SS Oronsa was a British Passenger ship that was torpedoed by the German submarine U-91 and sank with the loss of three lives on 28 April 1918 in St. George's Channel west of Bardsey Island, while she was travelling from Talcahuano, Chile to Liverpool, United Kingdom via New York, United States while carrying general cargo.
Construction Oronsa was built as the sistership of Ortega at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom and was launched on 26 May 1906 and completed on 16 August 1906. The ship was long, had a beam of and a depth of . She was assessed at and had two 8 Cyl. Quadruple expansion engine driving two screw propellers that could achieve a speed of 15.5 knots. The ship had accommodation for 1,080 passengers including 150 in First class, 130 in Second class & 800 in Steerage.
Career & Loss Oronsa entered service on 13 September 1906 for the Liverpool to Pernambuco, Montevideo and Valparaíso route for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. She remained in service during World War I and was returning to Liverpool from New York as part of a convoy of 13 ships under the command of Captain Frederick Holt Hobson, when on the night of 28 April 1918, Oronsa was struck by a torpedo from the German submarine U-91 in St. George's Channel west of Bardsey Island. The torpedo struck Oronsa on her starboard side between cargo holds No. 3 and No. 4. and sank the ship in 10 minutes as her boilers exploded, killing three crewmen.
Wreck Oronsa lies in of water and a possible sonar scan of the wreck was made in 2021, but the wreck's identity has yet to be verified.
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