View source for Engineering:SS Oriana (1959)

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{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Oriana Tonga 1985.jpg
|Ship caption= ''Oriana'' in Vava'u, Tonga
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship name=Oriana: 1960–2005
|Ship owner=*Orient Steam Navigation Company: 1960–1966
*Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company: 1966–1986
|Ship operator= 1960–1966, P&O-Orient Lines. 1966–1973, P&O Line, 1973–1986 P&O Cruises
|Ship registry= London {{flag|United Kingdom|civil}}
|Ship route=Southampton-Sydney via Suez, transpacific to US West Coast, occasional return via Panama Canal (1973 Cruising)
|Ship ordered=1956
|Ship builder=Vickers-Armstrong
|Ship original cost= {{ShipCost|GBR|12.5|m|year=1956|r=1}}
|Ship yard number= 1061
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down= 18 September 1957<ref>[http://www.poheritage.com/Upload/Mimsy/Media/factsheet/94073ORIANA-1960pdf.pdf P&O Heritage, Ship Fact Sheet, Oriana (1960)]</ref>
|Ship launched= 3 November 1959
|Ship completed= 1960
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship maiden voyage= 3 December 1960
|Ship in service= 1960–1986
|Ship out of service= 27 March 1986
|Ship identification=*Callsign: GVSN
*{{IMO Number|5264742}}
|Ship fate= Converted into a hotel ship in 1986. Service ended after ship sank at her berth after a storm in 2004 and was scrapped post refloating.
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship tonnage= 41,910 gross tons
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length= 804ft (245.1m)
|Ship beam= (moulded) 97.1ft (30.5m)
|Ship height=
|Ship draught=32ft
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship power= 80,000 horsepower
|Ship propulsion=*Two sets of Pametrada steam turbines each consisting of a high pressure, intermediate pressure and low pressure turbine; double reduction gearing; twin propellers
*'''Auxiliary Power:''' Four auxiliary steam turbines, each driving a 1,750 kW, 220 V DC Generator
|Ship speed=*Trials: 30.64 knots
*Service: 27.5 knots
|Ship capacity=As built, 638 1st class, 1,496 tourist class (1973, 1,750 one class)
|Ship crew= As built, 980. (1973, 780)
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''SS''' '''''Oriana''''' was the last of the Orient Steam Navigation Company's [[Engineering:Ocean liner|ocean liner]]s. She was built at Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, {{wipe|England}} and launched on 3 November 1959 by Princess Alexandra. Originally resplendent with her owners' traditional corn-coloured hull, ''Oriana'' appeared as an Orient Line ship until 1966, when that company was fully absorbed into the P&O group. Faced with unprofitable around-the-world passenger routes, the P&O white hulled ''Oriana'' was operated as a full-time [[Engineering:Cruise ship|cruise ship]] from 1973. Between 1981 and her retirement from service five years later, ''Oriana'' was based at Sydney, Australia, operating to [[Earth:Pacific Ocean|Pacific Ocean]] and South-East Asian ports. Deemed surplus to P&O's requirements in early 1986, the vessel was sold to become a floating hotel and tourist attraction, first in {{wipe|Japan}} and later in {{wipe|China}}. As a result of damage sustained from a severe storm whilst in the port of Dalian in 2004, SS ''Oriana'' was finally sold to local breakers in 2005.

==History==
[[File:Oriana Sydney.jpg|thumb|left|230px|''Oriana'', seen alongside in Sydney, {{wipe|Australia}}.]]
[[File:Oriana beppubay.jpg|thumb|left|230px|''Oriana'' in her first museum incarnation in Beppu, {{wipe|Japan}}.]]
[[File:Oriana Repair 1962.jpg|thumb|left|230px|''Oriana'' being repaired at Los Angeles after colliding with {{USS|Kearsarge|CV-33|6}}, December 1962]]
In May 1954 the Orient Steam Navigation Company began planning to replace SS ''Orontes'' and RMS ''Orion'' on the {{wipe|United Kingdom}} to {{wipe|Australia}} route.  One ship was called for, named ''Orbustus'' in the early stages of planning, before ''Oriana'' was settled on – a poetic reference to both Queen Elizabeth I of England and the recently crowned Queen Elizabeth II.<ref>{{cite book |title=SS Oriana |last=McCart |page=5 }}</ref>

