Pacific Steam's Ortona was built by Vickers, Sons and Maxim, of Barrow.
Launched in 1899, she made her maiden voyage on 24 November 1899, in the
joint Pacific Steam/Orient Line service from Liverpool to Australia via
Suez. From 1901 to 1906, this service went under the name
"Orient-Pacific Line", which appears on this card.
Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. acquired Pacific Steam in 1906 and ended the
joint service with Orient Line in 1909. Ortona was then converted into
a cruise ship and was renamed Arcadian. She became a troopship in
1915, and served as the headquarters ship for Sir Ian Hamilton during
the Gallipoli campaign. On 15 April 1917, she was torpedoed while en
route from Salonika to Alexandria. She sank within five minutes, with
the loss of 277 lives out of the 1,335 on board.
Sources: Haws' Merchant Fleets; Williams' Wartime Disasters at Sea.
