ssMaritime
With
Reuben Goossens
Maritime Historian
MS
Angelina Lauro

ex MS Oranje became modern liner, with long
sleek lines
Author’s
collection
As the Dutch liner MS
Oranje, she served the Netherland Line well for 25 years. However, with
passenger number dropping, both the Netherland Line and Royal Rotterdam Lloyd
(Dutch Mails) decoded to sell both the Oranje and her running mate MS Willem
Ruys to Flotta Lauro Lines in 1964. Having operated SS Roma and Sydney on the
Australian run, Flotta Lauro decided
to obtain two larger ships for the service.

Her new ultra modern finned funnel was
futuristic in her days
Author’s collection
Oranje was sent to Genoa to be extensively
rebuilt at the Cant del Tirreno shipyards. On August
24 a fire broke out whilst being rebuilt and tragically six lives were lost.
The rebuild would see her Promenade Deck extended forward and was fully glazed
in. She was given a sharply raked bow extending her length by 16 feet. The
other outstanding feature was her tall louvered funnel topped by a large smoke
deflector wing, reminiscent of two Italian liners, Michelangelo and Raffaello.
Her interiors were transformed with typical Italian flair, literally giving her
the feel of a brand new ship! Her hull was painted the same colour blue as the
funnel and was adorned with a white band. Angelina Lauro now looked modern
sleek line, indeed almost yacht like. She was one of the more attractive
rebuilds of her time. However, she would always reveal her Dutch heritage by
her tumblehome hull.
She was now
listed as 24,377 GRT (Gross
Registered Tons), 205.5 meters (672.4ft) long, 25,50
meters (83.6ft) wide. Her new passenger configuration allowed for interchange
cabins between first and tourist class. First Class could accommodate between
180 and 377 passengers and Tourist Class between 946 to 1050 passengers, making
a total of 1230 passengers.

This
postcard was release by Flotta Lauro prior her completion
Author’s collection
On March 6 1966 she departed on
her maiden voyage from Bremerhaven sailing via
the Suez Canal to Australia.
She continued on the Australian service, until 1972, when Flotta Lauro
discontinued the service due to poor loading as was experienced by all shipping
companies.

Angelina Lauro
departing Auckland New Zealand in the early
70’s

Angelina
Lauro in Sydney
on her final visit on May 17, 1972
Author’s collection
She received an extensive
refit to ready her for a new role as a full time cruise ship. She now
accommodated 800 passengers in a one class configuration. She was relocated to San Juan for regular cruises of the Caribbean,
but was managed by another Italian shipping company Costa Line.

Angelina Lauro seen as a cruise
ship
Unknown
In 1977 Angelina Lauro
was chartered to Costa Lines for 3 years and they took delivery on October 10. She was based at Port Everglades
for cruise duties in the Caribbean. For her
new role as a Costa Cruise ship her funnel had been painted in yellow,
being the Costa colours. Although she
retained her name, Costa Lines according to their custom of using
Christian (first) names, marketed the Angelina Lauro simply as
“Angelina”

Seen
here in 1977 with yellow her Costa Lines funnel
Author’s collection
Occasionally Angelina
Lauro would operate a line voyage across the Atlantic from South America to Italy.
For these line voyages she reverted to her original two class configuration.
Angelina Lauro was a
popular cruise ship in the Caribbean until
that fateful day on March
30, 1979 when tragedy struck this remarkable 40 year old ship.

Unknown
Angelina Lauro was a much
loved ship in both her guises, on line voyages from the Netherlands to Batavia,
her remarkable war duties as a hospital ship, a liner bringing thousands of emigrants
from the UK and Europe to Australia and New Zealand, both as Oranje and
Angelina Lauro and lastly as a popular Italian cruise ship. She had endeared
herself to thousands, civilians and soldiers alike.
INDEX
Page One: The Oranje Story
Page Two: The
Angelina Lauro Story
Page Three: Angelina Lauro Photo Page
Page Four: Angelina Lauro’s
demise
Page Five: Angelina
Lauro Deck Plan
Visit our Main Index
for features on other Dutch liners, such as
the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Sibajak, Willem Ruys (Achille Lauro),
Waterman, Groote Beer and Zuiderkruis, as well as RIL and other Dutch
Passenger/Cargo ships
********************************************
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