SS Orsova (1954)
SS Orsova, a 1503-passenger ocean liner, was built by Vickers Armstrong Shipbuilders Ltd. of Barrow-in-Furness, England, in 1954 for the Orient Steam Navigation Company for UK to Australia services via the Suez Canal, the voyage taking four weeks. After 1955, the return trip was eastward via Auckland, Suva, Honolulu, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Panama, Trinidad and Cherbourg.
She had a gross tonnage of 28,790 tons. Length: 220 metres. Breadth: 28 metres. Maximum speed: 22 knots. Propulsion: twin screw, double reduction turbine. Maiden voyage: 17 March 1954. Orsova had no masts. Her funnel was capped with a distinctive ‘Welsh bonnet’ flue extension. She was built with an all-welded hull and her bulkhead and wall linings were plastic-clad. Originally her hull was painted in the Orient Line’s corn colour, but in her later years this was changed to P & O’s all white.
On 24 May 1956, Orsova ran aground off Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne, for twelve hours. In the 1960s, the Orsova carried many thousands of economic refugees from Greece and Italy to Australia. The 30-foot draft vessel was transferred to sister company P & O (Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) in 1966. In the early 1970s, she was primarily involved in cruises. She was scrapped off Taiwan in 1974-5.
References
- Miller, William H. Jr, Pictorial Encyclopedia of Ocean Liners 1860-1994, Dover Publications, New York, 1995.
- Baty, Scott, Ships that passed, Reed, Frenchs Forest, NSW, 1984
- Bremer, Stuart, Home and Back: Australia's Golden era of Passenger Ships, Dreamweaver Books, Sydney, 1984
External links
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