RMS Orizaba

For other ships of the same name, see SS Orizaba.
Black and white photograph of the ship in an unidentified harbour.
History
Name: Orizaba
Operator: Orient Steam Navigation Company
Laid down: Barrow, England[1]
Launched: 1886[2]
Fate: Wrecked, 1905
General characteristics
Type: Royal Mail Ship
Tonnage: 6298[2]
Length: 148 m[2]
Draft: 24'

RMS Orizaba was a mail steamer wrecked off Rockingham, Western Australia on 16 February 1905. On her approach to Fremantle, a smog of bushfire smoke was obscuring the coast and the captain lost his bearings. The ship went aground in 20' of water on Five Fathom Bank, west of Garden Island.[3]

All 160 people on board were evacuated safely. It is one of the largest ships ever to be wrecked in Australian waters.[2]

In 2014 the wreck was still in use as a dive site.

The wreck, c.1910

References

  1. "Donovan Family History".
  2. 1 2 3 4 "SS Orizaba 1905". Archived from the original on 7 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  3. "Marine Disaster". The West Australian (Perth, WA). 17 February 1905. p. 7. Retrieved 19 January 2016.

Further reading

External Links

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Coordinates: 32°16′43″S 115°37′30″E / 32.278613°S 115.624866°E / -32.278613; 115.624866

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