NEW ORIENT LINER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22628, 20 July 1935, Page 5

NEW ORIENT LINER

TRIALS OF THE ORION ' Built by Messrs Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness, England, arid launched in November last from Brisbane by wireless by the Duke of Gloucester, the new 24,000-ton Orient Line Royal Mail steamer will make her trials on July 22 and 23, arid will make her maiden voyage from Australia to England at the end of November this year. She will sail again in March, 1936. y Already passenger bookings for the first Voyages from Australia are heavy, particularly for the March voyage, for the sailing is in the height of the Homeward passenger season. The Orion takes her name from the brilliant group of stars which, to the peoples of both hemispheres, are about the best known and, certainly, are among the most beautiful in the heavens —the constellation Orion.

Strikingly modern in external appearance and internal equipment, the Orion 1 commands particular attention both from the public and shipbuilders and engjneers. Her appearance will have something of “ stream-lining.” Although she is of great power and speed, she will have only one mast and one funnel—a departure from the conventional liner construction and made expressly to afford still more deck space and passenger comfort while retaining characteristic beauty of line. She will probably be painted cream, with a slight admixture of brown, over a green waterline. One of the important new fashions which she will set is the provision of windows instead of portholes right on the ship’s side. The pioneering work done and the fashions set by the managers of the Orient Line in ship construction in the past are matters of world shipping history. The Orient, in her’ day, was by far the largest liner in the world, except the Great Eastern, which was considered a “ freak.” The Ophir, the first twin-screw passenger ship to go east of Suez, marked an epoch in liner construction because of her size, but particularly because of her excep-, tional turn of speed and the unprecedented lavishness of her decoration and furnishing.. Another event in shipbuilding was the placing, in 1907, of one of the biggest shipbuilding orders on record —for a fleet of six palatial vessels each of 12,000 tons or over. The Orama, 20,000 tons, which came into 1 service in 1924, offered more deck space per passenger and more singleberth cabins than any other steamer afloat. With the four sister ships of the same tonnage, which rapidly followed her into commission, this vessel made many contributions of engineering importance to the art of ship construction. The Orion will be the largest liner serving Australia. Her dimensions are: Length. 665 feet; breadth. 82 feet; draft, 30 feet: speed. 211 knots; and she will carry 486 first saloon and 653 touristclass passengers. She is. perhaps, best described to Australians as an Orontes enlarged and improved in the light of the experience gained in the running of the five Orient liners that have been built during the last 10 years.

For a lons time the boat deck has been a characteristic feature of the Orient liners, and in the Orion A deck will be a huge- space for sports and names, 200 feet bv 82 feet, unbroken except for the funnel uptakes and the engine hatch. It is interestina to compare her with her predecessors and to gauee the owners’ sense of what new demands the public make upon the liner of 1935. Although she is distinctly larger than the Oroutes class. 24.000 tons eross instead of 20.000. and 82 feet beam instead of 75 feet, the Orion is designed to carry fewer passenaers in more -roomy cabins and the place of third class has been taken by tourist class. The 486 first-class passengers will all be accommodated in one or two-berth cabins (except for a few three-berth cabins for families'). Many of them will have inter-communicatina doors, and the number of special staterooms with private bathrooms has been substantially increased. All first saloon cabins will be equipped with bedsteads. Children also have been specially studied. In the first saloon thev have a separate dining room and in both clasps a special plavroom and a deck The C 53 tourist-class passengers will be accommodated in one, two, three, and four-berth cabins, many of them again inter-communicating. Hot and cold running water will be laid on to all

first saloon cabins, and in tourist cabins there will be cold running water. (J deck has been continued right aft to give another deck to the tourist class passengers, and there are two ingeniously arranged open-air swimming baths, which can, when the ship is cruising, be thrown into one large “ lido.” Lifts will be fitted in both classes, and the ship’s shop and hairdressing saloons have received a more important position. Australian maple has been used in the decoration of the public rooms and the furniture of the cabins. The ventilation of Orient liners has always been thorough, and in the Orion the air in the first class dining saloon will be specially treated to control its temperature and humidity." All the latest precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of passengers. Lifeboats are fitted in the latest form of gravity davit. Fire-resisting metal has been largely used, and automatic sprinklers have been fitted throughout. The Orion’s engines are of the highpressure twin-screw single-reduction geared turbine type, designed to give 24,000 h.p. and a speed of 214 knots. The electrical installation will provide not only the auxiliary machinery, but also lighting and heating in the accommodation. The interior decorations throughout have been placed in the hands ot a single architect, Mr Briau O’Rorke, and no effort has been spared to have every detail of her equipment well designed, modern, and in complete harmony. Throughout the accommodation is reflected consideration for passengers' convenience and no end of innovations tend to avoid waste of space which might he useful to passengers—in cabins, public rooms, and decks. An important development concurrent with the advent of the Orion is the inauguration of a service entirely new to the Orient Line—provision, in three steamers, of first saloon and tourist class passengers, instead of first and third. The Orontes and Orford, the two youngest of the 20,000-ton sisters, are being converted this year for the carriage of first saloon and tourist class. Thus, including the Orion and the two steamers carrying one-class tourist, the Ormonde and Orsova, there will be a frequent and regular service by the Orient Line available for tourist class passengers. The purpose of this change is to meet the ■ growing demand from passengers who

want to travel comfortably but prefer I not to pay for the luxury of first saloon. “ The liner, she’s a lady,” wrote Mr Kudyard Kipling. There will be many, no doubt, throughout the length and breadth of Australia anxious to see the Orion, for she should be a decorative and distinguished addition to the British passenger trade.