RMS Orion RMS " Orion " was an ocean liner launched by the Orient Steam Navigation Company in 1934 and retired from the water in 1963 after carrying about 500 , 000 passengers . A 23 , 371 ton passenger ship , the Orion was built to carry 486 ﬁrst class , 653 tourist class and 466 crew passengers from Europe through the Paciﬁc to Australia . The vessel ' s sister ship was " Orcades " , launched in 1937 . Design and construction . " Orion " was an enlarged version of SS " Orontes " , and the first single funnel ship to be built for the Orient Line since 1902 . She also had a single mast , giving her a very different appearance to her predecessors . She was the ﬁrst ship to be painted in the Orient Line ' s livery with a corn coloured hull . Her accommodation was originally designed for 486 First Class and 653 Tourist Class passengers , with a crew of 466 . When sailing on cruise voyages she accommodated 600 passengers in a single class . " Orion " was called " A landmark in the evolution of the modern liner " by the " Architectural Review " . Previous liners had adopted the cloistered and formally decorated styles of interior designing found in the wealthy homes of England , however , Brian OʼRorke , the New Zealand born designer in charge of " Orion " s interior , recognized the need to adapt to the tropical and ocean going conditions of life aboard ship . The result was an open air layout that made use of removable and folding walls , sliding glass doors , and relatively enormous promenade decks to keep cooling breezes ﬂowing through spaces passengers could relax in . Rooms without access to the deck of the boat were also made to feel breezy by being as light and uncluttered as possible . Furnishings were chosen for their clean lines , wood given matte ﬁnishes , and columns left unadorned . Going past just being unadorned , the chromium and bakelite materials used extensively throughout the ship meant surfaces were more resistant to the effects of sea air , a ﬁrst in liners . This was a new type of functional interior that could be linked to the functionality of a shipʼs exterior . " Orion " was also the first British ship to be fitted with air conditioning , though this was originally confined to the dining rooms . Career . Launched by the Duke of Gloucester from Brisbane , Australia by wireless remote , " Orion " slid into the Lancashire waters at Vickers Armstrong ' s yard in Barrow - in - Furness on 7 December 1934 . She was delivered to her owners in August 1935 and made a series of cruises from Tilbury Docks , London , the first of which was to Norway . On 29 September 1935 she sailed from Tilbury on her maiden voyage to Australia . " 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 . Wartime service . " 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 . 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 . In October 1942 " Orion " was one of many former passenger liners which took part in Operation Torch , and made two voyages to North Africa carrying over 5 , 000 troops each time . In 1943 her troop carrying capacity was increased to 7 , 000 which with other vessels such as the USS " West Point " ( former SS " America " ) played a major part in the transportation of Allied forces . Her role as a troopship tapered off in the Pacific theatre but she still ferried troops around at 5 , 000 a time . By the time she was released from service in 1946 , " Orion " had carried over 175 , 000 personnel and had steamed over . Postwar . " Orion " returned to Vickers Armstrong ' s yard in Barrow on 1 May 1946 to be refitted as a passenger liner . The refit took a year , and included a redesign to accommodate 546 First Class and 706 Tourist Class passengers . She was the first Orient Line to make a postwar voyage to Australia , sailing from Tilbury on 25 December 1947 . After that her voyages included three cruises to the West coast of the USA including San Francisco , and voyages from Europe to Australia . In 1958 she was converted to carry 342 Cabin Class and 722 Tourist Class passengers on an independent schedule , and in 1961 she became a single class ship carrying a maximum of 1 , 691 passengers , although the demand for sea voyages to Australia was declining . " Orion " was retired in 1963 , and left on her final voyage on 28 February 1963 , sailing for Sydney , Australia via Piraeus , Greece and Suez . She departed Sydney for the last time on 8 April via Melbourne and Fremantle , arriving back at Tilbury on 15 May 1963 . She was then chartered by Otto Friedrich Behnke GmbH as a floating hotel for the duration of the International Horticultural Exhibition in Hamburg , accommodating 1 , 150 guests . " Orion " arrived in Hamburg on 23 May 1963 ; the Exhibition ended on 30 September and on 1 October she left Hamburg for Antwerp , where she was broken for scrap by Jos Boel et Fils .