SS Orion Aug 1940

[Salty]

Trying to help a friend out with some information.

She was an 8 year old passenger with her mother embarked on the Orion 4th August 1940 at Liverpool for sailing to Bombay, India.
Something apparently happened shortly after they sailed from Liverpool in a convoy and the ship is alleged to have returned to port, possibly with damage. Days later the ship sailed from Liverpool alone and most of the passengers were extremely worried that something might happen because they were alone. But they eventually reached the destination safely.

I have checked the passenger lists and yes the ORION  sailed 4th August 1940 from Liverpool, bound for Bombay.

However any research I do on the name of the ship only brings up the fact that in 1940 she sailed from Wellington to Australia as a Troopship.

In September of 1941 she was in a convoy with HMS Revenge when, On 15 September 1941, while part of a convoy carrying troops to Singapore, she was following the battleship HMS Revenge in the South Atlantic when the warship's steering gear malfunctioned and Orion rammed Revenge, the impact causing severe damage to Orion's bow. She continued to Cape Town where temporary repairs were made and then continued to Singapore where more permanent repairs were performed. The Japanese army was at this time advancing on Singapore, so Orion was called upon to evacuate civilians to Australia.

Clearly this cannot be the incident which my friend experienced as it is a year later and Orion was carrying troops.

Is it possible to find out if the ship Orion was involved in an incident near Irish waters in August 1940?
Is it possible that there were two Orions?

Any help with this greatly appreciated.

Tom

[KGarrad]

Found this on Wikipedia!

Orion alternated between voyages to Australia with short cruises until the outbreak of World War II, when she was requisitioned by the British government as a troopship.
Orion's first voyage as a troopship was to Egypt, then to Wellington, New Zealand to transport troops to Europe. She departed Wellington on 6 January 1940 and sailed in convoy for Sydney, Australia, to rendezvous with her sister ship Orcades, the convoy then sailing from Australia to Egypt.

[barryd]

As mentioned there are many ships named Orion. This link below is probably the correct one.

http://www.rmg.co.uk/researchers/collections/by-type/archive-and-library/item-of-the-month/previous/the-new-orient-liner-orion

[Salty]

Thanks both. The url for the Orion shows the same ship in its pictures as can be seen here.

http://www.ssmaritime.com/orion.htm   

In fact all photo's that I can find are of the same ship. This lady is adamant that whatever happened with her was in August 1940, she has her ticket and is shown in the ships passenger list for then.
I can only wonder that the ship must have returned to the UK after sorting the troops in the January window and set sail again from Liverpool. I suppose the only true way is to see what it says in the ships logs if they are at the National Recs Office.

Will have to make a trip there at some point.

Thank you again.

Tom

[Spikey68]

http://www.naval-history.net/xAH-WSConvoys03-1940.htm

WS 2

This convoy, of seventeen ships, sailed from Liverpool and the Clyde 5.8, ORION returning the following day with engine defects; she is not therefore allocated a place in the sailing plan below as, after repairs, she sailed as an independent to Capetown, then joining the Bombay section of the convoy WS 2B, at that port and sailing on 31.8.40.

and then

WS 2B

Three ships of the original convoy, plus ORION which had now arrived at Capetown as an independent, sailed from Capetown on 31.8 for Bombay.... Escort from Capetown was provided by the cruiser CORNWALL, relieved on 3.9 by the armed merchant cruiser KANIMBLA who took the convoy through to Bombay, arriving there on 15.9.

The ships of WS 2B spent rather more time in the East than the Aden convoy: BATORY went on to Colombo, then to Singapore for dry docking, and then made passages to Suez, Durban and Australia during the rest of 1940. ORION made one passage to Suez from Bombay, then south to Durban and west to Australia, ORMONDE went to Suez, then Capetown and Freetown to spend some time on the West African coast, returning to Britain in 12.40 as an independent. STRATHEDEN also went to Singapore to dry dock, and then direct to Australia for troop convoys from the Commonwealth later in the year.

[seaweed]

The attached may help clarify.

[Salty]

Thank you all very much for this information gentlemen.

I have printed it all off and will take it round to the lady later.

Regards
Tom

[ivorjbody]

Hi I am a little lost also. We were at RAF Ismailia and I thought we came back to England 1939, but we are not on the 1939 register. We had to return on the SS Orion from Sydney. It was out of Sydney doing 5 months tours of Britain the inclusive cost for everything including visiting 5 European countries by coach, hotels, a car for two weeks while in England and food and hotels all for £286. The return tickets were valued for 5 years. As we coming along the Suez canal in an RAF open truck the Orion was by the side of us travelling at nearly the same speed. I am convinced that some tourist we on the ship, so we may have been the first repatriated service families to board?

[Liz Gascoigne]

Hi Tom, my mother sailed out of Liverpool on the Orion in August 1940. She was just 12 years old. The ship had to return to port after just a few days due to engine problems. They were not allowed to disembark and had to wait on board for the repairs to be completed. When they set sail again, they were with a convoy that eventually separated off and went to Canada. The Orion then sailed on to Bombay.  My mother has a souvenir photo album that was bought as a present for her on board by one of the other passengers. It is marked with the Ss Orion crest and a photo of the ship.
Regards
Liz