''Oriana's'' maiden voyage was from Southampton to [[Place:Sydney|Sydney]] in December 1960, during this voyage the ''Oriana'' was the first ocean liner to berth at the Fremantle Passenger Terminal.<ref name=Vicquay>{{cite web|title=Victoria Quay|url=http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Content/PdfLoader.aspx?id=d88dd372-d5d3-4b77-933d-094ac0b85d87&type=assessment|work=Assessment document|publisher=Heritage Council of Western Australia|access-date=27 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714213306/http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Content/PdfLoader.aspx?id=d88dd372-d5d3-4b77-933d-094ac0b85d87&type=assessment|archive-date=14 July 2014}}</ref> At 41,915 gross tons and with capacity for more than 2,000 passengers in two classes (first and tourist), ''Oriana'' was briefly the largest passenger liner in service on the UK to {{wipe|Australia}} and [[Earth:New Zealand|New Zealand]] route, until the introduction of the 45,733 ton [[Engineering:SS Canberra|SS ''Canberra'']] in 1961. The ''Canberra'' could never match the ''Oriana'' for speed, however, the latter having achieved 30.64 [[Physics:Knot (unit)|knots]] during her pre-hand over trials in 1960 and held the ''Golden Cockerel'' trophy for the fastest ship in the P&O fleet which she retained until she retired in 1986, when it was handed back to the ''Canberra'' (in spite of the fact that Canberra's speed had by then been reduced to 23 knots). On ''Canberra's'' final cruise the ''Golden Cockerel''  was handed over to the new [[Engineering:MV Oriana (1995)|MV ''Oriana'']] when both ships were anchored off Cannes and sent boats out to perform the handover.

In 1962, the ''Oriana'' collided with the {{USS|Kearsarge|CVS-33}}, resulting in damage and an eventual court case with the United States government, ''Orient Steam Navigation Company v. United States''.<ref name=Justia>{{cite web|title=Orient Steam Navigation Company v. United States, 231 F. Supp. 469 (S.D. Cal. 1964)|url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/231/469/1444890/|publisher=Justia Law|accessdate=7 January 2016}}</ref>

In August 1970, the ''Oriana'' caught fire while steaming out of Southampton.<ref name=SeaDogsFire>{{cite web|title=Sea Dogs Journal|url=http://www.seadogs-reunited.com/Oriana.htm}}</ref> This serious fire occurred when the boiler room caught fire at the beginning of its journey across the Atlantic on its way to USA, New Zealand,<ref name=Maritime>{{cite web|title=Maritime|url=http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/oriana.htm}}</ref> and Australia. Repairs took more than two weeks.

From 1973, ''Oriana'' was converted to operate as a one class [[Engineering:Cruise ship|cruise ship]] and from 1981 until retirement in March 1986 was based in Sydney. After a layup of two months at No. 21 Pyrmont Wharf, Sydney, the ship was sold and moved to Osaka, Japan,<ref name="daiwa">{{cite web |url=http://www.daiwaresort.jp/gaiyo/history.html |title=沿革 |publisher=大和リゾート株式会社 |accessdate=5 August 2013}}</ref> to become a floating hotel. The ship served as a floating museum at Beppu, Ōita, from 1987<ref name="daiwa" /> but this venture was ultimately not successful, and she was subsequently sold to {{wipe|China}} interests in 1995. The ship served as a floating hotel and tourist attraction in [[Place:Shanghai|Shanghai]] until 2002, when she was moved to Dalian. In 2004 ''Oriana'' was damaged in a storm. Repairs proved to be unfeasible, so she was towed to a ship breakers yard and dismantled in 2005.<ref name="ds1">{{cite book|last=Miller|first=William H.|title=Doomed Ships: Great Ocean Liner Disasters|publisher=Dover|date=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/doomedshipsgreat0000mill/page/115 115]|isbn=0-486-45366-9|url=https://archive.org/details/doomedshipsgreat0000mill/page/115}}</ref>

In 1995, the name ''Oriana'' was assigned to the P&O Cruises ship [[Engineering:MV Oriana (1995)|MV ''Oriana'']].

== See also ==
* Orient Steam Navigation Company

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |title=SS Oriana -The Last Great Orient Liner |last=McCart |first=Neil |year=1992 |publisher=FAN Publications |location=Cheltenham |isbn=0-9519538-0-X }}

== External links ==
* [http://www.ssmaritime.com/oriana.htm ''Oriana'' at SS Maritime]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Oriana}}
[[Category:Cruise ships]]

{{Sourceattribution|SS Oriana (1959)|1}}