HMAS Orara

HMAS Orara was a coastal passenger and cargo steamship that was built in Scotland in 1907 and sunk by a mine in China in 1950. She spent most of her career in the fleet of the North Coast Steam Navigation Company (NCSNC) of New South Wales. In the Second World War she was an auxiliary minesweeper and depot ship in the Royal Australian Navy.

History
Name:
  • 1907: Orara
  • 1948: Pearl River
  • 1949: Hong Shan
  • 1950: Santos
Owner:
  • 1907–46: North Coast SN Co
  • 1946–48: Australian Government
  • 1948–50: Fu Chan
  • 1950: Wallem & Co
Operator:
Port of registry:
Route: 1907–39: Byron Bay – Sydney
Builder: Scott of Kinghorn, Kinghorn
Yard number: 137
Launched: 5 November 1907
Completed: November 1907
Identification:
Fate: Sunk by mine, 19 June 1950
General characteristics
Type: coastal passenger and cargo ship
Length: 240.3 ft (73.2 m)
Beam: 33.9 ft (10.3 m)
Depth: 19.9 ft (6.1 m)
Installed power: 216 NHP
Propulsion: triple expansion steam engine
Capacity:
  • passengers:
  • 150 first class
  • 50 second class

This was the second NCSNC ship to be called Orara. The first was a wooden-hulled cargo steamship that was built in 1898 and wrecked in 1899.[1][2]

History

Scott of Kinghorn built Orara at Kinghorn on the Firth of Forth, launching her on 5 November 1907.[3] She had capacity for 15 first class and 50 second class passengers. Her regular route was between Byron Bay and Sydney.[1]

In 1934 the call sign VJVD[4] superseded Orara's code letters HLTM.[5]

Orara was requisitioned in September 1939 and was commissioned on 9 October into the RAN as an auxiliary minesweeper with the pennant number J130. She served in the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla. She also served as a depot ship.

In 1946 Orara was returned to owners and laid up in Sydney. In 1947 she was sold to Chinese buyers who took her to Shanghai,[1] renamed her Pearl River and registered her in Canton. In 1949 she was renamed Hong Shan. In 1950 she was renamed Santos and registered in Panama City.[3]

On 19 June 1950 Santos was steaming from Shanghai to Tsingtao when a mine sank her in the Yangtze River near Woosung, with the loss of a number of lives.[6]

References
  1. Hoskin, John E. "North Coast Steam Navigation Company". Australian Shipping Lines. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  2. "North Coast Company's new steamers". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 October 1907. p. 8. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  3. "Orara". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  4. "Steamers and Motorships". Lloyd's Register (PDF). II. London: Lloyd's Register. 1945. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  5. "Steamers and Motorships". Lloyd's Register (PDF). I. London: Lloyd's Register. 1930. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  6. "Two Ships Reported Sunk". The Morning Bulletin. 21 June 1950. p. 4. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
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