SS Orcades (1936)
{{Short description|Ocean liner of the Orient Line}}
{{Other ships|Orcades (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= The ship Orcades berthed in Wellington Harbour, ca 1940s (3377605773)cropped.jpg }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= United Kingdom |Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|UK|civil}} |Ship namesake=Orkney |Ship name=*RMS Orcades (1937–39)
|Ship owner= Orient Line |Ship route= England – Mediterranean – Suez Canal – Ceylon – Australia (1937–39) |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness, England |Ship yard number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 7 December 1936 |Ship completed= July 1937 |Ship trials= |Ship acquired= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship out of service= |Ship registry= {{flagicon|UK|civil}} London |Ship identification=*UK official number 165501
|Ship fate= Sunk by torpedoes 10 October 1942 fired by {{GS|U-172 | 2}}
|Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|23456}}
|Ship displacement= |Ship length= {{convert|639.3|ft}} |Ship beam= {{convert|82.2|ft}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= {{convert|30|ft|2|in|2}} |Ship depth= {{convert|33.6|ft}} |Ship decks= 2 |Ship power= 4,912 NHP |Ship propulsion= 6 Parsons steam turbines; single reduction gearing; twin screws |Ship speed= {{convert|21|kn|km/h}} |Ship capacity= 741 passengers |Ship crew= 290 crew plus 36 DEMS gunners |Ship armament=*(as DEMS):
|Ship 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.{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=405}} The British Admiralty then requisitioned her and had her converted into a troopship.
In 1942 the {{GS|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.
Civilian service
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 {{GRT|23,400}} each, Orion and Orcades were the two largest liners in Orient Line's fleet.{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=526}} Each had a speed of {{convert|21|kn|km/h}}.{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=405}} The New Zealand-born modernist architect Brian OʼRorke designed the interiors of both ships.{{sfn|Quartermaine|Peter|2006|p=39}}
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.{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=526}}
Loss
On 9 October 1942 Orcades left Cape Town for Liverpool carrying 741 passengers, 3,000 tons of general cargo and 2,000 bags of mail. She was making about {{convert|15|kn|km/h}}, and zigzagging to make her harder to attack. On 10 October at 10:28 hrs she was about {{convert|220|nmi|km}} south-west of the Cape Town when {{GS|U-172||2}}, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Carl Emmermann, hit her port side with two torpedoes: one forward in her no. 1 and 2 holds and the other aft in her no. 6 hold. Her steering gear and port engine were disabled but she remained afloat, so most of her crew and passengers were able to prepare to abandon ship.{{cite web |url= http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/2258.html |title=Orcades |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |date=1995–2014 |work=uboat.net |publisher=Guðmundur Helgason |access-date=15 January 2014}}
At 10:45 hrs U-172 hit her amidships with a third torpedo and she began to settle in the water, on an even keel but slightly down by the bow. She continued to make way with her starboard engine, and despite a heavy sea launched 20 lifeboats. One capsized but its occupants were rescued. Another became swamped; drifted away and its occupants were not seen again. A skeleton crew of 56 men remained aboard to try to save the ship, although she was making only {{convert|5|kn|km/h}} and running in circles. At 10:54 hrs U-172 fired a fourth torpedo but it missed. Orcades{{'}} engineers restarted her port engine, her speed increased to {{convert|8|kn|km/h}} and by steering with her screws she started to make for the coast.
File:Warrant Officer Peter Victor Waddell.jpg
U-172 surfaced in order to increase speed and overtake her, but Orcades{{'}} gunners opened fire and the submarine had to dive again. At 12:49, 12:50 and 12:54 hrs U-172 hit the ship with three more torpedoes on her starboard side, breaking her back. She listed heavily to starboard and sank at about 13:00 hrs. 55 of her skeleton crew abandoned ship by launching her last four lifeboats and her liferafts, but her Chief Engineer, William Johnston, went down with the ship. A total of 45 people were lost. U-172 remained at periscope depth but shortly afterwards an Allied aircraft attacked her and drove her away, which prevented her from questioning survivors.
Orcades had transmitted distress signals, and the destroyers {{HMAS|Nizam|G38|6}} and {{HMS|Foxhound|H69|6}} were sent in response. En route the destroyers encountered and engaged another submarine, {{GS|U-159|1941|2}}, but after she crash-dived they broke off the engagement to continue to Orcades. A few hours after the liner's sinking a Polish merchant ship, Gdynia America Line's {{GRT|7031}} {{SS|Narwik||2}}, reached Orcades{{'}} boats. Despite the risk of further submarine attack, Narwik spent several hours rescuing 1,022 survivors and searching for three missing lifeboats until 03:30 hrs on 11 October. She then made for the South African coast, and after 10 hours Nizam and Foxhound joined her and escorted her into port.
Orcades{{'}} Master, Captain Charles Fox, was made a CBE and awarded Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea.{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/55/a8649255.shtml |last=de Neumann |first=Bernard |title=Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea (Part One) |work=WW2 People's War |publisher=BBC |date=19 January 2006 |access-date=15 January 2014}}
Narwik{{'}} Master, Captain Czeslaw Zawada, awarded Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea.{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/30/a8649930.shtml |last=de Neumann |first=Bernard |title=Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea (Part Two) |work=WW2 People's War |publisher=BBC |date=19 January 2006 |access-date=18 August 2018}}
Orcades was the second largest liner sunk during world War II, behind Empress of Britain.{{cite book|first=Jerzy|last=Pertek|title=Druga mała flota|location=Poznań|date=1959|lang=pl|pages=159}}
In 2014 the wreck of Orcades was discovered in 4800 meters of water by survey company Deep Ocean Search.{{cite web |url=http://www.deepoceansearch.com/Orcades.htm |title=Deep Ocean Search - Home |website=www.deepoceansearch.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205200137/http://deepoceansearch.com/Orcades.htm |archive-date=2015-02-05}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book |last=Latimer |first=David W |year=2002 |title=Passenger ships of the 20th century: an illustrated encyclopedia |location=Newtownards |publisher=Colourpoint Books |isbn=1-898392-70-6 |page=259 }}
- {{cite book |last1=Quartermaine |first1=Peter |last2=Peter |first2=Bruce |year=2006 |title=Cruise: Identity, Design and Culture |location=London |publisher=Laurence King Publishing |isbn=1-85669-446-1 |page=39 }}
- {{cite book |last=Talbot-Booth |first=E.C. |orig-year=1936 |year=1942 |title=Ships and the Sea |edition=Seventh |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd |place=London }}
{{coord|35|51|S|14|40|E|display=title}}
{{October 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orcades (1936)}}
Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
Category:Cruise ships of the United Kingdom
Category:Maritime incidents in October 1942
Category:Ocean liners of the United Kingdom
Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom
Category:Troop ships of the United Kingdom
Category:World War II passenger ships of the United Kingdom
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean