Design & Construction (1956 – 1960):

In 1956, after two years careful planning, Orient Line made the final decision to build a new ship for the Australian trade. With the added costs of fuel consumption, as well as maintenance of their older ships, it was decided that a larger, fast, more efficient liner would provide a profitable and a superior facilities. After two years of careful planning, Oriana’s the keel was laid on September 18 1957. This, the largest ship built for Orient Line, would soon join their already sizable fleet. However, unknown at this stage, Oriana would be the last great liner to be built for Orient Line. She was a contemporary of P&O's Canberra. Indeed the two ships, Oriana and Canberra, marked the climax in the gradual coming together of the P&O and Orient Line fleets in terms of capabilities and ship design and the final culmination of the long process started by the Orion and Strathmore in the 1930s.

Since the Orion, built in 1935, each Orient Line ship’s name commenced with the letter ‘O. In the end it was decided to name her ORIANA after the name given to Queen Elizabeth I by poets of the Elizabethan era. Orient Line ships all had their own distinctive emblem, and now a suitable emblem was needed for Oriana the new super liner. Mr Milner Grey created an exciting new emblem for the Oriana, in the form of an ‘O’ topped with a crown made of pearls, and containing a double ‘E’ inside the ‘O’ representing Queen Elizabeth I, and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

The contract to build the Oriana was awarded to Vickers Armstrong Ltd of Barrow-in-Furness. Construction work commenced 18 September 1956. Slowly the unique design of the Oriana became obvious, new, but she retained design similarities of other Orient Line ships, such as the Orcades, Oronsay, and the newer Orsova. Location of her lifeboats was the most obvious modification. Oriana was the largest ship to be built at the Barrow yard and indeed was and still is the largest passenger liner built in England. Sadly as we now know, it would also be the last ship constructed for the Orient Steam Navigation Company (Orient Line). The design of the Oriana improved in many ways on a remarkable trio of postwar fleetmates: Orcades (1948), Oronsay (1951) and Orsova (1954). The Oriana, tested the mettle of the traditionalist in many ways, but was not so much revolutionary as evolutionary in the best sense.

Few ships managed to so well combine the trend setting and traditional. Oriana was the first British ocean liner with a bulbous bow, the first ocean liner with bow thrusters and a television system. She dispensed entirely with masts and booms for cargo handling in favour of cranes and sideporters. More than 1000 tons of aluminium were used in her superstructure, the weight saving permitting an entire extra deck. Yet she was true to many Orient Line hallmarks: the cowled funnel, the concentration of funnel and bridge structure amidships introduced in Orcades, the galleried after decks and the distinctive corn coloured hull. Her décor was coordinated by the renowned Brian O’Rorke, who had pioneered contemporary interiors in British tropical ocean liners with the Orion in 1935.

"I name this ship Oriana. May God bless her and all who sail in her"

She was launched November 3, 1959 by HRH Princess Alexandra and christened with three bottles of wine (one each from Europe, California and Australia) and moved to Buccleuch Dock for fitting out. The next twelve months saw her turn into a fine ultra modern passenger liner ready for service. Located forward atop the Crows Nest, there was a short radar mast, it is well known that the Orient Line usually did not have a conventional mast on their liners. Oriana had the usual high, but more streamlined, central funnel, however, aft there was a strange new feature a small dummy funnel. On Trafalgar Day (21^st October 1960) while being prepared for service Oriana was visited by HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in her berth in Buccleuch Dock in Barrow in Furness where they had just launched the HMS Dreadnought (Britain’s first nuclear submarine).

At 41,915 tonnes the Oriana was the largest passenger liner to be placed on the Australia / New Zealand service, but was also designed to allow for seasonal cruising. Her dimensions being, 245.1m long, in 30.5m wide, having 730 cabins, 17 public rooms, and 11 passenger decks. She was able to carry 2000 passengers, in two classes, having a crew of around 980. During her sea trials carried out on the Clyde, in November 1960, she achieved a maximum speed of 30.64 knots, and this was in woeful weather conditions. With two sets of Pametrada double-reduction geared steam turbines, which generated 80,000 horsepower, were geared to twin screws, giving a cruising speed of 27.5 knots. Oriana was fast, very fast as she was designed to do the Southampton to Sydney via Suez run in just 27 days. As such she was the fastest non Atlantic ocean liner ever built.

Though many would say that despite her speed, size and luxury, Oriana was by no means a handsome vessel. Though, like any cruise ship, she did certainly lack the lines, look and feel of true ocean liners like those of the early part of the 20th century, she had her own charm and grace and in her own way was a true queen of the ocean.

Orient Line era (1960 – 1966):

She sailed on her maiden voyage Southampton-Sydney December 3 1960 via the Suez Canal, arriving in Melbourne on the 27^th December and at Sydney on the 30^th December 1960. She then departed Sydney (Overseas Passenger Terminal) on the 5^th January 1961 on a cruise to Auckland (New Zealand), Vancouver and San Francisco and then back to Sydney arriving there on the 25^th February 1961. Then she departed again bound for Southampton where she arrived on the 25^th March 1961. She was the fastest liner on the England-Australia route sailing from Southampton to Sydney via the Suez Canal in 21 days. As a result she was very popular and on her first visit to San Francisco on the 5^th February 1961 the Mayor declared the day ORIANA DAY, the ship received a similar warm welcome in Vancouver.

In her early years her original livery was Orient Line’s distinctive golden corn livery. Unlike her predecessors she sailed from Southampton rather than London due to her immense size. On the 9^th June 1961 she departed Auckland at 5pm bound for Sydney sailing at 27 knots thus setting a new trans-Tasman record of 47 hours 30 minutes. On the 31^st July 1961 she sailed through the Panama Canal for the first time on a return voyage to Southampton and became the largest passenger liner to pass through the canal since the BREMEN in 1938. In mid 1961, Oriana was partnered by P&O Line’s new 45,733 GRT S/S Canberra, which became the largest liner to be placed on the Australian service. Rapidly, Canberra became the ship that received most publicity. Undoubtedly Canberra was an imposing sight, being all white ship, with long sleek lines. However, Oriana soon gained a vast following, with past passengers returning to sail on her many times - ‘Take a ship, back to the home country’ was the popular statement in the early days. Oriana was the choice of many a seasoned traveller!

However Oriana's career was far from unblemished, though. On December 3rd 1962, two years after entering service, she was sailing in a thick fog off Long Beach, California. Under circumstances not yet fully understood, she collided with a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Kearsarge (CVS-33). Extensive damage to both vessels resulted, though there were thankfully no fatalities. A 20-foot hole was ripped out of Oriana's bow and the Kearsarge suffered a 25-foot gash 10 feet aft on the starboard side. A small fire broke out in one of Oriana's boiler rooms but was quickly brought under control. Oriana put into Los Angeles for repairs.

On the 17^th September 1963 the Mayor of Sydney (Henry Frederick Jensen) presented the Keys of the City to the Captain of the Oriana at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay, Sydney. In 1964 she set a new record for passage between Auckland and Sydney of 45 hours and 24 minutes at 27.76 knots. In 1964 she changed her livery from her original distinctive Orient Line golden corn livery to P&O Line’s white livery. In 1965 the merger of Orient Line and P&O Line began with the transfer of Oriana to P&O ownership. At that time the combined company was called P&O-Orient Lines.

