The 'Oranje' was built in Amsterdam during 1937/38 by the Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij for the Nederland Line. When launched on September 8th 1938 the ship became the worlds most powerful motorship with three two stroke 12,500hp main engines and five 1,800hp auxiliary engines. Intially the Oranje completed two Amsterdam - Madeira cruises before starting her scheduled sailings on the Amsterdam - Capetown - Batavia (Djakarta) run. The start of World War Two caused the ship to be layed up at Sourabaya from December 1939 to July 1941. The ship was offered by the Netherlands East Indies Governemt to Australia as a hospital ship (during January 1941?). The ship was moved to Sydney for conversion to a hospital ship, though initially Germany had not recognised the ship as a hospital ship. From this point for the next five years the ship flew under a Dutch flag as a Royal Australian Navy hospital ship.
June 29th 1941 - Representative of the Dutch Government formally presented the Oranje to the Australian & New Zealand Governments for use as a hospital ship. The Dutch Government paid for its conversion (£150,000) and ongoing annual maintenance (£150,000). An all Dutch crew manned the ship, which included about 100 Javanese. The medical staff were mostly British, Australian & New Zealanders, but with a small contingent of Dutch, approximately 750 wounded could be cared for on the ship.
March 1944 arrived in the United Kingdom with wounded troops from the battlefields in Italy. This was her first visit to the United Kingdom since leaving Amsterdam five years earlier.
September 23rd 1945 - arrived Darwin with 760 members of (ANZAC?) Eighth Division, members of the British Army and civilian internees, many of whom had been prisoners of war for three and a half years. The arrival of the Oranje was celebrated by Liberator and Catalina aircraft circling the ship, whilst the Duke of Gloucester's Avro York transport dipped its wings in salute as it headed off to Singapore. The Oranje departed late in the afternoon for Brisbane, arriving there on September 26th. Sydney was reached on September 28th with 637 ex prisoners of war on board, 55 ambulances were on hand to assist in the transport of the wounded. Other travelled to the Concord Military Hospital on double decker buses. Once clear of the port facilities the cavalcade was greeted by huge cheering crowds.
October 1st 1945 - arrived Melbourne for an overhaul after visiting Darwin, Brisbane & Sydney with freed prisoners of war from Singapore. After release from Melboure the ship sailed via Fremantle to Java, to act as a mercy ship.
After relinquishing her hospital ship duties the Oranje returned to the Amsterdam - Southampton - Djakarta run between 1947 & 1957.
April 6th 1947 - A Bay of Biscay storm swept 3 of the crew overboard from Dutch liner Oranje, sunk the British ship Willodale and left a trail of death from fishing vessels, the Oranje was taking Dutch repatriates from N.E.I, to Holland. Chief steward, one stewardess and and one nurse were lost overboard from Oranje while the chief mate received fatal injuries when he was thrown against deck fittings. The storm which struck the Oranje and swamped the British ship Willodale took further toll when 10 French sailors were washed off a fishing vessel off Brittany. Another boat going to their rescue was lost with all hands. Survivors of the wrecked British ship Willodale told the Daily Express how towards the end of the 7-hour fight to right the ship's list by shifting the deck cargo, props broke loose and 1,000 of them crashed into the sea injuring some of the crew and battering to fragments lifeboats which were being lowered.
Willodale's captain said that 5 minutes after being abandoned the ship put her nose down and plunged out of sight. Captain of the rescue boat Egglefin said the crew were putting up a courageous fight on the wave washed deck against shifting pit props when the Egglefin approached. Rescue ship Egglefin brought back 10 survivors and 6 bodies. Six others, including the captain, were missing.
During 1958 & 1959 her route changed to the Amsterdam - Southampton - Suez - Singapore - Australia run. The ship was refitted in Amsterdam during 1960 and commenced a round-the-world service on September 7th 1960 following the previous route to Australia, then on to New Zealand - Panama - Port Everglades - Bermuda - Southampton - Amsterdam. On February 26th 1961 the journeys commenced sailing in the opposite direction, with the last voyage commencing on May 4th 1964, having completed sixteen circumnavigations of the globe, eight in each direction.
A postcard view of the Oranje.
In September 1964 the Oranje was sold to the Italian owned Lauro Line, being rebuilt at the Cantieri del Tirreno dockyard in Genoa during 1965/66 and renamed the Angelina Lauro. During the refit the ship was extensively damaged by fire, delaying the completion until 1966. Her new sailings took the Angelina Lauro from Bremen to Southampton - Italy - Suez - Australia - New Zealand & return. From 1967 - 1972 this run was made via Cape Town since the Suez Canal was closed. From 1971 the return voyages were via South America. Her last major voyage took the ship from Australia to New Zealand - Tahiti - Acapulco - Panama - Port Everglades - Bermuda -Southampton.
From this point she was used mostly for cruising, receiving a refit for this purpose during 1972, being chartered for three years to the Costa Lines in 1977 and renamed Angelina.
On March 24th 1979 the ship set sail from San Juan for a week's cruise, by March 30th the Angelina was anchored dockside at St Thomas, Virgin Islands. At approximately 3.30pm a skillet fryer in the crew's galley was turned on to its highest setting and left unattended. The oil in the fryer eventually overheated, flames spread through the vent hood/exhaust duct into an unoccupied nearby dining area. Despite attempts by the crew, the Virgin Islands Fire Department & the United States Coast Guard the fire eventually spread to the whole ship. Water used to quell the flames caused the ship to settle on the bottom with a considerable list. The Angelina was one of four ships dockside in St Thomas at this time, presenting a rather grim image for the other ships passengers & crew. The three other cruise ships left early that day taking the Angelina's 669 passengers & 380 crew with them back to San Juan.
The local fire department were supported by a fire fighting tug from an oil refinery on St Croix and United States Coast Guard & Navy personnel & equipment. The fire burned until April 4th, though smoke continued to come from the ship for several more days. The ship was a total loss and after being pumped out it was sold during July to a scrap dealer in Taiwan. Whilst being towed to her final resting place by the tug Nippon Maru the ship developed a serious list whilst crossing the Pacific (midway between Panama & Hawaii), rolled on her side and sank, September 24th 1979, taking her three 12,500hp Sulzer Diesel engines to the bottom.
The USCG report on the fire can be found at USCG Report 'Angelina Lauro'
Length: 674 feet
Breadth: 84 feet
Gross Weight: 24,377 tons
Engines: 3 two stroke x 12,500hp & 6 x 1,800hp auxiliaries
Screws: three
Speed: 26.3knots
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