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Orcades (1937)
Encyclopedia
RMS Orcades was a British built ocean liner
that served on the UK-Australia route as a Royal Mail Ship
from 1937-1939. Orcades was requistioned by the British government as a troopship
in 1939.
Torpedoed and sunk by German U-172 on 10 October 1942 with the loss of 48 lives and 1,117 survivors. The survivors were picked up by the SS Narvik a Polish steamship of 7,000 gross tons and owned by the Gdynia America Line. RMS Orcades, commanded by a Captain Fox, left Capetown on the 9th October 1942. On the 10th October at about 11:30 in the morning she was hit by 2 torpedoes, but did not sink immediately. A third torpedo missed but a fourth hit and she settled beneath the waves at about 14:00.
The U172 was a 9C type submarine and she was commanded by Kapitan Lieutenant Carl Emmerman who was born in Hamburg in March 1915.
The vessel's sister ship was Orion
. The interior fittings of Orcades and Orion were designed by New Zealand born modernist architect Brian OʼRorke.
Orcades is an ancient name for the Orkney Islands
.
2. Encyclopædia Britannica
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
that served on the UK-Australia route as a Royal Mail Ship
Royal Mail Ship
Royal Mail Ship , usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, a designation which dates back to 1840, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract by Royal Mail...
from 1937-1939. Orcades was requistioned by the British government as a troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
in 1939.
Torpedoed and sunk by German U-172 on 10 October 1942 with the loss of 48 lives and 1,117 survivors. The survivors were picked up by the SS Narvik a Polish steamship of 7,000 gross tons and owned by the Gdynia America Line. RMS Orcades, commanded by a Captain Fox, left Capetown on the 9th October 1942. On the 10th October at about 11:30 in the morning she was hit by 2 torpedoes, but did not sink immediately. A third torpedo missed but a fourth hit and she settled beneath the waves at about 14:00.
The U172 was a 9C type submarine and she was commanded by Kapitan Lieutenant Carl Emmerman who was born in Hamburg in March 1915.
The vessel's sister ship was Orion
RMS Orion
RMS Orion was an ocean liner launched by the Orient Steam Navigation Company in 1934 and retired from the water in 1963 after carrying about 500,000 passengers...
. The interior fittings of Orcades and Orion were designed by New Zealand born modernist architect Brian OʼRorke.
Orcades is an ancient name for the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
.
Footnotes
1. Quartermain, Peter and Peter, Bruce (2006) Cruise: Identity, Design and Culture, p. 39, Laurence King Publishing ISBN 1 856694 46 12. Encyclopædia Britannica