 Otranto in Orient Line service, 1909
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Otranto |
| Namesake | Otranto |
| Owner | Orient Steam Navigation Company |
| Operator | Orient Steam Navigation Company |
| Port of registry | London |
| Route | London – Australia |
| Ordered | c. 1908 |
| Builder | Workman, Clark and Company, Belfast |
| Yard number | 278 |
| Laid down | c. 1908 |
| Launched | 27 March 1909 |
| Completed | 20 July 1909 |
| Maiden voyage | 1 October 1909 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Requisitioned, 4 August 1914 |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Otranto |
| Acquired | 4 August 1914 |
| Commissioned | 14 August 1914 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sank after collision, 6 October 1918 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner / AMC |
| Tonnage | 12,124 GRT, 7,433 NRT |
| Length | 535 ft 4 in (163.2 m) |
| Beam | 64 ft (19.5 m) |
| Depth | 38 ft 8 in (11.8 m) |
| Installed power | 14,000 ihp (10,000 kW) |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
| Armament | 8 × 4.7 in (120 mm) guns |
HMS Otranto was an armed merchant cruiser requisitioned by the British Admiralty when World War I began in 1914. Built before the war for the UK–Australia run as SS Otranto, she was primarily used in the war to search for German commerce raiders. She played small roles in the Battle of Coronel in November 1914 when the German East Asia Squadron destroyed the British squadron searching for it and in the Battle of the Falkland Islands the following month when a British squadron annihilated the Germans in turn.
Apart from brief refits in the UK, Canada and Australia, she remained on this duty until early 1918 when she became a troop ship. During a severe storm off the Isle of Islay in late 1918, she accidentally collided with another troop ship, HMS Kashmir (1915) and was forced ashore by the storm, killing 470 passengers, mainly American soldiers, and crewmen.