SS Oronsay (1951)


 * For other ships of the same name, see Oronsay.

SS Oronsay was the second Orient Line ship built after World War II. A sister ship to SS Orcades (1948), she was named after one of many islands called Oronsay on the west coast of Scotland.

The liner was completed in 1951 at Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness; but several months behind schedule due to a serious fire while in the fitting-out berth. The Oronsay operated the UK to Australasia service, via the Suez Canal until 1953. Her accommodation set new standards, in both first and tourist class, with decor by Brian O'Rourke. In 1960 the Orient Line was absorbed into P&O and Oronsay continued as a cruise ship, but, with declining passenger numbers, she was broken up in 1975. Oronsay was the ship used in the British comedy film Carry On Cruising.

Famous passengers

 * Tony Abbott, the 28th Prime Minister of Australia, aged two, emigrated to Australia with his family aboard the Oronsay in 1960.
 * Musician David Bowie travelled on the Oronsay from San Francisco to Yokohama in March/April 1973.
 * Michael Ondaatje's 2011 novel The Cat's Table is a fictionalised account of the author's childhood voyage in 1954 from Ceylon to Britain on board the Oronsay.