P&O Line era (1966 – 1973):

In 1966 Orient Line merged with P&O Line and the name of the line was restyled to just P & O Line. In that year she flew the Orient Line houseflag for the final time. In September 1966 she arrived in Sydney from San Francisco via Los Angeles, Honolulu, Suva and Auckland. In 1969, while navigating the Panama Canal, Oriana ran aground and severely damaged one of her propellers. Despite repairs, it is said that one of the drive shafts was misaligned and forever after that incident she was incapable of achieving her top speed of 30 knots. A more serious incident occurred in August 1970. Not long after departing Southampton for Australia and New Zealand, a fire broke out in one of the boiler rooms. The ship was still in Southampton water and lost all power and was towed back to Southampton. Repairs took two weeks, though again no one was seriously injured. Oriana sailed around the world for almost fourteen years. In the late sixties, the round the world service started to become unprofitable with a decline of passengers, being mainly due to flights to London, or Europe now offered discounted fares. As a result P&O had to decide what to do with their ships.

P&O Cruises era (1973 – 1986):

After serving as a part time cruise ship for a while, in 1973 P&O announced that the Oriana would become a full time cruise ship. At first, she remained a two-class ship, however, in 1974, the class barrier was dropped, and Oriana, like other P&O ships, became a one-class ship carrying 1,677 passengers. A number of onboard changes were made with the removal on the Silver Grill on A deck, which was replaced with additional cabins, as well as name changes for some lounges. As a cruise ship, both the Oriana and Canberra were a remarkable success story. In the late 1970s in the northern winter, the Oriana was based in Sydney for South Pacific cruises and garnered an immensely popular following “Down Under”. Her annual positioning trips from Southampton to Australia during this period became P&O Line’s last remaining line voyages. In May 1978, the ship was a victim of a bombing hoax. Three days out from Southampton on a Caribbean cruise, an anonymous letter to P&O headquarters warned that a bomb was on board. Although a bomb disposal squad was flown out to join the ship, a thorough search by the crew found nothing amiss and the squad was not required to parachute on board. The helicopters circled the ship for sometime, but once it was determined the bomb scare was a hoax, Oriana continued on her way.

On November 12, 1981, Oriana left Southampton for the final time, heading for Sydney, were she commenced a full time cruise programme. She became the toast of Australian cruise lovers, and proved to be a great success for P&O! She cruised the South Pacific, as well as an occasional Asian itinerary. Overall, Oriana enjoyed an eighty per cent occupancy rate. Her success had other shipping companies enter the market, placing their ships on full and part time cruise duties from Australia. There were Russian, Italian, Greek even a Chinese company who based their ships in the Southern Hemisphere, all vying for that ever increasing cruise dollar. Sitmar, P&O and CTC cruise companies were the most successful cruise operators.

In the end she became a victim of her own success as after successfully cruising out of Australia, a shock announcement came on 22 July, 1985. P&O announced that the Oriana might be withdrawn from service. The reason obviously being, the competition from Russian and other cruise companies, all offered heavily discounted fares, effecting P&O’s profits. One of these being Sitmar Cruises, operating the popular Fairstar, had become a major player in the Australian cruise market. Then on August 7, it became official; Oriana would conclude her cruise duties on March 27 1986. At the time, no decision had been made regarding her future. Oriana departed Sydney on March 14, 1986 for her final cruise, packed with enthusiasts, who had cruised on her many times. Oriana returned to Sydney on March 27 ceremonially flying the Orient Line houseflag for the final time, sailing majestically through Sydney Heads, up the harbour, under Sydney Harbour Bridge, and slowly docked at the Pyrmont Passenger Terminal. The ships master for the final cruise was Captain Philip Jackson. S/S Oriana had by now sailed some 3,430,900 nautical miles, and achieved a record speed of 29.21 knots. The next day after her return from her final cruise, 28 March, Oriana was moved to Pyrmont wharf 21, were she remained laid up for two months.

