S.S. Oronsay, a silver and tortoiseshell powder compact, Bir...

Hammer

£20

S.S. Oronsay, a silver and tortoiseshell powder compact, Birmingham 1926, with inset silver crest, opening to reveal a mirror, 5cm.
Oronsay was built for the Orient Steam Navigation Company on Clydebank, launched in 1924. She plied the London to Australia route, she was taken over as a troop ship during WWII and had an eventful war, including Operation Alphabet, the secret evacuation of Narvik on 7 June 1940, then Operation Aerial, the evacuation of British troops from western France, May 1940 she was involved with the evacuation of the families of Royal Navy personnel from Malta. She was sunk on 9 October 1942, by the Italian submarine Archimede.