ssMaritime
With Reuben Goossens
Maritime Historian
ss Oriana
Page Five
1st Lady of the Sea
by Neil Whitmore
Neil (Bob) Whitmore,
Oriana’s Maitre d’Hotel (1976 to 86)
Oriana
at anchor during a South Pacific Cruise
This title was given to the Oriana when she was
cruising from
Australia,
as a result of a song written about the ship,
by ‘Sir Deuce,’ a New
Zealand group who entertained our passengers
when we were at sea. This was a fitting title for what was a much-loved ship.
She was also the fastest ship in the P&O (Orient Lines) fleet, and above
her bridge, she proudly displayed a brass cockerel, having made the fastest
crossings of both the pacific and Indian oceans.
After passenger numbers declined,
due to air travel, Oriana commenced a new career as a cruise ship. She proved
to be very popular with Australians, and she mostly departed Sydney with a full capacity of 1500
passengers.
Dry-docking in Singapore
Oriana
in a Singapore Dry dock
Every March and September, she made a Far East
cruise, while the rest of the year was spent cruising around the Pacific Islands. The September Far East cruise was planned to
include the yearly visit to the dry docks at Sembawang
in Singapore.
One year she would have about nine days in dry dock and the following year 14
days. General maintenance was carried out on her engines, and the hull was
cleaned and re-painted. The rudder, propellers, stabilizers, and side thrusters
units were also checked and any repairs required were carried out. Various
other equipment, had safety checks including anchor chains and the davits, from
which the lifeboats were hung. The passenger accommodation also received a
face-lift with new carpets and furnishings being fitted, service areas were
constantly improved, and a lot of painting was carried out. With work completed
she would sail back to Sydney with some of the
passengers who had sailed to Singapore
and others joining for the return trip.
From Top: ss Oriana in a Singapore
dry-dock - One of her screws and the rudder
-Starboard Stabiliser fin
“Child of Bounty”
In the pictures on this page are two pictures
of the exact replica of the longboat (built in New Zealand & called ‘ Child of Bounty’), in which Captain Bligh, and
18 of his crew were cast adrift on April 28th 1789. The replica and
its crew were taken from Sydney to Tonga by
Oriana, arriving in Nuku’alofa on the 5th April 1983. It was
then planned to sail the boat, leaving Tonga
on the 28th April, over 3,000 miles to Jakarta. Filming was planned to take place
during the voyage.
Child of
Bounty onboard Oriana
A Tongan Fun Run
Many of Oriana's crew, including the captain,
took part in fancy dress charity fun runs and other events, raising money for the
island charities. Pictures from one of the fun runs, held in Nuku’alofa,
are shown here.
Robin Mason Interviews Captain Phillip Jackson dockside
Fun Run Participants dressed to kill – literally!
Interior shots
Other pictures show one of the foyers with
items presented to the ship by officials at ports of call and also the Midships Bar, which, in the evenings featured a popular
sing along group ‘nostalgia’ who also did the luncheon show at the
plough tavern.
Oriana’s
“Hall of Fame”
The Midships Bar
Conclusion
I worked on Oriana, where I was known as Bob,
from September 1976 until she was withdrawn from service in March 1986. I also
sailed on many of the other P&O ships having joined the company in 1951.
Should anyone wish to contact me, my e-mail address is neil.whitmore@ntlworld.com
Neil Whitmore
Tuesday
June 24, 1986
A tragic
sight, as Oriana’s passes under Sydney Harbour
Bridge for the last time
SS Oriana
Page 1: History and Images of the Oriana
Page 2: Oriana Postcards issued in 1960
Page 3: Oriana Photo Album - Page 1
Page 4: Oriana Photo Album - Page 2
Page
5: Oriana “Lady of the Sea by Neil Whitmore
Page
6: The Paul Oliver Collection
Paul Oliver Story
Page 7: Dalian See the sad
photographs of SS Oriana damaged during a storm
Oriana at Zhangiagang shipyard in China – taken 29 July &
9 September 2005
Oriana the
building of a liner - NEW
Page 1: The building of SS Oriana
Page 2: The launching and fitting
out of SS Oriana
Page 3: Sea trials and
Oriana’s maiden voyage
Return to our main Index
“Orient Line – A Fleet
History”
Is
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Please Note:
Photographs on ssMaritime –Cruise-Australia
and all associate pages are: 1. By the author. 2. From the author’s private collection (including those
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