View source for RMS Otranto (1925)

{{distinguish|HMS Otranto}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= Otranto (ship, 1926) - SLV H91.108-2561.jpg
|Ship image size= 300px
|Ship caption= ''Otranto'' in civilian service
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= [[United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}}
|Ship name= RMS ''Otranto''
|Ship namesake= [[Otranto]]
|Ship owner= [[Orient Steam Navigation Company]]
|Ship operator= [[Orient Steam Navigation Company]]
|Ship registry= {{flagicon|United Kingdom|civil}} Barrow<ref name=LR>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/33/33b0674.pdf |year=1935 |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships |location=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |access-date=9 May 2017}}</ref>
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Vickers Armstrong]],
[[Barrow-in-Furness]]<ref name=LR/>
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched= 9 June 1925
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed= December 1925<ref name=LR/>
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=*UK [[official number]] 146025<ref name=LR/>
*[[code letters]] KTMQ<ref>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/33/33b0674.pdf |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships |location=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |access-date=9 May 2017}}</ref> (until 1933)
*{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Mike}}{{ICS|Quebec}}
*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] GFKV<ref name=LR/> (from 1934)
*{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}}{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Victor}}
|Ship nickname=
|Ship fate=Sold for [[ship breaking|scrap]], June 1957
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship type=[[Ocean liner]]
|Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|20032}}<ref name=LR/>
*tonnage under deck 12,228<ref name=LR/>
*{{NRT|12031}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length= {{convert|632.0|ft|abbr=on}} [[Length between perpendiculars|p/p]]<ref name=LR/>
|Ship beam= {{convert|75.2|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship draught= {{convert|37|ft|6|in|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship depth= {{convert|32.9|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship power= 3,722 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]<ref name=LR/>
|Ship propulsion= 6 [[steam turbine]]s<ref name=LR/>
|Ship speed= {{convert|20|kn|km/h}}{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1936|p=383}}
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship crew=
|Ship armament=
|Ship sensors=*wireless [[direction finding]]<ref name=LR/>
|Ship notes= [[sister ship]]s: ''Orama'', ''Orford''{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1936|p=383}}
}}
|}

'''RMS ''Otranto''''' was an [[ocean liner]] that was built for the [[Orient Steam Navigation Company]] in 1925. The "RMS" prefix stands for [[Royal Mail Ship]], as she carried overseas mail under a contract between Orient Line and [[Royal Mail]]. ''Otranto'' was in service until 1957, when she was sold for scrap.

The ship was named after the town of [[Otranto]] in [[Apulia]] in southern Italy. She was Orient Line's second ship of that name. The first was a passenger liner completed in 1909 that, in 1914, became the armed merchant cruiser {{HMS|Otranto}} and, in 1918, was lost as a result of a collision.

In the [[World War II|Second World War]] the second ''Otranto'' was converted into a [[troop ship]] and a [[Landing ship, infantry]]. She took part in the invasions of French North Africa ([[Operation Torch]]), Sicily ([[Operation Husky]]) and Italy ([[Allied invasion of Italy|Operation Avalanche]]).

==Building and details==
[[Vickers Armstrong]] built ''Otranto'' in its [[Barrow-in-Furness]] shipyard and [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] her on 9 July 1925.

She was {{convert|632.0|ft}} long [[Length between perpendiculars|between perpendiculars]], had a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|75.2|ft}} and a [[Draft (hull)|draught]] of {{convert|37|ft|6|in}}. Her tonnages were {{GRT|20032|disp=long}}, {{NRT|12031|disp=long}} and 12,228 tons under deck. She had twin propellers driven through reduction gears by six [[steam turbine]]s that between them developed 3,722 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]. Six double-ended and two single-ended boilers supplied steam at 215 [[Pounds per square inch|lb<sub>f</sub>/in<sup>2</sup>]] to the turbines. 56 corrugated furnaces with a combined grate surface area of {{convert|2688|sqft|0}} heated her boilers.<ref name=LR/>

==Career==
{{stack|[[File:Otranto (ship, 1926) - SLV H99.220-1879.jpg|thumb|''Otranto'' damage after hitting a rock]]}}
In 1926 ''Otranto'' was slightly damaged when she struck a rock at Cape Grosso, Greece during a heavy rainstorm. ''Otranto'' accidentally collided with the Japanese steamer {{SS|Kitano Maru||2}}<ref>{{Citation|last=Museum|first=Australien National Maritime|title=English:  KITANO MARU at the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge|date=2011-11-17|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KITANO_MARU_at_the_opening_of_the_Sydney_Harbour_Bridge_(cropped).jpg|access-date=2021-07-30}}</ref> in August 1928, heavily damaging her. In May 1932 she played a small part in the rescue of the passengers and crew of the French ocean liner {{MS|Georges Philippar||2}} in the [[Gulf of Aden]].{{sfn|Scott|2012|p=157}} On 4 August 1932 she collided with the [[Thames barge]] ''Why Not'' in the [[Thames Estuary]] at [[Thameshaven]], [[Essex]], [[England]]; ''Why Not'' sank.<ref name=Times050832a>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Casualty reports |date=5 August 1932 |page=15 |issue=46204 |column=E }}</ref>

When World War II broke out in 1939 the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] requisitioned ''Otranto'' and had her converted into a troop ship. In 1942 she was modified to carry [[landing craft]] as a Landing ship, infantry. She took part in the invasion of [[French North Africa]] later that year and the landings in [[Sicily]] and [[Salerno]] in 1943. She was subsequently reconverted back into a troop transport and served as such until released from government service in 1948.

''Otranto'' then resumed her pre-war role as a passenger liner, now refitted to carry 1,412 tourist-class passengers. In February 1957 she made her final voyage, from the UK to [[Sydney, Australia]] via [[Cape Town]], South Africa. She was sold for scrap in June.{{sfn|Scott|2012|pp=157–158}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998|isbn=1-55750-048-7|author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton}}
* {{cite book |last=Scott |first=R Neil |year=2012 |title=Many Were Held by the Sea: The Tragic Sinking of HMS Otranto |location=Lanham, MD |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-1342-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Talbot-Booth |first=EC |year=1936 |title=Ships and the Sea |edition=Third |place=London |publisher=[[Sampson Low]], Marston & Co. Ltd |page=383}}

{{1926 shipwrecks}}
{{1928 shipwrecks}}
{{1932 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otranto}}
[[Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness]]
[[Category:Troop ships of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:1925 ships]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1926]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1928]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1932]]