was converted into a troop transport and drove, among other things, in special WS convoy trains . She took part in Operation Torch in November 1942 . During the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943, she brought 4,000 men ashore in Avola , Sicily. Then another troop landing took place in Salerno . In 1945 the ship brought soldiers to the Far East in preparation for Operation Downfall . In 1947 the Orontes was returned to its shipping company and converted into a single-class ship at the John I. Thornycroft & Company shipyard . On June 17, 1948, she resumed service in Australia. In March 1958 there was a collision with the Empire Baltic on the Thames . The Orontes stayed on the Australian route until it arrived in Valencia for demolition on March 5, 1962 .
.jpg)
