RMS Orduna (Pacific Steam Navigation Company) Enamel and Gilt Sweetheart Pin Brooch Badge

SS Orduna built in 1914 by Harland & Wolff for the Pacific Steamship Navigation Company (PSNCo) for use on the Latin American routes shipping mail and passengers. After two voyages she was chartered to Cunard Line during the Great War. In 1921 she went to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, then being resold to the PSNCo in 1926.

In January 1915 Orduna rescued the Russian crew of the sailing ship Loch Torridon, which had sprung a leak while transporting timber off the west coast of Ireland. Later in July 1915, en route to New York City, Orduna was targeted by a U-boat. The torpedo, which was spotted by Captain Taylor, missed the ship, which arrived safely.

Orduña was also registered as an auxiliary cruiser during the war, and from late 1915 was used as a troop transport, running from Halifax, Canada to Liverpool, sometimes using a fake gun. With the entry of America into the war, it carried notables such as Quentin Roosevelt on board.

In 1918 Orduna collided with the 4,406-ton steamer Konakry, carrying a cargo of ballast from Queenstown to Trinidad. Konakry was lost in the accident.

In 1919 the British actress Marie Empress went missing after being seen in her cabin the day before the Orduna reached New York. Her disappearance remained a mystery and she was declared dead in 1921.

During the 1939 "Voyage of the Damned" affair, where German Jewish refugees were refused entry into Cuba, the United States and Canada, Cuban authorities allowed only 48 passengers, all of whom held landing permits, but refused permission for the remaining 72 passengers aboard the Orduna to land in Havana. Taken up from trade as a troop and evacuation ship in WW2 from 1941. The Orduna was one of the ships used for the repatriation of Far East Prisoners of War at the end of the Pacific War in 1945. It left Rangoon in Burma on HMT Orduna sailed from Rangoon on 21st Sept 1945, calling at Colombo, Ceylon on 27th Sept 1945, Port Said on 10th Oct 1945 and finally Liverpool on 19th Oct 1945. Scrapped in 1951.

K42.9

Code: 67402