Preservation Era at Oita, Beppu Bay, Japan (1986 – 1995):

On May 21st, it was announced that Oriana had been sold to Japanese interests (Daiwa House Sales) for the use as a floating hotel, conference centre, museum, and restaurants. Her final departure from Sydney was hampered by strikes, but she finally departed Sydney on the afternoon of May 29 1986. Her departure from Sydney became a sombre event, as thousands of past passengers, and those that had come to know her distinctive profile whilst in port, looked on with great sadness. The tug Lady Lorraine sailed ahead of her, spouting her fire hoses, as many small vessels accompanied this great ex Orient Line Passengers Liner to Sydney Heads. The great lady of the sea looked a sad sight, as decks were devoid of any passengers, with no sign of life to be seen anywhere except on the bridge. Rather than sailing by her own, four tugs moved her to Sydney Heads, she then went underway by her own steam. Oriana arrived in Osaka three weeks later. She arrived in Japan at 3.00 pm on Tuesday June 24 1986. She docked at the Hitaci Zosen Ship Repair Works at Sakai in Osaka. After renovations, she was towed to Beppu Bay. On the 1^st August 1986 she arrived in her new home. Oriana may have remained afloat, but became a sad sight, especially as the Japanese owners painted her funnels pink. Sadly the hotel venture was not a success and she was sold again in 1995.

Preservation Era at Chinwangtao, China (1995 – 1998):

This time she was bought by Chinese interests (Hangzhou Jiebai Group Co Ltd, a department store operator) and towed to Chinwangtao (Qinhuangdao), China where she served as Government owned accommodation centre and tourist hotel.

Preservation Era at Shanghai, China (1998 – 2001):

Oriana was sold again in November 1998. The liner was purchased once more for $6 million on the 15^th November 1998 from Qinhuangdao in North China's Hebei Province. Under tow again, ORIANA arrived in Shanghai October 1998, and was refitted in ZingHua Harbour as a floating tourist attraction funded by Hangzhou West Lake International Tourism Culture Development Co Ltd. After a US$3.5 million renovation, ORIANA opened to the public in the Pudong business district of Shanghai, 16^th February of 1999. 24^th December 1999 the ship was the centrepiece of a lavish Millennium celebration in Shanghai for 9 days till the 3^rd January 2000. Holding a 85% stake in the ship (15% was held by Hangzhou Jiebai Group Co Ltd), Hangzhou West Lake International Tourism Culture Development Co Ltd announced on August 15 2000, that they would auction its holdings in the Oriana. Even though Oriana had more than 500,000 visitors, she did not make the anticipated profits.

Preservation Era at Dalian, China (2002 – 2004):

Finally, the auction took place on September 28, 2000. She again changed owners and she was towed to the Chinese port of Dalian, arriving there on June 30, 2002. Observers noted that she looked better than she had for a long time, being freshly painted and bedecked with flags. She looked more like the Oriana we all know. The event was covered on television, and she became the talking point in Dalian. She underwent a major refit seeing her lounges and foyers transformed into palatial venues with grand columns and crystal chandeliers. After her refurbishment, she was opened to the public as a tourist venture in the resort city of Dalian. The owners renovated Oriana July 2002, spending a fortune in transforming the interior of the Oriana into a deluxe “Emperor’s Palace.” Today she takes pride of place in the resort city of Dalian alongside her special wharf and plaza and is used as a floating theme park, emperor style palace, museum and banqueting hall.

The Storm and Her Final Months (June 2004 – Present):

On the 17^th June 2004 sadly the once great Oriana was battered by a savage storm at her berth in Dalian which caused a gash in her bow and she was reported as being partially sunk and slanting by the 5^th July 2004. But soon after that it was reported that the Chinese were working hard to refloat her and repair her so that she could be returned to Dalian as the ocean liner theme park she had become. By May 2005 the Chinese were still trying to repair her and make her seaworthy so that she could be refurbished and returned to her berth. On the 25^th May 2005 it was reported that she had left Dalian under tow for a shipyard in Zhangiagang in Eastern China's Jiangsu Province however at that stage it was uncertain whether she was to be restored (if that was still possible after the damage she has suffered) or scrapped. By the 30^th May 2005 she had arrived at the shipyard In Zhangiagang facing a very uncertain fate. In the end the decision was made unfortunately to scrap her and scrapping commenced on the 9^th August 2005.

Thus ended the story of the Oriana and another gracious lady of the sea met her end at a scrapyard far from home.